Steve Odland, The Conference Board CEO, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the state of consumer confidence, the overall economy and much more.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index has declined for the fifth consecutive month, with the latest data indicating that consumers are increasingly worried about their current financial situation. While higher-income households have seen a rise in confidence, those earning below $125,000 and many small businesses are experiencing greater financial strain, reflecting a 'K-shaped' economic recovery.

Key factors affecting consumer sentiment include persistent food price increases, falling gas prices, and the regressive impact of tariffs, which disproportionately burden lower-income Americans. The discussion also highlighted that the current economy is more services-driven than in previous eras, with productivity gains in the service sector offsetting some labor market weakness.

Consumer confidence slides

Let's bring in the Conference Board CEO, Steve Odlin. All right, Steve Odlin, jump in the mix here. Important to this whole nice story we're trying to tell is that the president wants to hear about strong economy without inflation would be a labor market that is, I guess, strong, but not inflationary. What do you see going on here? Because right now, consumers are worried about the opposite. They're worried about job loss, AI, everything like that. Well, so the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index has declined for the fifth month in a row. That's bad news. However, there was some good news in it. Remember, there are two components to the Consumer Confidence Index. One is the present situations, so how the consumers are feeling about their situation right now. The other is the Expectations Index, so what's gonna happen in the next six months. All year long, the present situation has been pretty good, pretty strong. People are saying, yeah, I feel okay now, but my expectation is that it's gonna decline. For the first time all year, it flipped, so the Expectation Index seems to have bottomed out, and they're now starting to say, I'm hurting. This is starting to feel bad right now. Now, on top of that, you have to bifurcate it because the income level drives their expectation, and if you look at below $125,000 annual income, their consumer confidence went down, but above that, their consumer confidence actually went up, and I think this is what the administration is looking at. There are two economies out here. You see the K, in other words. One is feeling great, and one is not feeling so great. So, Steve, we have now coming down the pike, we'll talk more about this later on, bigger tax refunds. We also have possibly the Obamacare health premiums going up, not exactly the same crowd, but some overlap there. Do you think the consumer's gonna get a tailwind early next year, or is it gonna be the opposite where all these factors come home to roost? The big spending is on the high end. The wealthy consumer is driving it right now, and that's the important thing. It depends on commodities. Right now, gas is coming down, that's helping. Food is still rising, and so when you talk to these consumers, they say, look, we thought inflation was gonna come down. What they're really saying is, we thought prices were gonna come down, and they're not seeing food prices come down in everyday prices. Now, flipping over to what Steve Eastman was saying. Steve, I wanna just interrupt for one second, which is, does all this emphasize also the regressive nature of tariffs as a tax? That this is certainly burdening lower-income Americans much more than the, tariffs are a regressive tax. But do we have them in the prices? What do you mean? Tariffs, are tariffs in the prices? Tariffs are certainly in the prices. You have a one-point- You also have this small business thing, Steve, which is individual consumers are also small businesses, millions of small businesses, sole proprietorships, one or two employees. They act as consumers, they put all their credits on a credit, their personal credit card. Those folks are really hurting. Big businesses doing fine, small businesses hurting. So it's Main Street. I have an idea, Kelly, that we can talk about some other time. I don't know how to do it, but there should be a small business rebate on tariffs. But I don't know how they do that. It reminds me of PPP. PPP, or some way- Kind of a debacle. I don't know, Steve, but I think Steve is onto that. It's not the sole piece, but I believe it to be a piece of, like you can say, all right, it's kind of washed out. We're able to grow, do all kinds of stuff with tariffs. It's okay. But it hits a certain sector of the economy. This is where the Barry Knapps of the world would say, that's why you've got to get the rate down, you know? Get the underlying. Steve, can you talk about- Go ahead. Yeah, can I say one more thing, Steve, on this overheating thing? In a normal economy, the past historical economy, where it's a manufacturing-driven economy, we would be overheated right now, and the inflation thing would be more important. This is a services-driven number. You said it yourself. That's the surprise. It's the upside, particularly in July and August, on services. And yet, the labor market is weakening at the same time, which means there is productivity in the service sector, which is driving the numbers. So this is a different kind of economy than we've seen in the past.

A Delaware state trooper was killed Tuesday during a shooting at a Wilmington DMV, the Delaware State Police said. The state's governor confirmed the shooter is also dead.

Wilmington

Delaware state trooper killed in DMV shooting, officials say

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that President Trump cannot deploy the National Guard troops to Chicago as a legal challenge moves ahead.

Washington

Supreme Court blocks deployment of National Guard to Illinois

The Justice Department released a new trove of documents from its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including an email from a prosecutor indicating President Donald Trump had traveled aboard his private jet "many more times than previously has been reported."

Trump flew on Epstein jet 8 times according to newly released files

The Libyan army's chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, died in a plane crash after leaving Turkey's capital Ankara, the prime minister of Libya's internationally-recognized government said, adding that four others were on the jet as well.

Haymana

Libyan army's chief dies in plane crash in Turkey

Two men have been found guilty of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community in England, a planned attack investigators say demonstrates the resurgent risk posed by the militant group.

Bolton

Two men found guilty of UK plot to kill Jews as IS fears grow

The FDA has approved the pill version of the weight loss drug Wegovy, the first oral medication of its kind. The new pills are expected to be available in a few weeks.

FDA approves Wegovy pill, first prescription pill for weight loss

French Parliament has approved the Stopgap Bill two days before Christmas. The budget bill now moves to French senate.

Parijs

French Parliament approves Stopgap Bill: Budget bill moves to senate

Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.

Kiev

Russia carries out massive drone attack on Ukraine's energy sector

The U.S. Department of Justice has released another batch of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including videos, emails and documents. CBS News' Scott MacFarlane reports.

U.S. Justice Department releases new trove of Epstein files

The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted that the United States won't take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Donald Trump ‍​announced ​the appointment of a ‌special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory.

Nuuk

Trump's appointment of envoy to Greenland sparks tension with Denmark

Australia's most populous state is set to pass tougher gun laws, ban the display of terrorist symbols and curb protests after the state parliament's lower house cleared a bill late on Monday (December 22) in an emergency sitting following the Bondi mass shooting.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia's NSW to tighten gun, hate speech laws after Bondi attack

On Monday, President Trump announced a new class of Navy battleships he's calling the "Golden Fleet." The president said two vessels will be built in the short term, with plans to expand to up to 25.

Trump unveils plans for new fleet of advanced Navy battleships

China's foreign ministry on Monday (December 22) said the United States' seizure of another country's ships was a serious violation of international law, after the U.S. intercepted a China-bound oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.

Beijing

China says U.S. ship seizures ‘serious violation' of international law

A Russian general was killed by an explosive device underneath his car in Moscow, according to Russian investigators, who say Ukraine's intelligence services may have orchestrated the attack. Ukraine has not commented.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russian general killed in car explosion

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday (December 21), in what would be the third operation in less than two weeks if successful.

Caracas

U.S. pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela, officials say

At least 15 documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were initially made public have been pulled from the Justice Department website. The agency says it will keep reviewing and redacting materials to "protect victims."

Epstein files pulled down to 'protect victims'

Nine people have died and at least ten others were wounded after a group of gunmen carried out a shooting at a South African pub during the early hours of Sunday, authorities said.

Bekkersdal

At least nine people killed in South Africa pub shooting

U.S. intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, six sources familiar with U.S. intelligence said.

As peace talks go on, U.S. intel says Putin's war goals unchanged

A court in Pakistan has convicted and sentenced the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years in prison after finding them guilty of retaining and selling state gifts, including jewelry given by Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Islamabad

Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan convicted to 17 years in prison

The U.S. seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast on Saturday. It's the second time in two weeks that U.S. forces have carried out such an action. This comes after President Donald Trump announced a block of "sanctioned oil vessels" entering and exiting Venezuela.

Oil tanker seized off Venezuela, second in two weeks

The Justice Department released more documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday after failing to meet Friday's deadline to release all the documents, as required by the law signed by President Trump last month. The Justice Department said the delay was, in part, to ensure that victims' information was protected.

Justice Department releases more Epstein documents Saturday

The U.S. Department of Justice released thousands of documents, photos and files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. But some Democrats are criticizing the partial release because the department had a deadline to release all of the files by end of Friday.

'Partial' release of Epstein files faces criticism

The United States military “hit the ISIS [ISIL] thugs in Syria”, President Donald Trump has said, a week after two US soldiers and an interpreter were killed in Syria’s Palmyra city. Trump said he “ordered a massive strike on the terrorists that killed our three great patriots last week”.

Damascus

Trump says U.S has launched large-scale attacks on ISIL in Syria

Ukraine said its drones hit a vessel from Russia's shadow fleet – the first such strike in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Russia's shadow fleet transports sanctioned Russia oil by frequently changing flags and concealing ownership.

Ukraine strikes Russian shadow fleet tanker in Mediterranean sea

The U.S. Justice Department has released thousands of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, including photos featuring people like former President Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger. However, survivors are concerned with how much information was redacted from the files.

Thousands of new Epstein files, photos released

The U.S. military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday (December 19) in retaliation for an attack on American personnel, U.S. officials said.

U.S. hits ISIS in Syria with large retaliatory strikes

The man suspected of carrying out an attack in Taiwan with a smoke grenade and knife acted alone, police said on Saturday of the incident that killed at least four, including the attacker. This edit contains graphic images.

Taipei City

Taipei attacker acted alone, police say after three killed

The suspect in the Dec. 13 mass shooting on the campus of Brown University was found dead by suicide in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, authorities said. He has been identified as 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a former Brown grad student.

Providence

How a Reddit post led police to the suspected university shooter

Seven people were killed, including former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his wife and children, in a plane crash in North Carolina. Investigators hope to find clues about why it happened on the cockpit voice recorder. Cristian Benavides has the latest.

Plane crash kills NASCAR driver, family

President Trump announced new agreements on Friday with nine pharmaceutical companies aimed at making certain prescription drugs cheaper. CBS News reporter Karen Hua has the details.

Breakdown