While gas prices are down from a year ago theyve rising in recent weeks. How are americans dealing with it. Welcome everyone. Im charles for neil cavuto. We have Team Coverage from New York City on shoppers feeling the pinch. How this is going to play on the Campaign Trail. Its Consumer Price index report shows prices increased 3. 2 percent over last year, just slightly below expectations. 2 10 percent month over month suggesting inflation is not resurging some calling this report encouraging news but the numbers show how Consumer Wallets Con to be stretched. You can see here charles that cost for shelter up 7. 7 percent over last year. New vehicles up in price 3. 5 percent. Food prices higherpy 4. 9 percent. Basics popping, white bread 10. 7 percent higher than last year, cereal Bakery Products up 7 percent, apples up 7. 5 percent. Even this slow down we have seen inflation from nine to three is of no benefit to the consumer. That just means the price of everything theyre buying has gone up slightly slower than it was before. Theyre still really being squeezed hard and we are seeing that in so many areas. Areas like credit card spending, debt just topped one trillion dollars for the first time on record and americans are pulling money out of 401 k accounts on hardship withdrawals. 15,950 second quarter. A 12 percent increase over the beginning of the year and 30 percent from a year ago. 6 of 10 americans say theyre living paycheck to check. The big question is whether the Federal Reserve will take the cpi report and hike Interest Rates in september. Currently 90. 5 percent of investors tied to the Benchmark Rate predict there will be no hike. But the 11 Interest Rate hikes we have had are forcing home and auto home rates higher so some might think the damage to the consumer has already been done. Charles back to you. The coast isnt clear so the question is how this will affect the campaign trial. Aisha. Hey charles, it is playing out on the Campaign Trail as we speak. Inflation and the economy is what the candidates have wanted to be talking about all this time and theyve been talking about the trump indictments but its what iowa voters want to hear. Traditional republican i want to know what theyre going to do about this deficit spending. We have got to get this under control. Our inflation is just going to take off again on us. So the economy tops the list of issues that are most important to Iowa Republicans according to a recent fox business poll. Florida Governor Ron Desantis who is hoping to win over iowans after a series of Campaign Shake ups telling folks how he plans to tackle inflation. We are going to on day one take all the Biden Regulations and Executive Orders and we are going to throw them in the trashcan on january 20, 2025. Because ultimately what Biden Economics is about is about your standard of living going down so he and his cronies can pursue their agenda and that doesnt work for the average american. The economy has come up during governor kim reynolds fair side chats the governor asking larry elder a question from the audience how he would lower gas and food prices and elder responding saying he would make america energyindependent. Former President Trump will be the only candidate in iowa skipping the governors event. Former new Jersey Governor Chris Christie is actually not going to attend because hes in New Hampshire instead. Charles. Aisha thank you very much. 75 percent of americans rating the economy poor inflation having a lot to do with that but the election is a way to go from here but the question is how is it going to impact everything in 2024. I bring in democratic stat jits doug with the Hill Reporter emily brooks. Emily start with you, we are getting to a point where economists and pokes who watch politics closely say people are going to have a set number in mind summer into fall where inflation is there theyll probably remember that a year from now heading to the ballot box. Well things can change but yes right now this is a problem for democrats, and we have seen with the white house and President Biden trying to turn this around, and say that the new Inflation Numbers are good embracing the term bidenomics but you see republicans happy to use that term for their experts and say its actually bad leaning into that Public Opinion that things are not going well with the economy. So, this is certainly going to stay alive and as polls show that the publics opinion how joe biden has been handling the economy and inflation are pretty low. Its definitely something the white house will have to work on heading into 2024. Doug its the stuff that wall street tries to ignore core inflation, we live with real inflation so food prices matter, through the roof, bread up 10 percent, cereal 5 percent, cookies up 8 percent, steak up 8 percent, bacon through the roof. One guest we had a man on the street someone complaining about the expense of eating out and at home and angelina roaring on. We know the relationship gasoline and politics is a tough one and that isnt going to ease up soon. The polling as weve discussed before shows that biden gets ratings in the low to mid 30s in handling the economy, over 60 percent, negative his overall approval is 40 percent, and youre exactly right. People are not looking at inflation coming down. Theyre looking at the prices theyre paying at the pump and in the congressry store and you know what, theyre still much higher than they can deal with. I thought your man on the street interviews got it right and i think biden is just plain wrong thinking he can run on the economy, given whats going on in the real world. In the real world it feels we are living on borrowed credit owe over a trillion dollars. Payments on these things are sky high. It feels like the average person out there is living on borrowed time and that re flekts in the polls as well. That sentiment and those statistics are what i hear republicans strategist pointing to so what i hear members of congress have republicans pointing to and one of the Big Questions in 2024, big arguments from republican side as President Biden tries to show i am improvement in the economy is question is whether the nominee is former President Trump or not is going to be looking back how the economy was under the republican president and so it depends how much voters are thinking about the last few years and their situation even if theyre improved. Doug, right until covid hit we were seeing things in the Economy Economists said were impossible. Trillions of dollars have poured n. How does President Biden figure out the parts he wants to elevate himself . Yeah, i think biden should be talking about the real pain people are facing that we have made some progress but that there is real hardship and pain in the administration and theyre working on it talking with rose color glasses about the effectiveness of Biden Economics which is the numbers you put on the screen show, 60odd percent of the American People reject so i think the administration has got the wrong tone and message. You know what doug that is 100 percent spot on. You can tell people theyre not in pain when theyre in pain. Exactly. Thank you both very much doug emily. A mob pulling off massive retail heist in california in broad daylight. Why do we see these things happening again and again . From paradise to peril, Deadly Wildfires sweeping across the Hawaiian Island of maui. Our dogs are stuck in the house. We dont know if our house is burned. We dont know if our animals are alive or not. Were reinventing our network. With smarter, more efficient routes. So you can deliver more value to your customers. Fast. Reliable. Perfectly orchestrated. The United States postal service. vo Verizon Small Business days are back. From august 7th to the 13th. Get a free tech check and special offers. Like a free 5g phone. Plus, switch, keep your number, and get up to 300 off. With verizon business. Its your business. Its your verizon. Two hawaii, death toll mounting as fires burn through maui, at least 36 kill as thousands of residents race to escape. Max has the latest. From paradise to a blackenned hellscape you can smell the scent of charred Brush Hacking in the air here but there is good news. You can see on the horizon there there is rain clouds and much needed rain for the island. Oh my gosh. Look at the harbor. Oh my gosh. People here in maui have dealt with so much loss in these fires at least 36 dead, the deadless since the 2018 camp fire in california, but conditions very dry and winds from Hurricane Dora fanned the fires spreading quickly gusts 85 Miles Per Hour reported. Communities on maui decimated. Block after block in lahaina burned to the ground, some people jumping in the ocean to escape the flames, some left with nothing. Resident here about 18 years and we just had the worst disaster ive ever seen. All is burnt to a crisp and its like im [indistinct]. At least 11,000 people evacuated by Air Officials telling tourists to stay away from the island of maui. Max thank you very much. By the way, we are going to have to head away in a moment, but i bring in jeffrey who says he lost two houses in the fire. Thanks for taking the time. The images look apocalyptic to us and hard to imagine how this could happen so quickly. Walk us through what you saw and experienced. I was at my house on front street in the town of lahaina and i noticed smoke over the commercial district and it got bigger. 4 00 i rode down to shaw district. The Salvation Army building was in flames, winds 4050 Miles Per Hour spreading embers and smoke. I couldnt see them through commercial district because the smoke was too thick. About 7 00 i walked through our particular neighborhood and the fire had jumped shaw street and heading our direction. We had to run out of there because the flames and smoke were coming rapidly and i got back to my house and we had about 10 minutes to load things in the car before smoke and embers were starting to engulf my house. Now everything is just develop stayed. Jeffrey its one of these just looking at the scenes listening to you one of these incidents seems leak you didnt even have time to help your neighbor. I saw a clip where a couple didnt know if their pets were alive or not which probably underscores the urgency to get out of there as the smoke and fire roar toward you had to feel like, did you feel like your life was, that it would have been life or death that you could have perished . It didnt quite get to that point. Another 10 or 15 minutes i would have. I have a ten at down the street that left early in the day never dreaming they wouldnt be allowed to come back. They had two lab were labradors that per issued. Im reading about the winds that played a role in this. You saw no one saw this coming. How do you explain it . Its just the nature of it, what sparked it and how it spread so quickly is hard to fathom. This was windier than ive experienced and i starred seeing Wind Damage Trees falling by mid afternoon and the fire started. Im not sure what started it but we are talking 50 mileanhour winds and there was nothing firefighters could do. It was out of control. With that wind it spread incredibly rapidly and nobody saw this coming. Looks like a Military Attack or something. We would like to check back in on you in a day or two. Thank you. Thanks a lot. The head of fema is coming up to talk about efforts to help revitalize that area, the Biden Administration reaching a deal with iran to get 5 americans out of prison and on house arrest. In Exchange Iran will get funds or more so was this the right or wrong move, ill ask general jack keene. President biden says hes looking to End Oil Drilling on both koechlts i coasts. I wonder if he sees whats happening at the pumps lately. Ah, these bills are crazy. She has no idea shes sitting on a goldmine. Well she doesnt know that if she owns a Life Insurance policy of 100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. Even a term policy. Even a term policy . Even a term policy find out if youre sitting on a goldmine. 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Head of fema heading to hawaii to address the fires, plus thieves stealing thousands of b dollars of merchandise, wh are we seeing this . Back in 30 seconds. And we would experience turbulence. I would watch the Flight Attendants. If theyre not nervous, then im not going to be nervous. Financially, im the Flight Attendant in that situation. The relief that comes over people once they know theyve got a guide to help them through, i definitely feel privileged to be in that position. Lowes knows a Style Refresh is even more refreshing. When its at the right price. Thats why, weve we pull our favorite looks together instore and in in the app. So it is easy to get the look you want for less. You got this. We got you. The federal Emergency Management agency offering assistance for the maui wildfires, thank you for taking the time. Walk us through agencys role now as these residents try to restore their lives. Yes, thanks charles. You know with the president s approval of the governors request for Disaster Declaration allows us to tap into federal partners to provide assistance as neededed to help 1 to continue suppress the fires that are ongoing but also to help the individuals that have been impacted. Some of the things we can help do is reimburse some of the costs that the local communities are experiencing really brave First Responders and the work theyre going into allows us to tap into our resources that we have on the island like Food Water Cots and so forth but also is going to provide Med Assistance to jump start the process for those individuals who have lost anything. It can be anything from Financial Assistance to support home repairs or replacement costs to prices counseling or disaster unemployment. Those are all things that are part of this Disaster Declaration. Looking at the devastation pretty clear the folks there will need all the above. Yes. Im concerned about lodging. Where will people stay . Looks like so many homes are just annhilated. Im not sure what other additional shelter could there be out there and it recalls new orleans to a degree when fema brought in all the rvs and Different Things for people to stay but of course this is maui. Its a long way from the mainland. Sounds like a larger challenge at the least. Absolutely, i talked with the governor earlier today and we talk specifically about some of the challenges and things we can do to support both the immediate sheltering needs that families have but what are those longterm Solutions Going to be and we are going to have to be really creative in how we are going bring in resources to support because you said we use a lot of Travel Trailers and rvs around the country right now but certainly thats going logistically more challenging so what else can we do and i committed to the governor we will use all the next built in our authority to be creative how we are going to provide that interim and longterm house to go support all those families that have been impacted by this tragic event. Do you have a message you want to send to the folks in maui who may be watching right now . Yeah, absolutely. We now have the ability to come in and help you and so, if you havent registered for assistance you know i encourage you to start that process. 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