island yesterday. the only thing i know is that it's hungry and, greg, i know you are irate, so what do you call a cat that's been arrested by the police. >> greg: i don't know. what? >> a purpetrator. >> i hope i don't get bobcat post office box. >> dana: me too because then we will have to have a chat. >> greg: that's it for us "special report" is up next. hey, bret. >> bret: hey, greg. that's good. have a good one. good evening. i'm bret baier. welcome to washington. has president biden been caught in a lie about his involvement in the son's business dealings? we'll take a look at that story. the kremlin makes its first comment on a perspective prisoner exchange involving a russian arms dealer, and american basketball player and a marine veteran. and we talk with gang members in chicago about life on the streets and massive shootings every weekend. ♪ but, first, breaking tonight, the u.s. economy now fits the

traditional definition of being in a recession. the second quarter gross domestic product g.d.p. shrank at annual rate of nine tenths of a percentage point. that's the second straight quarterly deficit and that checks the box, historically considered as recessionary. president biden says it's no surprise the economy is slowing down because of inflation. but he insists he has the nation on the right path and, quote: it doesn't look like a recession to me. the president also spent time today on a call with his chinese counterpart in a time increasing tension with communist china. white house correspondent peter doocy starts us off tonight live from the north lawn. good evening, peter. >> peter: good evening, bret. the numbers are right there in black and white. the u.s. economy shrunk for a second consecutive quarter. but, until large, well-respected groups, nonpartisan groups of economists issue some sort of a formal declaration that a recession is underway, then

officials here at the white house are not going to use that word. >> there is going to be a lot of chatter today on wall street and among pundits about whether we are in a recession. >> peter: that's because two quarters of negative g.d.p. growth in a row is technically referred to as a recession but not at the white house. >> we have a record job market, businesses are investing in america at record rates. this is powering the strongest rebound in american manufacturing in over three decades. that doesn't sound like a recession to me. >> pete: economists widely report that past democratic spending bills signed by president biden have contributed to recent inflation. but those spending bills are still being celebrated at the white house. >> if you are making 120 grand, and you get a check for 8 grand, that's a lot of money. >> a recent investigation by republicans on the senate homeland security and government affairs committee reveals that china has attempted to the infiltrate the federal reserve. the body president biden is relying ton bring inflation

down. and, today, president biden spoke to his chinese counterpart xi jinping for more than two hours. >> i will say this, they had a very direct conversation and that they have known each other for some time. >> peter: the pentagon confirms uss croneld reagan and strike group are in the south china sea as tensions grow about u.s. support for self-governing taiwan which the chinese consider part of china and which may soon get a visit by house speaker nancy pelosi. chinese officials say xi told biden those who play with fire will perish by it. the white house version was sanitized to say on taiwan president biden underscored that the united states policy has not changed. and as for the pandemic, which dominated this president's first year in office. >> on the phone today, did president biden ask president xi anything about getting to the bottom of the origins of covid?

>> so, on the origins of covid, the two presidents did discuss the health security and transparency is key part of that. >> peter: that's pretty vegas, we still do not have clarity about whether or not president biden pressed president xi to finally cooperate with international investigations into the earliest days of the pandemic. that is even though this president biden once said the world deserves answers and i will not rest until we get them. biden and xi did agree to meet in person at some point in the next couple months though. bret? >> bret: basically he said xi said. [laughter] on the north lawn. thanks. the president did get a victory of sorts when west virginia senator joe manchin agreed to a deal on a revised very scaled back but revived build back better spending plan now retitled. republicans are already slamming the bill calling it build back

broke and say it would devastate american families and businesses. democrats do fear voting shifts by the g.o.p. on other bills after this deal has been announced, congressional correspondent aishah hasnie has the latest on that from capitol hill. >> i'm here -- i have never been in reverse in my lifetime. >> a defiant senator joe manchin firing back at accusations that he flip flopped when he brokered a $740 billion drug, energy and tax deal with senate leader chuck schumer. the pair says by increasing the corporate tax rate, reforming prescription drug pricing, and expanding irs enforcement, the package will reduce the deficit by 300 billion. it also invests 369 billion in climate change provisions. including expanding the $7,500 tax credits for new electric car purchases. republicans say it will only add to out-of-control inflation. >> a reckless taxing and

spending spree that will delight the far left and hammer working families even harder. >> i know i'm not adding to inflation. >> while democrats rejoice, some quietly fear the surprise deal could cost other items on their agenda. last night a procedural vote on legislation to help veterans exposed to burn pits shockingly failed. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says republicans want to vote on an amendment to cap future expenditures. >> this is total bull [bleep]. this is the worst form of overpoliticization. >> they haven't met a war they won't sign up for and they haven't met a veteran they won't screw over. >> some democrats wonder if they may have also lost g.o.p. support for a gay marriage bill and house republicans attempted to block the $250 billion tips plus bill and apply pressure on vulnerable democrats after what appears to be manchin outmaneuvering mcconnell who

only voted for that bill after manchin backed away from climate spending. >> and all of this comes, bret, as senator manchin is still out sick with covid and now the number two senate democrat dick durbin is also positive. leader schumer saying today that he hopes to persevere and he is expected to keep the senate in session for at least the next 10 days, bret? >> bret: senator manchin will be my guest on "fox news sunday" this weekend. aishah, thank you. today the house approved a bill boosting the semiconductor industry by 243-187 margin sending that measure to president biden to be signed into law. a big win for the biden administration. it had lobbied hard to get that bill across the finish line. now it heads to the president's desk. stocks were up today on that news, even though technically in a recession, the dow gained 332, the s&p 500 finished ahead 49. the nasdaq jumped 130. let's bring in charles payne of

fox business. charles, good evening. markets. >> good evening. >> bret: like this bill going through? why did the markets bounce back today? >> charles: i think the markets like more, than anything else, what they heard from jay powell yesterday. remember, we had a huge session yesterday. >> it was like the best for nasdaq in over two years. just -- and if you pay close attention, he knows he wants to be tough, but at the same time, he gave enough hints at the first sign, the very first sign that maybe the coast is clear, they will stop hiking interest rates and at some point maybe even lower them. so that was a cue. the market took off big time yesterday. it spilled over into today. i will say today's session was interesting though. there are 11 s&p sectors. the ones that did the best are defensive, real estate, utilities which did benefit some from the manchin news and some of the high flying things. technology did okay but didn't do as well as you might have thought considering the chips act. i think this is a lot more about

the federal reserve maybe just seeing some light at the end of the tub. then, of course, if you look at this whole recession debate. remember, the feds goal is soft landing but they will take a recession as opposed to inflation. >> bret: you mentioned the manchin schumer deal. obviously we don't know if it's going to get the votes. we don't know where kirsten sinema is yet. it seems like it's heading down that path. part of that, to pay for that, is a 15% basically mandatory corporate tax. a minimum tax on corporations. here is senator rob portman. take a listen to this. he deals with enhanced depreciation for businesses. >> it doesn't take into account the fact that they have used the tax code as we want them to to do things like invest in research and development, to do things like expand their plant equipment by, you know, using the ability to write those off through depreciation and enhanced depreciation. >> bret: explain that to folks how that's kind of a big deal for businesses that are investing in new buildings, new

things, to grow the economy? >> we want to incentivize businesses. there's a reason why the united states has blossomed into the number one economic power the world has ever seen and that's because we are pro-business. and, you know, by being pro-business you urge them. you want them to go out there and you want them to build factories. you want them to do things like that. and, you know, even in today's g.d.p. number we saw with respect to structures. that was down. people are investing these businesses into software and things like that. so i think the idea here is that you take one step forward. you think you are, but you are actually taking one step back. these are punitive measures, bret. these are not economic measures. i think the audience really needs to understand that even when the president is selling it, it's like well, these -- a few companies are getting over on the system. they are not paying their fair share. that has nothing to do with economics. and everything to do with the emotions. pulling on the heart strings. making people angry. pointing fingers. you know we did that once in

this country. there was an op-ed written in the late 60's about these families that weren't paying taxes. so we end up with alternative minimum tax. go after 150 families. at one point it was suffocating 40 million americans. so, you know, we got to be careful when we go down these paths that are not economic in terms of their objective and everything to do with being punitive and somehow righting what people perceive as wrongs. these corporations hire americans. if you punish them, that will be less people that they will hire. >> bret: let alone also the government weighing in, supporting one corporation, one industry over another. >> right. i mean, after the bell today, for instance, intel just reported earnings, they are going to slow hiring. they are going to spend $4 billion less on the things you and i just talked about then they said just three months ago. also after the bell, amazon reported the earnings, they have 100,000 fewer workers than they had last quarter. things are hang rapidly in this economy. this is not the time punish

american businesses or put any sort of undue pressure on an economy that's becoming more fragile every single day. beneath the surface major cracks developing. we don't know them yet, but the data is going to come out a week from now, a month from now, two months from now, and we are going to regret this sort of harsh line in the sand that we are taking against the engine. what makes us wealthy and prosper us, it's corporations, individuals taking risk and why we have always been so successful. >> bret: charles payne, thank you for coming on. >> you get it, bret. thank you. >> bret: russian missiles launched an attack. also pounded the northern chernihiv region as well as in what ukraine said was revenge for standing up to the kremlin. ukrainian officials have announced a counter offensive to take back the occupied kerr shawn region. you see on the map there down in the bottom in the country's south, that territory was seized by russian forces early in the war. meantime the kremlin is warning

that negotiations need to be without fanfare on president biden's offer to give back a notorious arms dealer in exchange for americans britney griner and paul whalen, senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot has the latest tonight. >> russian officials confirming today an offer has been made by the u.s. to swap wnba store griner and whelan for reportedly russian weapons traitor viktor bout. didn't say how close the sides are including whether russian foreign lavrov and blink ken proposed by blinken happened. they did complain the u.s. was talking too much. >> so issues are discussed without any such release of any information. normally the public learns about it when the agreements are already implemented. >> in fact, this proposal has been an offer for weeks now. the u.s. trying to pressure russian president putin to end what it wrongful detention. >> this is a horrifying

practice. that puts lives in the balance ends in cases it calls for extraordinary tactics and measures. >> amid more complaints about the u.s. giving up boot. the so-called merchant of death had dealings with dictators, rebels and militias around the world including reportedly the taliban. some say this deal sets a dangerous precedent. >> this is not a good trade. it's not the right path forward. >> still for supporters of griner facing a possible 10 years in russian president and whelan just two years into a 16-year sentence, president biden's dangerous deal is worth doing. >> it's a hard call and fortunately i'm not the president of the united states. but if the president makes that difficult decision i would absolutely support paul's release. >> spokesperson for russian foreign minister lavrov said, in fact, he would consider secretary biden's request for that call when he had time.

she noted his schedule is busy. tell that to the americans locked up. bret? >> bret: greg, thank you. up next we hear about life on the tough streets of chicago from gang members talk with us about the crime epidemic there. first beyond our borders tonight north korean leader kim jong un says he is ready to use nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the u.s. and south korea. kim says those countries are pushing the korean peninsula against the brink of war. south korea is expressing what it calls deep regret over the threat. this is a live look at paris, one of the big stories there tonight, france's culture minister visits the restoration project at paris' notre dame cathedral. the trip comes more than three years after shocking fire tore through its roof, knocked down its fire and threaten to bring the rest of the medieval monument down as well. the second phase of the effort will be launched at the end ever the summer. the restoration is expected to be completed in 2024. just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight,

we'll be right back ♪ rock and roll ♪ we built this city ♪ we built this city on rock and roll ♪ built this city ♪

your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

♪ [beeping] do you want some more?!

wait 'til you see me on the downhill... [laughs] see you at home. enjoy advanced safety at the lexus golden opportunity sales event.

>> bret: washington, d.c. mayor muriel bowser is requesting

national guard assistance to help stem what she calls a growing can humanitarian crisis. prompted by thousands of hig migrants that have been sent to the district by texas and arizona. bowser wants an open-ended deployment of 150 national guard members per day as well as suitable federal location for a mass housing and processing center in d.c. a defense department official says the request is being considered. texas republican governor greg abbott says, quote: washington, d.c. finally understands what texans have been dealing with every single day. code infection and hospitalization numbers are trending upward and that is leading some different people in different states, leaders to, again, call for indoor mask mandates. and others to oppose those intensely. los angeles county is dropping a plan to impose a universal indoor mask mandate this week just out this afternoon. correspondent jonathan serrie has the latest in atlanta home to the cdc. >> roughly 90% of the u.s.

population is living in communities with medium or high covid risks. with you you can expect a patchwork of responses across the country. >> no flake supervisor describes critics of face masks as the board discusses the possible return of indoor mandate. >> i don't hear them riding me about shoes which are actually more oppressive to your feet than wearing a mask on your face. >> this evening, l.a. county decided to hold off on a mandate for now saying infection rates and hospitalizations there are trending in the right direction instead, they will strongly recommend people wear masks indoors, something local business leaders had been advocating let's educate on the best practices and protocols and encourage everyone to step it up let's not trample on people's choice on how they want to navigate this. >> this week a federal appeal's court upheld governor greg abbott's executive order banning school mask mandates against a

challenge of families seven children with underlying conditions. the judge explains it is plainly within the state's power to remove possible accommodation for consideration so long as other reasonable options remain nationally new covid cases are averaging more than 143,000 per day according to johns hopkins university. that's undercount many people test as the home. hospitalizations are also increasing but at 44,000 they remain a fraction of what they were during similar surges in cases for communities with high covid risk federal health officials recommend indoor masking but defer to state and local governments on how to make it happen. here in georgia several school districts are requiring employees to wear face masks but a new state law prevents them from requiring students to do the same. bret? >> bret: jonathan serrie in atlanta. thank you. officials in san francisco have reportedly declared a state of emergency over the monkey post

office box virus. that's according to the san francisco chronicle tonight it says the declaration allows resources and personnel to confront that outbreak. the city has reported 261 confirmed or probable monkey post office box cases so far. ♪ tonight, we look at america's crime crisis from a different point of view. senior correspondent mike tobin talked with gang members in what is arguably america's most dangerous city, chicago, about why they do what they do. >> gangsters say blood shed and chaos in chicago because there is chaos in the gang structure. these active members agreed to be interviewed with the condition that we don't give up their names or affiliation. >> there is no one who people look up to. everyone takes order. you want to go kill that man, they are going to kill that man. >> with founders and leaders

locked up or dead, the big gangs from the 80's and 90's, gangster disciples, black disciples, four corner hustlers and vice lord subdivided into traveler vice lords, mafia insane vice lords. conservative vice lords, on and on. they broke down from there to where they are just clicks, friends with guns. >> just chaotic. >> xavier was a vice lord. he was exonerated on a murder charge after serving 19 years and doesn't recognize the old gangs of chicago. >> now here there ain't really gangs more. all cliques and new stuff. >> here madison on the west side all the turf behind me belongs to the black souls. across the street four corner hustlers all it takes is for a member of the black souls to do what i'm doing now cross the street and that's enough to spark a shooting. >> what does it take for somebody to get shot? >> stepping on somebody's shoo-in chicago. dumb reasons to get shot over someone sneaking with another

person's girl. >> getting a gun is the easy part. >> i have a legal. >> do you have illegal guns? >> yes. >> which was easier to get? >> illegal. >> like all these different gun laws and laws that these people keep talking about they are going to come up. criminals in the street for one don't think they will get caught for two they don't even know about this stuff. >> they say chicago police do what they can with limited resources but gangsters are not afraid of law enforcement they are afraid of the other guy with a gun. >> what happens to guys in your line of work when they grow old? >> they either die or go to jail. that's what comes with being in the streets. i chose my life already. >> in chicago, mike tobin, fox news. >> bret: up next, new questions about whether president biden did meet with his son hunter's business associates. we will bring you that story. later from the capitol floor to the baseball diamond, congress gets ready to play hard ball. ♪ >> look, we got a lot of work to do and we are going to play hard. >> what i'm worried about is

throwing strikes and winning the game. ♪

hi! need new glasses? get 50% off a complete pair at visionworks! how can you see me squinting? i can't! i'm just telling everyone! hey! for a limited time, get 50% off for back to school. visionworks. see the differenc.

when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis persists... put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable,... i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. check. when uc held me back... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc got the upper hand... rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check. and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older... with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq... as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there, with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq. and learn how abbvie could help you save.

brit breaking tonight new fox polling on two of the big swing states for the midterms in georgia. democratic senator rafael warnock holding a four point advantage on republican herschel walker and republican republican brian kemp three up on stacy abrams in pennsylvania john federerman leads tv personality mehmet oz by 11 points in the senate race and democrat josh is a pirro is up 10 on republican doug pros industry an know for governor there. there are new doubt tonight about president biden's longstanding insistence has never been involved in his son's business dealings. at one time saying he didn't even talk about it new information indicates mr. biden met with more than a dozen of hunter's associates when he was vice president. correspondent david spunt has the latest tonight from the justice department. >> i have never spoken to my son about his overseas business

dealings. >> but a new review by fox news shows then vice president biden did speak with his son hunter's business associates at least 1 times. hunter biden is under federal investigation and he has been since 2018 for potential tax and foreign lobbying violations. the fox news digital review which includes hunter biden emails shows then vice president biden spoke with associates from mexico, ukraine, china, kazakhstan, and the united states. several of the interactions took place at the white house during the obama presidency per visitor log. >> we would also like to know why the doj is ignoring all the facts coming to light regarding the business dealings and illegal activities of hunter biden. >> there is no indication the president is a target of the investigation into his son. fox has learned the probe has reached what a source familiar calls a critical phase. hunter biden has not been charged with a crime but could be if the u.s. attorney in delaware and attorney general merrick garland give the green light. garland is already under

increasing pressure from republicans who want him to charge the younger biden and democrats who want garland to charge former president trump for his actions following the 2020 election. >> donald trump's announcement should not protect him from justice if he is guilty he should be pursued. >> investigations surrounding former president donald trump centers reportedly around a fake elector's scheme. this first reported by "the washington post" this week. also earlier this week, bret, you had on marc short, the former chief of staff to former vice president mike pence and he admitted that he did appear before a grand jury recently. bret? >> bret: david spunt at the justice department. david, thank you. the owner of the nfl's washington franchise, the washington commanders, formerly the redskins testifying today before a congressional committee investigating the team's history of workplace misconduct.

dan snyder spoke at the closed session, the house oversight committee launched its probe last year after the league fined the team $10 million for a number of violations. we are just a few minutes away from the annual congressional baseball game, security is intense there. climate protesters have vowed to demonstrate outside the stadium and there is still the memory of the attack on the lawmakers during a practice five years ago republican lawmakers practicing there. congressional correspondent chad pergram reports on this bipartisan effort from nationals park here in washington. >> the sights and sounds of baseball. an inherently partisan game play booed two teams the yankees and red sox or tonight democrats and republicans. pennsylvania's mike doyle manages the democrats. >> let's not give these guys any outs they don't deserve. >> roger williams is a former atlanta braves farm hand and g.o.p. skipper. >> carrying that trophy back

friday on the house floor and let pelosi see it. >> both managers as passionate about baseball as 10-year-olds trading bubble gum cards sparky anderson once said that players make the manager florida's greg steube cracked a home run out of nats park as the g.o.p. beats the democrats last year. >> will there be another home run. >> i hope so. god willing. >> lawmakers play for keeps. >> i think if you are a gambling person you need to load up on republicans. >> i made a pete rose slide into home plate that i didn't really execute the way pete rose did it. and busted my nose. >> iowa's joni ernst is one of only five women playing and the only senator suiting up. >> there are a lot of congressman that will approach me about bills they are working on in the house. and they hope that i will pick it up in the senate. >> politics still happen on the diamond. presidents use the game to lobby members to vote yes on big policy initiatives. security will be tighter than a big league game after the

shooting at the 2017 g.o.p. practice. this year climate activists threaten to disrupt the contest. >> we we wouldn't practice this much if we thought the game would be shut down. >> more than 20,000 fans in attendance the game could raise close to $2 million for d.c. charities. >> this is nice break from what we do every day and the battle on the floor. >> there are similarities between baseball and congress. it's either safe or out, ball or strike. on capitol hill bills pass or fail. members vote yes or no. and tonight on the field, one team will win and one team will lose. bret? >> bret: chad pergram at the stadium. chad, thank you. our baseball expert. congressional expert. it's a great thing annually. can you see the game tonight 7:05 p.m. eastern time on fox sports 2. it's also streaming on fox nation. check it out. up next, the panel on the u.s. economy and senator joe manchin's deal on the new massive spending bill, what's in it first, here is what some of our fox affiliates arranged the

country are covering tonight wbrb in louisville astor religion rains unleash flash flooding and mud slides in eastern kentucky killing eight people we are told. one emergency official describes the situation as catastrophic as rescue crews search for stranded people. mud slides and power outages across the mountainous region where thunderstorms have dumped several inches of rain over just the past few days. and this is a live look at new york city. one of the big stories there tonight from fox 5, the skelton of sorrows has sold more for man $6 million at auction. it's believed to be about 77 million years old. it was discovered in montana in 2018. 77 million. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report," we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [jurassic park theme song]

♪ but my body was telling a different story. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. it's nice people focus more on me. ask your doctor about ingrezza, #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as zero dollars

at ingrezza.com. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire the unknown is not empty. it's a storm that crashes, and consumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty.

an answer. uncovered through exploration, teamwork, and innovation. an answer that leads to even more answers. mayo clinic. you know where to go. ♪ but i like it, i love it, ♪ ♪ i want some more of it ♪ ♪ i try so hard, i can't rise above it ♪ ♪ i don't know what it is 'bout that little ♪ get a dozen shrimp for only one dollar with any steak entrée. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood.

>> the agreement reached yesterday between leader schumer of new york and senator manchin is a major step forward in our fight against inflation if will

be the most important investment not hyperbole the most important investment we have made in energy security. >> these are things people have been crying out for, demanding. >> the last thing we should be doing is putting another trillion dollars tax and spend bill into an economy that has both record high inflation and a recession. that is only something that joe biden could accomplish. >> well, we have the g.d.p. number today, second quarter in a row of contraction and you heard senator tom cotton, is he not alone. the federalist with an opinion that the dems new proposal does nothing to lower inflation. the inflation reduction act features new taxes on natural gas and coal production. how could a senator from west virginia ever support a proposal that promises a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. inflation reduction act is to inflation what the affordable care act, which doubled premium costs was to healthcare insurance. but, you heard there are some proponents of this deal between manchin and schumer and how it came together.

let's bring in our panel, josh holmes, co-host of the ruthless podcast. former chief of staff to senator mitch mcconnell. kimberley strassel member of the editorial board of the "wall street journal" and jonathan swan, national political reporter of axios. you know, jonathan, we spent the week here in the white house kind of redefine and twist what a recession was. technically you had this contraction. but now this is a big win. you get the chips bill to the president's desk that he is going to sign. and now you have this deal. we don't know if they have the votes to get it across the finish line, but they are talking about it. >> yeah. it's a big if though. this was done in complete secrecy. >> bret: between -- not each senators. >> truly, people that you would ordinarily expect. this came out and i said what the heck is this? and i stopped calling all the normal people that would normally know about this and they are like, you know, i didn't know anything about this. senators didn't know about this. kyrsten sinema, who is the key vote, she didn't know about this. she was not consulted.

so she is busily reading the text of this and trying to understand what's in it. so, it's a big if. and, you know, we don't know what's going to happen yet. but, yet, if they get this in for them, it does give their base a lot of the things that they promised. and here is, as josh, you know, talks about a lot, one of the biggest problems democrats have this year is a base intensity problem. they are disenchanted a lot of the progressive base. that's why you are seeing them to do things guys don't give up on us, it's worth coming up and voting in november because there is a lot of energy on the right and the left, you know, have been fairly disorganized and disenchanted. >> bret: kimberly, senator manchin answering questions. he is recovering from covid. answering questions about how this deal came together. take a listen. >> did you guys pull a fast one on republicans after the chip vote had passed in announcing your deal? >> no. you know. i sure hope they don't feel that way. i mean, i understand that

they're. but i don't know why because here's the thing. you know, first of all, kirsten, i have not spoken to her about this. people wrote the bill wrote the content. we schumer staff, the white house were basically kept apprized of what was going on to a certain extent. >> bret: the hill has a piece from steve clemens close to manchin how manchin struck this manchin never left the knowingiating table schumer did. he believed never worth the time never would come around. what many continue to miss is that manchin remained consistent what he wanted throughout. he kept telling schumer that the end of the fiscal year septembea good deal to be had. it happened wednesday when schumer, pelosi and the white house came around to where manchin basically always had been. that is the manchin point of view through the hill opinion piece there, kimberly. your thoughts on all of this? >> well, manchin did make it very clear that he never left the negotiating table so by the way more fool republicans.

mitch mcconnell had said back in june that there would not be any chips semiconductor bill no republican support for it so long as democrats were still engaged in the reconciliation process. and then they basically just assumed that joe manchin wouldn't ultimately get there. that was a clearly a giant mistake. and their own interest in home state subsidies for the semiconductor industry ended up making them step up this week and give away that leverage and basically paveed the way for this deal to go ahead. sons if it does cross the finish line, republicans i don't think it's really correct for them to say they were duped. i think that's unfair to the two real dupes everywhere. >> bret: here is senator mcconnell and senator manchin, take a listen. >> a few years back, our colleague senior senator from west virginia said, quote: i don't think that during a time of recession you mess with any of the taxes or increase any

taxes. but alas, yesterday, washington democrats they plan to do exactly that. >> all hell broke loose thursday night thinking i walked away or i reversed my decision. i have never been reversed in my lifetime. i never walked away. >> bret: you go into the weeds of this bill. and you know, josh, the devil is in the details here. and basically, the most of the money comes from corporate minimum tax, 15%. it takes away the depreciation possibility for businesses. >> i mean, look, i think the fact of the matter is that democrats don't need republicans on this at all. i disagree a little bit with what kim was saying is that this is an exercise that by definition is a democratic only deal. the question is whether or not manchin would go back on months' long commitments that he had made to people about not raising taxes, about reducing deficits. about concern for inflation. obviously this doesn't do anything about that. raising taxes.

>> bret: they claim it reduces the deficit, we will see where the numbers go. >> we will see where the numbers go. the heavy emphasis on this is a green new deal light. what do you tell a mom who is trying to buy groceries for her kids about the necessity of a new investment in new mail trucks. green mail trucks? that is a very difficult piece of messaging for democrats to execute at this late juncture when we are dealing with and they have spent the week talking about whether or not we are in a recession trying to redefine the rules of a recession. and so, like this is an omnipresent conversation that's happening all around democrats that seem to be ignoring that. >> bret: to that point, the climate argument, the president has always said he wanted to get there. but at this time to get there, does it hurt them in the midterms to josh's point? >> i don't see how it hurts them because, look, it's the best political environment for republicans since 2010. they are facing potential bloodbath. and their biggest problem right now is trying to get their base to turn up.

they are not actually -- like the independents, if you look at the polling, they are behaving like republicans it's a huge problem. the way biden people and democratic party at large see it, we need to get our base side about us. when you look at the generic ballot much closer than you think given the president's poll rating because polarization what it is. let's do a few things to get our base energized people are already so soured on us because of inflation that's not going to change before the midterms. i don't see there is a huge downside risk in this frankly that's my personal. >> bret: could be a good week for them overall. up next the biden call to china. pelosi-taiwan trip. we will go into all of that next. ♪

if you don't stain your deck, it's like the previous owner is still hanging around. so today let's stain, with behr, the #1 rated stain. and make your deck, yours. behr. exclusively at the home depot.

let me be direct. why would you pay more than double for teeth straightening with invisalign? with smiledirectclub, you get a doctor-directed smile you love for sixty percent less. that's a lot less. like a lot. choose smile. choose direct. ♪ smiledirectclub ♪ medium latte, half-caff, no foam. quite the personalized order. i know what i like. i've been meaning to ask you, carl. does your firm offer personalized index investing? hmm? so i can remove a stock that doesn't align with my goals. i'm a broker, not a barista.

what about managing gains and losses to be more tax efficient? not a wizard either. looks like schwab personalized indexing can. schwaaab! learn more about personalized indexing at schwab today. >> bret: president biden talking with chinese president xi. here's the china readout on that call. china firmly opposes separatist moves towards taiwan independence and interference by external forces never allows room for forces whatever form. public opinion cannot be defied. those play with fire will be burned by it the u.s. should honor the one china principle and implement the joint communiques both in word and in deed. here is the u.s. readout on taiwan president biden underscores that the united states holy has to the changed united states opposes unilateral

efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the taiwan strait. i'm not sure kimberly whether that was the same call. >> that was classic chinese rhetoric. constantly saber ratling when it comes to taiwan. i think, you know, it will be interesting to see if anything concrete comes out of this, but the most important thing on this is what follows now. because this is done, obviously, surrounding the question of pelosi and this trip to taiwan, you can argue over whether or not she ever said she was going to go do it, but having said she is, it would be very weak, it would look very weak for the united states to now back down. >> bret: you know, josh, some people, senator cotton and other people up on the hill say that the white house leaked that pelosi was going on this trip. the fact this is playing out publicly is really quite something. >> it's really terrible. yeah, no. i think the imprecision of the president's language has got him in a problem. back in may he talked about how he would respond militarily with taiwan. the state department had to walk

all of that back. and then earlier this week when talking about the pelosi trip. he said it the defense department suggest that the defense department had a different view than the administration about whether that trip was appropriate, which, of course, invites the chinese to have this sort of rhetoric about the trip in general. so, yeah, look. auto lot of this is self-made to be honest with you. >> bret: this call, their, u.s. china policy seems like it is a vulnerability for the biden administration and this president are. you have china reportedly infiltrating the preserve federal reserve. you have what they are doing with their currency. have you this saber ratling with taiwan and all the things china is doing. what about this, jonna? >> well, actually, china policy is one of the areas where president biden has been most reluctant to change president trump's policies. they have effectively kept in place president trump's trade policies. >> bret: tariffs. >> bret: considering lifting. >> sure this issue apparently the chinese have been very

bellicose behind the scenes in their conversations with their counterparts in the u.s. and they are quite concerned about this. it's actually a rare example of a split between the biden administration and speaker pelosi. we don't know whether she will go ahead with the trip but the signals are that she may still do that. and it was very unusual for president biden to go on the record and say that he disagreed with that. >> bret: u.s. military said don't go. it's fascinating. we will follow it panel, thank you. kimberly, thank you. finally tonight a special report salute double header. the annual pony swim on the eastern shore of virginia is back after two year hiatus due to the pandemic. 150 ponies were herded through the water. conditions would come. raise funds for veterinary care. in california just to keep it on animals, 600 goats were unleashed on a regional park. the grazing gang they are called will reduce fire fuels and hazards. there you go.

you know, horses and goats. that's how we end tonight. tomorrow on "special report," an update on the investigation into the leak leak of the u.s. supreme court draft of it controversial decision on abortion. where is that investigation? we will bring it to you. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and still unafraid. "jesse watters primetime" is now, horses and goats. that's how i tossed to you i usually get a bear video. >> jesse: i can't beat horses and goats. i'm interested. i want to stick around. >> bret: all right. see you. >> jesse: see you. ♪ ♪ today joe biden proved to "primetime" that he is compromised. he is not really in charge. biden has just been a front man for the national security state. after taking a two-hour phone call with our biggest enemy, chinese president xi jinping, biden came out of it with nothing. according to readouts from the call, biden never brought up the wuhan lab leak and he didn't