hearing right now. and move to a combination of the policies that we grew up with. and some of the policies that donald trump brought in during his four years. >> all right. former governor chris christie, thank you so much. the new book is "republican rescue: saving the party from truth deniers, conspiracy theoryists and the dangerous policies of joe biden." that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hey there. i'm stephanie ruhle live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is tuesday, november 16th. and here's what we're watching this hour. so let's get smarter. president biden set to hit the road to sell the bipartisan hard infrastructure bill he signed into law yesterday. as a state of the larger social spending bill remains uncertain but democratic leadership is vowing to pass it this week. we're also watching a federal courthouse here in manhattan where jury selection is now under way in the highly anticipated sex trafficking trial of ghislaine maxwell. jeffrey epstein's longtime friend and ally. on capitol hill, the big question this morning, what will the january 6th committee do next, as longtime trump ally steve bannon vows to fight the charges he's facing. and in the trial of kyle rittenhouse, the jury will be back in the courthouse to begin deliberations as both the prosecution and defense delivered their closing arguments yesterday. the city of kenosha now bracing for possible unrest following the verdict. all of this after another surprise bombshell with potentially huge ramifications. the judge dismissing a weapons charge against the 18-year-old. gabe gutierrez in kenosha. dave henderson former civil rights attorney joins us and right on set, good to see someone in person, criminal defense attorney danny cevallos. what's the latest? >> reporter: now, the jury must decide that central question, did this teenage provoke the violence, or just defend himself against it. this morning, kyle rittenhouse's case will be in the hands of the jury, after closing arguments painted two very different pictures. >> he feared for his life. >> the defendant provoked everything. >> reporter: last august during protests in kenosha, wisconsin, rittenhouse shot and killed two men and wounded a third. the prosecution portrayed rittenhouse as a wannabe soldier that provoked the bloodshed. >> you cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create. >> reporter: arguing rittenhouse crossed state lines looking for trouble. >> no serious credible medic wears an ar-15 slung across their body. >> reporter: rittenhouse's team doubling down on the self-defense argument. >> every person who was shot was attacking kyle. kyle shot joseph rosenbaum to stop the threat to his person. and i'm glad he shot him. >> reporter: rittenhouse went to kenosha to protect the city from rioters as he was ambushed. his attorney comparing his client to the police officer who shot jacob blake, the incident that sparked the unrest. >> other people in this country shot somebody seven times and it's been found to be okay. and my client did tell four times in three quarters of a second to protect his life. >> reporter: both sides also revisiting rittenhouse's own emotional testimony. >> he was willing to get up on that witness stand. take the oath and tell his story. >> he broke down crying about himself. not about anybody that he hurt that night. >> reporter: the now 18-year-old faces five felony counts including intentional homicide. the judge dismissed a sixth count, a misdemeanor gun possession charge because of an exception in the law. jurors may also consider some lesser charges that they acquit rittenhouse on more serious counts. the city of kenosha now bracing for a verdict in a trial that is testing the limits of self-defense. >> braising for a verdict. what does that mean? what does that look like, gabe? i'm thinking about all of the small businesses there, are they boarding up their windows, getting ready to shut down? >> reporter: well, stephanie, some businesses have boarded up, but very few. compared to the temperature here last year in august 2020 when there was so much tension and emotions were so raw, it is much less than that. but as i mentioned there are about 500 national guard members brought here by the wisconsin governor if local law enforcement ask them to come in. stephanie, i was inside the courthouse yesterday, security here is very tight. >> i believe it. danny, help me understand what went on in that courtroom yesterday. rittenhouse's attorney is doubling-down on this idea of self-defense. does that fly self-defense while you're carrying a assault-style rifle? >> yes, it's a false narrative just because rittenhouse was wearing an ar-15 that he was provoking violence. the state itself is not making that argument. their argument is provocation, they've put all of their chips in provocation. if it hasn't, it could negate the entire self-defense claim. or if the prosecution proves provocation, they need to re-establish first by retreating and, second, communicating that withdrawal. and if he didn't do that, he won't be able to take advantage of self-defense. self-defense is everything for the defense. provocation is everything for the prosecution. which is why you heard it many times in closing yesterday. but the defense correctly pointed out that the prosecution never mentioned provocation once in their opening statements. they only developed that theory throughout the trial when the video photographic evidence emerged supposedly showing rittenhouse initialing the attack with rosenbaum. >> what's your take on this, prosecution saying you cannot claim self-defense against danger that you yourself created? >> steph, i agree with the premise. the problem is what danny broke down in terms of self-defense and provocation. what gun owners tend to confuse is that you can own a gun, you can carry a gun. you cannot point your gun at someone. the moment you point your gun at someone, the person you point it at has the right to self-defense. that's how you should have broken down the initial encounter with rosenbaum. but, we've seen this, steph, throughout the trial. because if you just look at this in a global view. when i ask people, hey, look, between murder and manslaughter, what do you think the charge is shooting rosenbaum? the first person, surely it's murder. and it's not. it'sist to manslaughter which is third -- excuse me, first degree reckless homicide. so the prosecution has set them up for convoluted arguments back there in jury deliberations. >> danny, why so late in the game would the judge dismiss the weapons charge? wouldn't that happen straight out of the gate? >> because judges are regular people like you and i and they get confused. it's a very tricky statute. >> that's what you think? you watched this whole trial and you think this judge was innocently confused? >> absolutely. >> all right. >> what i'm about to say, he should have dismissed it at the outset of the case, whatever vagueness or constitution problem the statute has existed at the beginning of the case. but trials are fast-moving defense. when brought up to the judge, he doesn't have the benefit of internet research or law clerk to help him out. ideally, should it be dismissed at the outset, yes, but he eventually dismissed it. why it's so significant is that observers mostly thought this was the layup against kyle rittenhouse. after all, the statute says, are you under 18, do you have a firearm? but that's not all the statute says. the statute goes on. and it has a bunch of other conditions, and that's where the complexity arose. that's why the judge ultimately dismissed it. it wasn't the main part of the statute. it was the minutia. and that's how kyle rittenhouse got a major dismissal. because at least thematically, he's not somebody who is illegally carrying a firearm. and it that could have seeped into the jury's deliberation. >> ayman, what do you think? >> i think i'm the only legal analyst to think that the charges dropped, and in this case, with what happened to grosskreutz, his arm is never going to work the same again. you have to look in the eyes of the families of those people, and tell them that you achieved justice in that courtroom. and when you've killed people, criminally disabled people and almost killed more people a year's worth of probation or less is simply not justice. prosecutors use these types of charges too get compromised charges when they know they can't prove their case, and gross injustice not just for the people hurt and killed families, but also, these come out in broader context, and lots of people have been wrongfully convicted because prosecutors sought crimes they knew they couldn't prove. and if you're holding rittenhouse accountable it couldn't be on the state couldn't prove the more complicated charges they thought rittenhouse was guilty of. >> gabe, you were inside that courthouse yesterday. what stuck out the most? >> reporter: yeah, stephanie, because of covid protocols and so many people want to get in that courtroom. it's not possible each day. but yesterday, i was there for part of the closing argument. i must say seeing the graphic photos of the gunshot wounds in person in the courtroom, it was very powerful that the prosecution showed. it's hard to gauge the reaction of individual jurors. earlier in the trial, during some of those intense moments, were have heard from reporters in the courtroom, some of the jurors grimaced. i did not see that yesterday but it was still very powerful. you could feel the tension in the room when that happened. as i mentioned earlier, there's very, very tight security here inside the courthouse as well. and tension in that sense. stephanie, one thing i should mention, too, just a short time, i know we're waiting for jury deliberations to begin in less than an hour, the judge will select randomly from the lottery tumbler that i did see in that room, 12 jurors will be randomly selected from the 18 hearing the case thus far. the judge said that the extra six will then be kept in a separate room inside the courthouse. but we're also waiting on that. but before the deliberations actually begin, within the hour, we're selecting the selection of those 12 jurors to happen and then deliberations get under way, steph. >> of the 18 jurors, one is african american. thank you all. david, danny, gabe, definitely made us smarter this morning. coming up steve bannon shows up in court for contempt charges and uses it as a publicity stint with the cameras rolling. plus, a major step in the highly anticipated trial of longtime jeffrey epstein confidant ghislaine maxwell. we're going to take you live inside the courthouse where it's all going down. you can bet your bottom dollar i'm paying attention to that. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us what can i du with less asthma? 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>> so what happens thursday, bannon will plead not guilty, it's cut and dried on thursday. beneath the bluster of steve bannon's appearance which included a camera crew from his whole thing live streaming turned himself into the fbi, two things substantive legal things. one, it's clear he's going to be arguing on the advice of counsel when his lawyer told him not to show up at all to the committee. and there have been cases acting on advice of counsel, most considered an absolute defense. that's the substantive issue. the second one is executive privilege. he said the president asserted it and that's why he didn't show up. and that's an interesting question because the courts have yet to resolve much executive privilege a former president like donald trump has. so those are substantive issues yet to be hashed out. >> carol. >> steve bannon was not arrested. he made an appointment to surrender to authorities. he heard the charges, he did not have to post bail. he walked out. it was an opportunity for him to create a mini press conference. he threatened people on camera. this is a big show for him. did this play out exactly as he wanted? >> well, i mean, obviously, it's what he wanted. and what i think is so striking about the discord or the difference between what pete lays out and what he actually said on the courthouse steps is discord legally. because it is substantive to claim, hey, i relied on advice of counsel. it's sort of strange to have your lawyer next to you and saying you're absolutely defiant and you're going to come for joe biden or you're going to come for nancy pelosi. you're going to use this as a revenge tool. those two things don't commute. and i'm pretty sure steve bannon's words will be used against him by the prosecution when they go back in court. >> steve bannon's attorney, one of former trump's attorney. the same attorney bannon railed against at the time. joyce, if bannon wants to brag this out, there's no better way to make this happen than to let it go to trial. all of the cameras will be rolling. how do you see this panning out? >> bannon has been given a lot of rope and as carol said he's proceeding to hang himself because prosecutors will be able to use his own words against him. he's all but admitted to the substance of apps to the factual basis that the doj indicts him on. so we're back to the legal arguments and how they play out in of course. the potential for delay is still there, but it's not as great. this is not a complicated case. there will be some motions practiced. but it's possible it could proceed to trial pretty much within the guidelines said up by the speedy trial app. that may be too optimistic, that's only 70 days. but although there are prospects for appeal post conviction, the fact of that conviction alone would be a tremendous boost to the january 6th committee's work. >> bannon said yesterday he's going on offense. the last i checked that's his only lane. what are is he talking about here? >> well, steph, i think he's using this to stoke the grievances of trump's base of the millions of followers who tune into bannon's podcast who look for him on debtor, the social media platform. keep in mind it could be other aides held in contempt. remember, there's mark meadows. there's so many others who have been subpoenaed to cooperate with the congressional committee who have not come forward for their interviews. so this could be the beginning of a series -- of criminal events over the next several weeks. and, bannon, i think, is trying to set a tone on behalf of trump world this is time to be combative, it's time to be defensive, it's time to stand up and make a show, a spectacle of it all. >> again, combative and putting on a show is the only lane we've seen for trump world. carol, bannon tv was on this morning. he was admitting that the conversations he had with trump are fair game but he also said that the executive privilege has to be decided before bannon talks to the committee before he knows what's privileged and what isn't. does he have a point there? >> no, he doesn't. he's absolutely wrong. and the committee rules are more or less consistent with civils deposition practice. in a situation like this, you're require to show up, you can't assert a blanket privilege. you have to take it question by question. right? if you're asked your name, that's not privileged. as mr. schuman has now conceded if you're asked about conversations with a member of congress or their staff, not privileged. then you can assert the privilege to the appropriate questions. but in some situations, you're even required to answer those questions. what gets litigated down the road in court, if the parties can't resolve it in the congressional setting is whether or not the committee is entitled to consider that evidence. and that's what got bannon in trouble here. it was his complete failure to comply with any terms of the subpoena, essentially thumbing his nose at the committee. it will be interesting to watch if that causes other people who are trying to fight these subpoenas to be more careful, to engage further with the committee and to follow the rules and the procedures more strictly. >> okay. and that's what i want do get to, carol. because you have been studying this for month, since january 6th. have you seen any evidence that the committee's efforts to go after bannon has given them what they want, a lot that the committee have gone after don't have the iron gut, you could say that bannon does, he's willing to ignore the law and he's rich? >> well, yeah, having money, having incredible loyalty to donald trump. having your career and political fortune completely tied to that individual certainly sort of is a bulwark for this kind of behavior, even as unprecedented as it is. but the committee is smartly increasing their odds for getting facts, raw facts, real information, by going lower in the food chain, to people who will have less loyalty, less of a bond, less of an intertwined high to the individual. and i want to stress one more thing that joyce brought up, which is this idea of the absolute rejection of all of the requests of the committee by bannon. you know, bannon, this is not his first rodeo. he knows that he can answer questions under executive privilege because he already did, before congress. he stepped out of the hearing, if you might remember, during impeachment, to consult with his lawyer about whether or not certain things could be discussed. so his claim that he's relying on advice of counsel, he can't possibly answer questions until this executive privilege issue is resolved. he knows that's not true because he's done this once before in congressional testimony in an impeachment hearing. >> so to that point, steve bannon may be reprehensible in some ways but he's not a stupid man. could this back fire, give him free press, and in the end, get no information out of him? >> sure, it could. anything is possible politically in this volatile environment. i think bannon and trump allies are banking on the fact that this could back fire politically heading into next fall's midterm elections. you're right, he's not stupid. he was the most strategic person in the white house in the early months of the administration. he knows what he's do he's playing the long game here and certainly making that calculation this could develop to his benefit and former president trump's benefit. >> phil, carol, pete, great to see you, and phil, i've missed your kitchen. it's looking great. >> thank you. as president biden signs a hard infrastructure bill, he hits the road to sell it. republicans who supported the bill are now facing fierce backlash from their own party. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. 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[crowd cheering] i'm not a coach, but i invested in invesco qqq. which gives me access to next-gen statistical analysis software. become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq. later this morning, president biden goes on the road to new hampshire, after delivering on not one but two campaign promises signing that trillion-dollar hard infrastructure law into law and doing both from both sides of the aisle. just a few minutes ago, we saw house speaker nancy pelosi arrive for a meeting of house democrats. their number one issue to pass the other part of the president's agenda. the human infrastructure bill. kristen welker joins us from the white house. ali vitali joins us and john bresnahan, co-founder of purple bowl use. kristen, talk to us about the message the president will be taking on the road because bipartisanship is really important. but when it comes to what people care about, which is how do our life get better and stronger today? >> reporter: that's right, steph. it's going to be the president's bipartisan infrastructure bill and now the work begins. so, he's going to be appearing at a bridge in woodstock, new hampshire, later today. a bridge that has been on the red zone list since 2013. of the bridges that need attention. that need to be rebuilt. and so the president will argue that with this new infrastructure package, the largest investment in the nation's infrastructure, in a generation, that projects like that will get under way. this is just one in a series of stops that you'll see from the president, his top advisers, the first lady, as well as the vice president, and the second gentleman, they're going to be crisscrossing the country, steph, highlighting the projects they hope will be getting under way in short order. now, the question is about timing, right? people want to see results now. so the white house acknowledges while some of these projects will begin soon, others, it may take a few months, if not longer to really get them shovel-ready and to get them under way. ultimately, it's about the bottom line and it's about jobs. and that's what this administration will be judged on. will these profits, will these infrastructure projects get fixed that are in desperate need of attention? and will they create jobs and how quickly will that happen? remember, stephanie, we're one year out from the midterms and it's know surprise and no coincidence that the president is traveling to battleground states today. he's in new hampshire tomorrow, he's going to be in michigan talking to folks who are building the next generation of cars steph. >> john, it's no surprise that republicans don't want to celebrate this bill as with big wine. but it is surprising that they want to go so far as to punish the 13 republican house members who voted for it, though they're not punishing any of the republican senators who voted for it including mitch mcconnell. what gives here? >> well, this is the whole feeling in hardcore members of congress were pissed. they felt that republicans gave biden a win with the presidential reeling in the polls and if they hadn't voted for the legislation, this bill wouldn't have passed. now, house republicans are meeting right now as we speak. this is an issue we're going to discuss this morning. it's not sure whether we'll see retaliation. wee believe house minority leader kevin mccarthy will say no, let's not do this now. we'll try to deal with the build back better act that comes up later this week, another piece of legislation that the president favors but it just shows you how toxic the atmosphere in house republicans. and these folks, voting to replace 80-year-old bridges. this is what people go to congress for. this is why they get elected to help folks with bridges, highways and roads. this is something going back 240 years in the republic, this is what congress does. >> and okay, let's just be clear, these members of congress who voted to put wi-fi in rural america and six crumbling bridges are getting death threats over voting for this. john, can you explain what's happening to liz cheney here? >> well, cheney, of course, that goes back to the beginning of the congress. she voted to impeach former president trump. she was in the house republican leadership. they tried to remove her at that point. she stayed in place. then she voted -- she kept on bashing trump. then they vote her out of the leadership now she's on the january 6th committee. and trump has made it a special mission to try to defeat her. he's trying to support her opponent, primary opponent, some of his former aides are working for the primary opponent. this is something they're going after -- >> the wisconsin gop has now voted to -- excuse me, the wyoming gop has voted not to recognize liz cheney. ali, talk about the democrats' infrastructure bill. do they think that thing will get passed? listen, you talk about across the country they're talking inflation, inflation, inflation, that should be on the minds of lawmakers? >> reporter: yeah, it is. including one senator we talk about all the time, joe manchin. we know all too well inflation and situations he sees as insolvent in the safety net and that's nothing to say for what is in the bill paid leave which he does not support. and asking him yesterday, he hasn't changed his mind on that. manchin is watching the congressional office score. and so many on the moderate side in the house, while the build back better act is not going to pass.senate this week, we're still several weeks offer because they're doing every manner of senate, parliamentary procedures over there, birdbaths and house drills to make sure they're doing this through the partisan reconciliation process. but over in the house, they made an agreement before they left town for the recess two weeks ago. they said they were going to wait for a congressional budget office score. moderates would say they would wait to see that and have a vote later this week. sneaker pelosi said according to our sources yesterday they're not leaving town without passing the build back better act. don't feel too bad, steph, they're going to have a week's jump on us before thanksgiving because we're expecting that cbo score to come sometime friday. which could mean they do a vote on saturday and get out of town for the thanksgiving break. >> ali vitali, let's be clear when it comes to hours and days of the week people work, i never, ever feel bad for congress. john, i got to ask you, a headline i read in punchbowl, how do you have a headline like that? >> listen, you remember what happened with obamacare. i mean, they -- you know in 2009, 2010, they debated for months. they didn't sign it until 2010. obamacare at the time it was passed wasn't even popular. now, 11 years later, it's very popular. we're facing -- the democrats are facing some of the same issues now with the build back better act. they spent all summer, and you and i have talked about this repeatedly, talking about the top line number. what's the number. what's in, what's out. joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. all of this stuff. instead of, as you talked about, selling what's in the bill. what will this do for average americans? how will this help everybody -- every american? so, now, you know, the polling has -- biden's polling is down. and the polling on this particular legislation right now, it's a build back better, right now the polling on it isn't great. didn't mean it will always be that way. but right now, they've gotten beaten in the messaging war. and this is a problem for them. >> all right then -- >> stephanie, can i say something quickly? >> of course, kristen. >> reporter: john brings up an important point which is about obamacare, and i think it's worth noting that the biden administration is very mindful of how that unfolded. and of course, president biden lived it. and the fact that was consensus within the democratic party that the messaging was terrible around that, that they didn't do a good enough job explaining that. i think what you're seeing now is a little bit of a course correction. that's why you see the president out on the campaign trail. but the question is will they be able to sell the individual pieces of build back better. because as john rightfully points out, individually, the polling is quite good but it's about explaining to people what's actually in the bill. >> well, now, they actually know what's in the bill. any lawmaker is welcome to joy. for those who think paid family leave doesn't make sense but you're down with carried interest being in our tax law and you can explain why a private corporate jet gets 100% write-off year one. i'm all ears, john, ali, kristen, great to see you. coming up, she was one of jeffrey epstein's closest confidants, she was his number one. now, she gets her day in court. what to watch for in the highly anticipated trial of ghislaine maxwell. get better yeah! then your bank should help you budget even better. virtual wallet® is so much more than a checking account. its low cash mode℠ feature gives you at least 24 hours of extra time to help you avoid an overdraft fee. you see that? 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how?! at least my shoes look good! looking good starts with bounce wrinkleguard. the megasheet designed to help prevent wrinkles in the dryer. developing now, here in new york, the jury selection process has just gotten under way in the trial of ghislaine maxwell. the 59-year-old british socialite, official socialite and longtime confidant of jeffrey epstein. she's pleaded not guilty to charges she groomed underage victims of sex trafficking. epstein died by suicide in jail before he faced trial. we're going to tom winter outside the courthouse. tom, what are we expecting to see in the trial because i'm focused. >> reporter: obviously, stephanie, we're going to hear the testimony from four underage victims mentioned in the indictment. we're going to get charges, the charges that entice the minors to cross state line for purposes of sex. we also expect to see a video from jeffrey epstein's residence, we're actually going to go inside his house when law enforcement searched in 2000. then the infamous jeffrey epstein black book. federal prosecutors are trying to get this black book boo evidence. they say they will have a way of authenticating it. the defense doesn't want it in there but say it will help to prove the charges against maxwell. that's just some of the things we expect the prosecutors to show in the trial to try to convict ghislaine maxwell. >> in the past week we saw barclays bank ceo jeff staley step down under revelations he had 1200 emails with jeff epstein. stunning to think that the ceo of a major bank has been sitting son in his post knowing that a major investigation and thought, no, i'm okay in this job. besides jeff staley and a move like this what other investigations should we be aware of that could impact other people, besides maxwell? >> reporter: right, obviously the staley investigation which as we saw reported by our colleagues at cnbc, he's being subpoenaed by the u.s. virgin islands. on top of that, it's been reported that the manhattan district attorney's office is taking a look at leon black, that's another potential avenue, another potential investigation. it's interesting to see, steph, if any other big names come up at this trial. prosecutors wanted to introduce evidence of ghislaine maxwell involving of age women, over the age of 18, and possible dates to use their term, that she said up for other men. the judge is not allowing that to come in -- it has to be focused on the time period here that's charged. and it also has to relate to the conduct here that's been charged which are these underage girls. these women under the age of 18. but it will be interesting. you know, it's a trial, you never know what's going to come up, you never know what somebody's going to say. given the high interest members of the financial industry, as well as politicians. this is somebody that had a front row seat at chelsea clinton's wedding and we've seen numerous pictures of being with president trump and jeffrey epstein surrounded by other women. that's intriguing with the headlines, given the judge's ruling so far, how much she wants to keep this tightly focused to the indictment. >> tech giants, academics, politicians, royal family members, wall street giants, it's a grab bag of power set in that black back. i'd certainly like to see it. tom, thank you. prices may be up but a new report is showing it isn't stopping americans from spending. what that means for you and your wallet, ahead. , ahead. s quickly. instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. now available for fast sinus relief. ♪ my songs know what you did in the dark ♪ ♪ so light 'em up, up, up light 'em up, up, up ♪ ♪ light 'em up, up, up ♪ ♪ i'm on fire ♪ ♪ so light 'em up, up, up light 'em... ♪ pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. relief without the water. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. with tylenol dissolve packs. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ wondering what actually goes into your multi-vitamin. at new chapter. its innovation organic ingredients and fermentation. fermentation? yes, formulated to help your body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness well done. the markets opened moments ago with the dow up slightly after we got a slew of new economic data. we just learned retail sales jumped 1.7% in october. compared to the month before beating estimates. it comes a day after we learned that the inflation rate hit a 30-year high. all of this, just another sign that consumers are furious that prices are up. but at the same time, we're out there spending and spending more. i'm going right to cnbc's courtney reagan with the latest. also with us, the man who knows retail best, national retail federation president and ceo matthew shay. courtney, what stands out in the report to you the most? what does it mean for where we are in recovery? >> yeah, stephanie, i think you've heard a lot about prices at the pump and those increases. it's something that stands out to me. it's not that we strip it out, f you just isolate gasoline, prices are up 3.9% in october from september. and year over year, up almost 47%. that's something that consumers see and feel all the time, which very well could have an impact on other areas of spending. however, other areas of spending are holding up well, even when you take a rate of inflation into account, that you mentioned, retail sales are still higher. electronics and appliance stores did very well, up 3.8% in october from september. building materials, garden stores. those also saw sales increase, just shy of 4%. and department stores, you hear a lot about the death of the department store, but sales there grew more than 2% in october from september, up more than 27% year over year. >> matt, this feels like a tale of two economic americas. we have consumer sentiment hitting a ten-year low, but at the same time, people are paying up in droves. how do you read this report? >> stephanie, i think it's not the first time that we've seen consumers express one attitude and act with a different kind of behavior. their attitudes and actions are not always in alignment. and i think inflation is one of those kinds of things that we all find frustrating. all of the ceos of which i've had conversations over the last couple of weeks are seeing consistent price increases in all categories. that's going to be with us for some period of time. and yet consumers, because of the trillions of dollars that they have in their savings, they've paid down debt, the amazing fiscal stimulus we put into the economy and the existing monetary policies that are in place, consumers are out spending. they're not putting as much into experiences, into lodging, it's flowing into goods. we have a real mismatch of supply and demand, that's driving inflation, yet wages are up. so consumers are out spending, and we're very optimistic about the holiday season and the remainder of this calendar year. >> then how do you sort of marry the two, matt? because prices are set based on what i'm willing to sell you something for and what you're willing to pay me. and you've got a portion of this country that does have record number of household savings. we've saved up the value of our home went up, the stock market has gone up, and we can go out and spend. but then you've got this other america that is in a dire economic situation. how do you balance the two, because there aren't different prices for different people and everybody's got to buy shoes for their kids and milk at the store. >> i think that's a decision in terms of flowing through the price increases to consumers. that's a decision that retailers are making category by category, item by item, sku by sku. and so depending upon the category in which you're operating and the goods that you're selling and the customer base and the demographic you're trying to reach, you're going to be very sensitive to consumer needs and preferences. and we've seen consumers shape behavior before, certainly, we've seen consumer behavior change dramatically in terms of the services and expectation that consumers have. so retailers are trying to meet the needs of their customers, in terms of their offerings, their pricing, the way they're going to provide goods to the consumers during the rest of this year, and you know, we're up 14.1% through the ten months, ending october 31st. our holiday forecast is 8.5 to 10.5% growth. we're going to do 14%, almost 15% for the year. so, retailers are finding a way to meet consumer needs. they're not passing along every increase, but consumers are still responding very positively. >> those are big numbers. matt, courtney, thank you both so much. you're both going to have to come back soon. it is going to be a busy retail season. coming up, one of the most complicated relationships in the world, facing a late-night test with the president spending more than three hours on the phone with chinese president xi. so what did the two leaders talk about? president xi. soha wt did the two leaders talk about? ♪ when the chapstick goes on. it's on. get yours on at chapstick.com we're getting destroyed out there. we need a plan! right now, at t-mobile, customers on magenta max can get the new iphone 13 pro... and t-mobile will pay for it! upgrade to the iphone 13 pro... on us. tonight, i'll be eating a club sandwich with fries and a side of mayonnaise. 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[doorbell rings] lifesaver! you're weird, man. to each his own. developing overnight, president biden met for more than three and a half hours with chinese president xi jinping during their virtual summit. the white house says they did not reach any breakthroughs, but the leaders did agree to work together, despite rising tensions. china's foreign ministry called the meeting productive, but they are not on the same page about taiwan. that's a big deal. with xi reportedly saying that the u.s. backing taiwanese independence would be like, quote, playing with fire and whoever plays with fire will get burned. janice mackey fryer is on the ground in beijing. we also have former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul. janice, what is the u.s./china relationship right now? and we have to remind our audience, xi jinping is fearless. he is going to be in power for the rest of his life. >> reporter: well, the u.s./china relationship is probably in a slightly better position tonight here in beijing than it was earlier, but we have to remember, that's coming off a very low and rocky point in history. there are these comparisons to the cold war, it's valid to an extent, but this is different, a senior white house official saying that this period really has no historical parallel. we also have to realize that xi jinping is coming into this with unprecedented power. just last week, rewriting chinese communist party history to be evaluated to this status of being the leader that's going to carry the country into superpower status. so that cannot be underestimated either. and there is bound to be some friction with the united states. what seems to be generating the most headlines right now, stephanie, is the comments that president biden made on taiwan and that the u.s. does not support taiwan independence. they're getting hashtaged all over social media, giving this sense of chinese strength. but again, there's really no change in the u.s. position. >> ambassador, isn't that the whole ball of wax. can we really say, the temperature has been lowered. if they're putting heads on human rights in taiwan, that's everything. >> yeah, i think the temperature has been lowered. they haven't talked like this, they haven't had a summit, obviously, because mr. xi jinping does not travel. he hasn't left the country for two years. and remember, in that system, nobody else matters, right? nobody else matters in terms of foreign policy. you have to talk to the top guy. talking to the foreign minister doesn't matter. i look at the two readouts and i see continuity. the u.s. policy didn't change. we've never talked about recognizing taiwan as independent. so that's nothing new. and likewise, when i read the chinese statement, i see a lot of continuity in their statements. it's better to talk so that there's no misunderstandings that lead to unintentional conflict. i think this was a progressive step and i applaud the biden administration for taking it. >> ambassador, before we go, i have to ask you about this russia missile test that destroyed a satellite and now it has the international space station on high alert. what in the world is going on and what should the u.s.'s response be? >> well, it's a mess, because they created all of this debris, but it's also a wake-up sign about the new weapons that they have to do this. let's be clear, they're doing this against an old russian satellite to demonstrate that they can do it against american satellites in time of a conflict and i think that's scary and i think we need to start negotiations over how to put some limits on these kinds of weapons. >> yes, scary, indeed. ambassador, janis, thank you both. thank you for joining us. thank you for watching. i'm stephanie ruhle. we are staying tuned and we're heading kenosha, wisconsin, where jurors will return to the courtroom any minute in the kyle rittenhouse trial. jose diaz-balart picks up the breaking news coverage right now. good morning, it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. happening any moments now, jurors in the kyle rittenhouse trial will deliberate the charges in the highly emotional case, in a city where national guard troops are now on standby. also today, president biden will head to new hampshire to tout his newest legislative achievement. the bipartisan infrastructure deal. but now the president faces a tougher challenge on capitol hill. getting that massive reconciliation bill passed. we'll talk to senator alex padilla about