- Welcome to the "700 Club."

Thanks so much for joining us.

Well, all of us are payingan extra $175 a month.

That's what we're now spending

on housing, groceries, and gasoline.

With no relief in sight that could become

the new normal well into 2022.

- Well, the ongoing slow downat the nation's largest port

has a choke hold on theglobal supply chain,

increasing shortagesand driving up prices.

So what's being done to fix the problem?

CBN's Brody Carter bringsus a firsthand look.

(effects whooshing)

- Here at the Port of Virginia,

they're already soakingup some of that congestion

that we're seeing in the West Coast.

They're operating very efficiently

and they're hopeful to keep that cargo

and turn it into long-term business.

- If you take your car and you run it

a hundred miles an hour every day,

that car begins to show, wear and tear.

The industry is being run every day

at a hundred miles an hour.

- [Brody] As many as 73 Container ships

have been waiting to unload goods

at the ports of LongBeach and Los Angeles,

over the last week.

The largest ports in the nation,

now a choke hold to theglobal supply chain.

- The warehouses are full,

the truck capacity is being soaked up

because there's so muchcargo that needs to be moved.

- [Brody] LA, Long Beach processes

about 10 million shippingcontainers each year.

In comparison, all the majorports on the East Coast

process a little more than 8 million.

- And the ships keep coming.

- [Brody] The supply chainbottleneck is driving inflation,

store shelves are bare,

and you've likely feltthe impact in your wallet.

- Inflation takes its worst toll

on those who are at the lowest ladders

of income and wealth, poor people.

And so for those who are well to do,

it's just not really an issue,

but for the middle class

and those who are in lower income groups,

that's where the toll is taken,

and it's like they can't get a break.

- [Brody] Inflation is upmore than 5%, just this year.

The typical American household

now spending an extra $175 more each month

on housing, groceries and gas,

and it could be the newnormal for months on.

- On a 12 month basis,

the inflation rate willremain high into next year,

because of what's already happened,

but I expect improvement bythe middle to end of next year,

second half of next.- Second half of 2020.

- [Brody] Major companiesare charging more

because of rising costs,

like, Nestle, Unilever,and Proctar & Gamble.

The US postal service andother shipping companies

have added new facilities,

machines, and seasonal workers,

in an attempt to avoid

the brunt of bottlenecks come Christmas.

- It's gonna take some patience,

it's gonna take some understanding,

and I would ask them

if they know someone in theport industry, thank them,

'cause those folks are working hard,

and they are working hardfor the American economy.

- The strain in the supply chain

it'll endure well pastCOVID-19, well into 2022.

Harris says they justhope they can contain

the workload that they've already taken on

to help alleviate the problems

we're seeing in the West Coast.

I'm Brody Carter, CBN News.

- Our CBN News, FinancialEditor Drew Parkhill is with us.

And so Drew,

what are the causes for inflationother than supply chain?

We seem to be focusedpolitically on supply chain,

but isn't energy a bigger component?

- Yeah, there are variousother things Gordon.

For one thing, there'sa long-term price cycle

that just runs through the economy.

I wanna show you a chart ofinterest rates I put together.

It's very, very simple.

But in 1940...

Now these are three monthT-bills short-term rates.

On average for the year short-terminterest rates ran at 0%.

But then inflation came in and by 1981,

they were up over 14% in 40 years.

Then over the next 40 years,we saw inflation coming down,

and so last year they wereback down close to 0%.

So there's a natural price cycle,

and it's giving signsthat we're going to see

the economy inflation startheading back up again.

I mean, there's no question about that.

There are some other things as well,

like businesses are asking the president

to hold off on this vaccine mandate

because a lot of peoplejust don't want the vaccine,

so they won't work, andthat creates more problems.

- Well, are we looking at

what we all experienced in the seventies,

which is stagflation?

- Yes, at least in the short term,

the GDP numbers for thethird quarter of this year,

coming out Thursday morning,

they're expected to showa dramatic slowdown.

Now it won't be like the seventies,

but let me define what stagflation is.

It's a combination ofstagnation and inflation.

Just means high inflationand a stagnant economy.

You hit the nail on the head Gordon,

in 1973 and 75,

this was thought to be impossible.

Inflation was running around 11% or so

and unemployment hit 9%,

and then a few yearslater in 1980 unemployment

was around 71/2%, inflation was 13%.

That was thought to be impossible.

Now we're probably goingto see some of that again

on a smaller scale,

but it's definitely on the way.

We're living in it now

'cause the economy is slowing down,

while prices are picking up

and some prices ofcourse, more than others.

- Well, how's this gonnaplay out politically?

It didn't work for Jimmy Carter.

So how's it going to playin the election cycles.

- It's already playing out.

Everybody was talking a few months ago

about Joe Biden's social spending

and climate change bill'sgonna be 31/2 trillion.

Well then there was polling done

that showed in swing districts

and key congressional districts,

people were just afraid of this,

'cause they thought biggovernment spending,

high deficits were gonna leadthat meet even more inflation.

So they said we don't wantanything to do with this,

and then on a dime

the White House and theDemocrats started saying,

"Oh, it's gonna cost nothing,it's going to cost nothing."

And so they backed off a lot from that.

Now we have, the other problem

is that the taxation side of it,

is being changed,

which I know we're gonnatalk about in a few seconds,

but Sinema and Manchin,

didn't like these highcorporate tax rates,

so now they're talking aboutthis billionaire's tax,

which may be unconstitutional.

So they're still concerned

that they're gonna run deficits,

despite what the Democrats are saying

and with the fed pouringmoney into the system,

that is definitely a problem.

If we keep this or thenext election cycle,

it's gonna be a massiveproblem for the Democrat.

- All right, well Drew,thanks for being with us.

I don't see any end to the deficits

that have been running on for a long time,

ever since the second Bush.

These are incredible deficits that we have

and an incredible national debt.

Well, turning now

to the massive spending bill on Washington

with a billionaire's tax on the table,

Democrats are still haggling over

how to lower the price tag.

Charlene Aaron has more from the CBN News.

(effects whooshing)

- Democrats are struggling Gordon,

to keep their pledge to pay forthe nearly $2 trillion bill.

Arizona Democrat, Senator Kirsten Sinema

knocked down a proposal to raise taxes

on corporations and individuals,

now that so-called billionaire's tax,

a proposal to tax unrealized capital gains

on people with $1 billionin assets is circulating.

While not all Democrats support that idea,

West Virginia Moderate Joe Manchin,

indicates he could support that plan.

- I'm open to any type ofthing that makes people pay,

that's not paying now.

So people that don't reportincome like you and I do

and earned income,

there has to be a way forthem to pay their fair share.

- Manchin, however,

is still troubled by the plans costs,

especially expanding Medicareand Medicaid coverage.

Negotiations also still underway

over climate change initiatives,

paid family leave among other items.

The president is hopingto have an agreement

by the time he departs fora global climate summit

later this week.

Well, an advisory panel meets today

to decide whether to recommend

the FDA approved Pfizer'sCOVID vaccine for children.

The White House is ready to ship

65 million pediatricdoses of the Pfizer shots.

That could happen as soon as next week,

once the CDC gives final approval.

Pfizer says trial datashows that the vaccine,

which is 1/3 an adult dose,

is nearly 91% effective

against symptomatic illnessin children ages 5 to 11.

And extreme weather is rockingthe US from coast to coast,

heavy storms bringing flooding in the West

and tornadoes in the Midwest.

Meanwhile, a Nor'easter isheaded up the East Coast.

Dale Hurd has that story.

- A day after the WestCoast saw record storms

and then a cluster oftornadoes struck the Midwest,

the first Nor'easter of this season

is taking aim along the East Coast,

with up to eight inches of rain

and winds up to 60 miles per hour.

New York and New Jersey

have already declared states of emergency,

and flash flood watchers are in effect

from the New Jersey shore to Boston.

- Heavy rain this morning,

across Northern and Central New Jersey.

This storm really starts to strengthen

and that's where we're gonnahave even more extreme impacts,

especially across Eastern New England,

around the Boston area.

- [Dale] New York Cityofficials are urging people

living in basements to be on alert,

after 11 people died inflooded basements last month

from Hurricane Ida.

Today's storm comes after a historic

so-called atmospheric rivers,

slammed into the West Coast,

sending mud, trees and boulders

crashing down on this California highway.

This big rig was blown onto its side,

on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Elsewhere in California's Bay area

neighborhoods under water.

- My whole garage is up to my knee caps.

Everything is floating around.

- [Dale] Parts of I-80had to be shut down,

because of heavy snow.

The coast of Washington State

saw its strongest storm on record.

The Midwest was alsofeeling nature's wrath.

In Chicago, winds from a separate system,

created 12 foot waves on lake Michigan.

- [Stephen] Look at this strong tornado.

- [Dale] That storm droppedat least 13 tornadoes

in Missouri and Illinois.

One of which destroyed Johnand Joellen Duncan's home

Northeast of Kansas City.

- We have a basement,but there was a time.

Once you see the tornado,

there's not time to run to the basement,

if we had tried, we'dhave probably been killed.

- But the good news forCalifornians is water,

large volumes of water,

much needed after the summer drought.

The Lake Oroville reservoirin Northern California

has risen more than 20 feet.

Dale Hurd CBN News,

- Certainly sending prayers

to those impacted by these storms, Gordon.

- We need to do more than pray,

we need to come together and say,

"How can we help those

"who've been devastatedby these disasters."

We're getting hit all across the nation,

whether it's in New Englandor Chicago or the West Coast.

And one of the great things about America

is that when we see people in trouble,

we band together to help them,

so kudos to us.

Let's put aside all our politicaldifferences for a moment

and focus on, we've gottaget through this together.