idf. they are being examined on a medical basis right now before they head to hospitals and will be greeted and met by their families. >> john: as all of this unfolds, negotiators are working around the clock to secure another ceasefire extension as hamas still holds more than 150 people hostages somewhere in gaza. >> sandra: "america reports" hour two begins right now. i'm sandra smith un-new york. >> john: john roberts in washington. good to be with you on a busy wednesday. hearing from families of hostages just freed describing the traumatic conditions that their loved ones had to ensure during 51 days of captivity. one of those family members joined us in our last hour. >> they couldn't raise their voices, they were often made to watch things that they should never see that should have never happened, that they were held at gunpoint, they didn't have a bed to sleep in. you don't know if they were warm when they needed to be or cold when they needed to be, if they were seeing sunlight. it is unimaginable. >> sandra: really something hearing from her and all that she and her family have been going through. all of this while here at home anti-israel protests continue at this hour, including one right now at nyu here in new york city. >> john: but in california, jaw dropping display of hamas praise at an oakland city council meeting. several speakers outright defending the terrorist organization. listen to this. >> calling hamas a terrorist organization is ridiculous, racist and plays into genocidal propaganda. >> the notion this was murdered jews. >> continue terrorist organization and violence. >> sandra: william, what exactly happened here? >> oakland city council in the bay area last night passes a resolution calling for a ceasefire in gaza, no big deal. but also rejected a resolution condemning hamas, so here you had a u.s. city proudly inclusive, progressive oakland, refusing to denounce the slaughter of 1300 civilians on october 7th. one jewish councilman was stunned how many speakers blamed israel for the hamas attack. one comparing israel to a wife beater when complains when the wife fights back. another calling israel a genocidal state. hamas are not terrorists, said another, but resistance organization and a crowd booed when one said hamas raped israeli women. >> we could have put forth a resolution condemning the countless, countless crimes committed by the zionist entity. >> jewish people are misled by the villefication of hamas. >> genocide of palestinians was happening to a white population, a ceasefire would have already been in effect. >> outside you had duelling rallies but no violence. oakland is almost equal number white and hispanic, 22% asian, 16% christian but muslims out number jews 4-1. the area is all democrat and extremely liberal. >> any damage -- must be rejected. 75 years and not one [bleep], free palestine. >> a half dozen u.s. cities passed similar resolutions and no legal authority, and don't mean anything to the middle east, but these moments live on for weeks and months and obviously help many with their re-election campaign. back to you. >> sandra: interesting stuff, william from los angeles for us, thank you. john. >> john: pressure growing on president biden to curb his support for israel and more of that is coming from inside his own administration. we have covered protests from state department employees but now we are learning about federal officials who are posting personal opinions about the war on social media, some of them even mocking israel. gillian turner is live at the state department and gillian, one of those employees is an attorney? for the department of veterans affairs? >> that's right, john. this female official over at the v.a., an attorney, posted a video on instagram which she adopts a fake accent and is openly appearing to mock israelis pleading for the return of hostages. take a listen to this short clip. >> we just want our hostages back. give us our 200 hostages. >> that official ultimately deleted the clip, but it was captured by a third party source and reposted. veterans affairs tells fox news we are aware of the incident, are investigating the matter and take any appropriate action. there's no place at v.a. for antisemitism or any expression of bigotry or hatred. separately fox news has confirmed the cia sent an internal warning to staff about social media posts in which they express political opinions. the move comes amid reports a senior cia officer posted a pro palestinian image on to social media. cia tells us "cia officers are committed to analytic objectivity," officers may have personal views but this does not lessen their or cia commitment to unbiased analysis. now, all of this comes after a state department internal dissent cable opposing biden's support for israel sparked government-wide criticism about the president and the secretary of state. listen to the spokesperson. >> did address in that email all the issues underlying our policy and made sure people understood what the policy is. we think the diversity in the department is a strength, not a weakness. >> we know as you mentioned that opposition is fairly prevalent here at the state department, also at the white house. opposition to the president's pro israel support in the ongoing gaza war. now looks like it is spilling over to the intelligence community and veterans affairs. john. >> john: we'll be watching to see what secretary dennis mcdonough does, if anything, with that one individual. >> sandra: arkansas republican senator tom cotton, member of the collect committee on intelligence. weigh in on gillian's report there. >> well, i think these reports are very troubling, especially the cia officer. why do they have a social media page expressing political opinions of any kind. they are not supposed to make policy and post a picture of a palestinian flag waving the day the israeli defense forces goes into gaza is not some innocent expression of sympathy with the palestinian people. obviously expressing hope for their victory over the israeli defense forces. akin i would say to having an intelligence officer in the department of war on december 8, 1941, posting someone waving a japanese flag or nazi german flag after they declared war on us and vice versa. so these people should be at a minimum suspended and have the security clearance suspended until an investigation can decide what should be done with them. >> sandra: to the degree that the agency had to remind staff that it violates agency policy to post personal positions on social media, i mean, should we have senior officials, senior officers in the cia that need to be reminded of that, senator? >> it's unfortunate we do. i mean, i've long thought that people who are in our intelligence agencies and our uniform military should not be on social media, shouldn't be posting political or policy viewpoints on social media, maybe if they want to use it as a conduit to see the grandparents or the grandkids that's one thing. but intelligence officers and military officers on social media expressing political and policy views, that runs contrary to their commitment to give non-partisan, unbiased viewpoints and assessments to the policy makers, the people elected to make those decisions for the people of the united states. any view at all. even if i agree with it. certainly waving a palestinian flag the day israel's defense forces moved in to gaza to try to destroy terrorist savages like hamas is beyond the pail. >> sandra: i want to ask you now focusing on the hostage release this hour as the war continues, there is a quote in the "washington post" on the israel war creating divides inside the biden white house. with this headline, white house grapples with internal divisions on israel-gaza, senator, reads the israel-gaza war that is roiled the administration more than any other issue in biden's three years in office. according to numerous aides and allies, as staffers agonize over their positions on emotional issues. before i ask you how you support any conditions on further aid going over, what is your reaction to that? what are you hearing about this divide inside the west wing? >> well, i think it's appalling that senators like bernie sanders are calling on conditions as aid to israel. as if israel is a third world country abusing its own people. israel is elected democratic society that suffered the most savage attack against jews since the holocaust. and the divisions you see in the democratic party is because democratic leaders like joe biden and chuck schumer have allowed a growing antisemitic wing to rise in the democratic party. chuck schumer gave a big speech on antisemitism on the senate floor today, that's great. but where is the action. he did not call out bernie sanders by name saying we should condition aid to israel. looked the other way for years while you had campus radicals who went on to the senate or administration of barack obama and joe biden saying that we should boycott israel and now all of those chickens are coming home to roost in the democratic party for allowing this growing antisemitic wing to fester in their party. >> sandra: just to be clear, this is where we caught up with some democratic senators whether or not there should be conditions on aid to israel. here was a few of the responses, real quick. >> israel is an ally, a friend, so no. >> i would oppose conditions that in effect straight jacket the israeli government. >> well, there are conditions of course for anyone who receives military aid from the united states. >> sandra: quick response to that, senator, before we let you go. >> i'm pleased to hear some democratic senators saying we shouldn't condition aid to israel as if it's a third world country, but more need to push back firmly against their actual colleagues. it's not some idea of campus radicals or intellectuals, it's their colleagues, people like bernie sanders and need to say we should move on to pass the israel aid bill on the senate floor, already passed the house of representatives, yet chuck schumer and every democrat voted not to send it to president biden two weeks ago. >> sandra: senator, appreciate you coming on today. thank you so much. all right. >> thank you. >> the average price of a home in america today is $416,000. how could we be giving through worse cost of living and wages than 1930. >> john: young people flooding social media with negative talk about the economy and it's not sitting well with the biden administration. the white house is now turning to tiktok in an effort to change young voters' minds ahead of the 2024 election. will that strategy work. >> sandra: awaiting the release of the sixth group of hostages held captive by hamas as negotiators are scrambling to extend the truce between israel and the terror group. victoria coates will give us her take on the progress that is being made right now. she will join us coming up. riedg a home improvement loan at a bank lately? good luck. some of those rates can be 12 to 15% or higher. our rates are a fraction of what some of those banks charge. veterans across the country are using the newday 100 va loan to get cash to update and improve their homes. whether you need to replace your roof windows or hvac or want to upgrade to your dream kitchen, call newday. >> sandra: fox news alert here, president biden is now on the ground in pueblo, colorado after taking off from denver just a short time ago. we do not have audio of this moment, otherwise we would dip in and take you there live, but we will effort that and this is the president, he's arrived there, he is on his trip as we are waiting this hostage release situation obviously overseas as two hostages were just turned over into israeli territory. listen here to see if we get anything from the president. we'll turn that around for you if we do. meantime, the idf has confirmed two russian hostages, another ten israelis are expected to be freed. mediators are trying to extend the truce so more can be released. former deputy national security adviser victoria coates is standing by to weigh in on that, but northern israel, nate foy is reporting live. >> the two israeli russian women like you said are back in israel after spending 54 days in hamas captivity and we have some video showing you these two women. 73-year-old mother and her 50-year-old daughter. they were kidnapped from their kibbutz along with the daughter's son and girlfriend who reportedly are still in hamas captivity. their names are irena tati and urenia tropnova. we are wondering if any americans are included in the bunch and comes after the fifth exchange yesterday with nine israeli women and a 17-year-old girl, with 30 palestinian prisoners going back. take a look at the next video. two israeli russians release after the release of this man, who also holds dual citizenship in israel and russia. releases are considered a gesture to vladimir putin who refuses to condemn the october 7th attack. humanitarian aid bound for gaza, negotiations continue regarding the possibility of an extended truce in return for more israeli hostages, but prime minister benjamin netanyahu made clear today when this truce is over, israel will push deeper into gaza to destroy hamas. >> there is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end. this is my policy. the entire cabinet stands behind it. the entire government stands behind it. the soldiers stand behind it. the people stand behind it. this is exactly what we will do. >> the transfer of the ten additional israeli women is underway right now, we are waiting for confirmation that the red cross has them in their care. we'll let you know when that happens. we'll send it back to you. >> nate foy reporting live in northern israel. thank you. john. >> john: bring in victoria coates, former deputy national security adviser, where to start, i guess let's start with social media thing, and these officials in the biden administration posting personal thoughts on line and that lawyer from the veterans affairs department who posted that video about whining about hostages. >> it's extraordinary, john. and when i was serving in the white house the personnel office took down all of our social media accounts, noted them down, and then monitored them. and i actually got a, sort of humorous report of philadelphia sports and they were watching. and these employees of the american people, government employees, thought this was permissible behavior is really shocking and shows you somebody is asleep at the wheel. >> john: all right, next issue, this just in to us, a bulletin, u.s. warship in the red sea north of the strait between yemen and border, shot down a drone fired by houthi controlled yemen. they are still at it. >> at it and more and more frequently. >> john: this morning. >> i don't know if it was attack 75 or 76 over the last month. but this is not close to israel, i mean, this is all the way down, the saudi peninsula. >> john: about as far down to the red sea before it turns into the gulf of aden. >> and why are the houthi attacking israeli and american assets in the red sea, very damaging to potentially, they shouldn't have the dog in the fight, but iranians are giving them the missiles and the drones, and trying to create a greater regional war. >> john: the conversation with adam boehler sitting there an hour ago about the fact that among the saudis and emirates and jordanian, no love loss for hamas, they are not rallying them on, they would like to see them gone, they are troublemakers, they think they are destabilizing entity as is iran in the region, and talked the saudi deal as well, he helped negotiate the abraham accords and said if the deal to normalize relations between the saudis and israel was so class, why didn't the biden administration see something like october 7th was for seen, and they say it's about blowing up the deal because the palestinian cause would be taken off the table. >> absolutely. and going to the first point, adam's point about sort of the no love lost for hamas. no, that's the whole reason we got to the abraham accords, uae and bahrain with the permission of the saudis say we are not going to give the palestinians a veto anymore and they went forward. we were able to execute the abraham accords without a major outbreak of violence but boy were we on the lookout for it, similar to the embassy move. weeks ahead of time, you could predict there might be violence around this, lucky there wasn't, but meeting at the nsc every day in the lead-up to that, to make sure all the assets where where they needed to be and the fact the president claims he was close to a deal in september, that month, jake sullivan could say the region is as peaceful as it's ever been and not take any of these common sense measures to make sure israel was good and secure, it's extraordinary to me. >> john: it's amazing that nobody was watching. now the hostage process, we are expecting another ten israelis released any moment now, two dual citizen israeli russians were released, a woman and her daughter. biden is really kind of actively involved here in this hostage negotiation process. william burns, cia director is in qatar for an extended ceasefire, in exchange for more americans released and we are beginning to creep up to the edge here of what stated u.s. policy is in regard to hostages, which says the u.s. government will make no concessions to individuals or groups holding official or private u.s. citizens hostage. u.s. government policy to deny hostage takers the benefits of ransom prisoner releases, policy changes or other acts of concession. and remember what george bush said in the days after 9/11, no concessions to terrorist demands and strike no deals with them. no distinction between the terrorists and those who knowingly harbor or provide aid to them. 31 americans were killed, probably a dozen americans taken hostage, 8 or 9 still remain in custody, yet for all intents and purposes, we are negotiateing with hamas. >> they are, planes full of aid, paid for by american taxpayers. if that's not a payment i don't know what is and to have burns in qatar, blinken in jerusalem to get the israelis to accept whatever burns may negotiate, it's coercion against israel and rewards for hamas and not seeing any americans coming out because of it. >> john: victoria, always great to spend time with you. >> sandra: protests against israel continue on college campuses coast to coast. how a university's lack of action could backfire and maybe even lead to lawsuits. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach 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(♪) >> sandra: search and rescue efforts are underway off the southern coast of japan after a u.s. air force osprey crashed according to the air force, it was conducting routine training earlier this morning when it suffered an unknown mishap. the japanese coast guard said at least one of the six crew members were killed in that crash. the others' conditions are still not known. john. >> john: hoping for the best there. as campus protests against israel continue, a growing number of students are accusing schools are failing to protect them against antisemitism. a trump era policy may let the students take universities to court for discrimination. mike emmanuel is in new york. increase in lawsuits against universities? >> sounds that way. in 2019, then president trump expanded title 6 of the civil rights act to include discrimination rooted in antisemitism. yesterday jewish groups sued the university of california berkeley saying the school violated federal civil rights laws and the constitution by allowing "unchecked antisemitism." cites inaction on discrimination and u.c. berkeley is a hostile environment for jewish students. they say there will likely me more lawsuits ahead. >> undoubtedly be many more cases to come, because we need to make changes at lots of different institutions and because we need college students to know that they are not alone. if they are facing harassment, if they are being assaulted, if they are being excluded based on their jewish identify, they need to know we have their back. >> the university has long been committed to confronting antisemitism, and through supporting the needs and interests of its jewish students, faculty and staff. congress is also getting involved. president of harvard, mit and the university of pennsylvania are due to testify next week at a hearing on antisemitism. >> john: that is going to be interesting, particularly the horrific video at harvard of the jewish student who was being harassed by the other students at the die-in protest and they would not leave him alone. >> young people feel they are isolated on their own college campuses. >> john: can you imagine, you pay all that money and end up there. >> sandra: john, thank you, back to the live pictures of the anti-israel protest happening near nyu, this is washington square park here in new york city, and expecting major protests tonight as well at the rockefeller center tree lighting. let's bring in katie pavlich, i want to ask you more about the college students not feeling safe on their own campuses. i mean, how is that happening today, katie? >> well, there was a hearing at the beginning of the month where congress brought in a number of college students who were testifying about this very problem. and they say it's been going on for a long time, but this most recent israel-hamas war which of course happened because of the terrorist attack on october 7th, really pushed it over the edge. and the response from school administrators, from professors has not only been lacking in condemnation for the behavior towards the jewish students, but also the condoning of the behavior justifying some of the things that are being said, some of the behavior, and it has not been peaceful. of course, there is free speech on campuses and in cities across country, but free speech does not include making threats towards any kind of students but especially when it comes to this issue that we are seeing of antisemitism. it also means that you can't interrupt the speech of others or be disruptive at events, what we have seen over and over again. and let's not forget over the past two months now, we saw new york city college, a number of jewish students locked in a school cafeteria, they were told they could hide in the attack as mobs of pro-hamas/pro-palestinian demonstrators were outside trying to beat down the doors to get to them. you see this happening all over the country and a number of places. a college professor in california who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for killing a jewish man at a pro-israel rally, so escalated and spiralled out of control in a lot of instances and these administrators, especially, have a responsibility to protect all students on campus, regardless of the causes they personally may believe in. >> sandra: katie, as we well know and have been reporting on, so many of these universities have failed to protect these kids from the antisemitism that so many are fearing right now. they are fearing for their lives. you hear these students speaking up with it. and now this trump-era policy that may let those students take their universities to court over this discrimination. do you see this as a likelihood that there could be more and more of that happening with these students as they rise up and fight back? >> we have seen a number of efforts by a number of people trying to fight back against what's happening on college campus. in addition to the trump era rule, we have seen a number of attorneys trying to trademark the term, genocidal term, from the river to the sea. whether they'll be successful in their endeavors is another question. but the point is on university campuses they have hand books that talk about not discriminating against fellow students, a long list of things you are not allowed to do, and what we have seen over the course of the past 30 years is that these institutions really only protect their own ideology, which is a far left ideology, and in this case, that is manifesting itself with the antisemitism you are seeing on college campuses. so they do have a lot of these policies in place on these campuses that say you are not allowed to discriminate, there will be punishment, if you are a public institution, discrimination even has a higher cost than it would at a private institution and so these are the things that they need to be held accountable for in terms of their own standards that they make every student allegedly comply with except when it comes to in tim -- intimidation of the students we are seeing, they are not safe on their college campuses because of who they are. >> sandra: thank you for joining us. >> john: nikki haley holding a town hall in new hampshire after picking up a big endorsement from americans for prosperity. is that enough momentum to gain on former president trump who is still way out front in the polls? talking to charlie hurt coming up next. >> sandra: biden is pushing bidenomics yet again, touting success to voters in colorado. but is the white house focusing on the wrong thing? hunter biden is ready to play ball with house republicans. will it backfire? 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[ting] ♪ live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. directv sports central brings your games, stats and scores together... and now you can get it without a satellite. one more reason to finally get rid of cable. but getting rid of the cable guy might not be as easy. oh yeah, touchback! visit directv.com for up to a $400 reward card. hi, i'm jason and i've lost 202 pounds on golo. so when i first started golo, i was expecting to lose around 40 pounds and then i just kept losing weight, and moving and moving and moving in a better direction. with golo and release, you're gonna lose the weight. - i got the cabin for three days. it's gonna be sweet! what? i'm 12 hours short. - have a fun weekend. - ♪ unnecessary action hero! unnecessary. ♪ - was that necessary? - no. neither is a blown weekend. with paycom, employees do their own payroll so you can fix problems before they become problems. - hmm! get paycom and make the unnecessary, unnecessary. - see you down the line. >> sandra: president biden is on a mission to convince americans that bidenomics is a great success. he's about to speak in colorado about investment in clean energy and good paying jobs, and now he's even enlisted the help of influencers on tiktok to help persuade young voters he's struggling to connect with. jacqui heinrich is joining us now. what is this campaign doing to combat it? >> well, sandra, the president has a social media problem. it involves these terms that have been trending like silent depression. on tiktok there is no mechanism like community notes to flag disinformation or even add context to other people's videos, and the economy is not in any kind of a depression. inflation is down, wages are up, and unemployment is low. but bad attitudes about the economy are per sifting and a lot to do with videos like this one from last year. >> mcdonald's, so i get there's a labor shortage, a wage increase and number of other things. but $16? $16 for a burger, a large fry and a drink. it's just crazy. >> that $16 burger was sold 11 months ago at a time when inflation was growing at a rate of 6.5%. we are now down to 3.2% but the video is still making the rounds and reflecting a disconnect between improving economic data points and low consumer sentiment. so the white house faces a vexxing choice. cheer lead bidenomics or make the case things were worst under trump and worse again if republicans win in 2024. biden has been trying to call out corporate greed because prices have not yet fallen. >> any corporation that's not brought their prices back down, even as inflation has come down, supply chains rebuilt, it's time to stop the price gouging, giving the american consumer a break. >> today in colorado, biden will make the case americans are better off with the economic agenda but up against messages like this political cartoon, depicting charlie brown killing the christmas tree. the president met with tiktok creators and explained the student loan forgiveness program and the white house team even shared videos of young people brought to tears when their loans were forgiven in hopes these content creators would ultimately share them, sandra. >> sandra: jacqui heinrich live at the white house, thank you. john. >> john: sandra, hunter biden apparently ready to play ball after his lawyer says he is willing to testify on camera before the house oversight committee. is the president's son playing with fire or could it backfire on republicans as we head into an election year? fox news contributor, charlie hurt. so, abbe lowell thinking the best defense is the best offense, wrote to james comer and said ok, so you want your subpoenaing hunter, good, we'll do it, let's just do it in public. is he calling his bluff here? we are also hearing the white house is not too happy about hunter and abbe making this. >> can you imagine the thanksgiving dinner in the biden household about this? that could be sort of awkward. so, i think without a doubt he's definitely calling comer's bluff. it's a very smart move, and it highlights the fact that these things tend to turn into circuses and the more it turns into a circus, it undermines the seriousness of the case which is i think works to hunter biden's advantage. the problem, but i think actually, abbe lowell is thinking about something a little bit bigger than this which is he would rather have the spectacle of an open meeting instead of like a deposition, where people get to ask long involved, in-depth questions. they are not playing for the cameras, you know, these hearings are always circuses because it's like -- >> john: don't have all the democrats on the panel jumping out to defend you. >> every question is broken up by a democrat. >> john: big question is, if he does not comply with the subpoena, is the justice department, is merrick garland going to say you are in content of congress? >> the way contempt of congress has been played with over ten years, i'm highly suspicious joe biden's justice department is going to enforce any contempt -- unless hunter biden wanders past the jail cell in the bottom of the house and they toss him in there, the only way it's going to happen. >> john: some interesting political news with nikki haley. americans for prosperity, headed up by charles koch, has come out, and they are endorsing here. interesting findings in a fox news poll that when you put them head to head, donald trump, ron desantis, nikki haley with joe biden, she wins by the biggest margin here. the question is, the question, can they get her past the deficit past donald trump. >> i think a lot of the reason why nikki haley does is well on the head to head with joe biden, she's probably able to pick off a lot more of those independent women voters that obviously republicans would like to appeal to. but again, it is a republican nomination. so she still has to deal with winning the nomination, and i think honestly, these big money donor endorsements are valuable because campaigns go out of business if they don't have money. but republican voters are not going along with the program any more and an endorsement like this for nikki haley reminding a lot of trump voters, republican voters, anyway, that donald trump is not the establishment guy, he's the outsider guy, and that's still what republican voters are in the mood for. >> john: outsider guy leading by 20 points at least. >> even in south carolina. >> john: great to see you again. almost 24 hours. >> sandra: housing costs are projected to ease slightly in the new year, but experts say that does not necessarily mean any major market improvements. >> john: a live report where mortgage rates are expected to stay and what it means for home buyers. stay with us. in investment research. get help with j.p morgan personal advisors. hey, david! ready to get started? work with advisors who create a plan with you, and help you find the right investments. so great getting to know you, let's take a look at your new investment plan. ok, great! this should have you moving in the right direction. thanks jen. get ongoing advice; and manage your investments in the chase mobile app. i've spent centuries evolving with the world. that's the nature of being the economy. observing investors choose assets to balance risk and reward. with one element securing portfolios, time after time. gold. agile and liquid. a proven protector. an ever-evolving enabler of bold decisions. an asset more relevant than ever before. gold. your strategic advantage. >> sandra: throughout the year, the federal reserve has had to raise interest rates to combat rising prices and as a result, it has brought down housing afford ability big time in this country. lots of concern as to where the housing market is heading in to the new year. kelly is looking at that live from chicago now. kelly, thank you for joining us. by the way, welcome. we appreciate you joining the network. good to have you in the family here. what is the case here? we've been following the housing market news very carefully. it's a big uncertainty for so m many. >> yeah, in this new year, we have looked at realtor.com. people don't want to let go of what they have. 85% of mortgages are below 6.5%. people don't want to leave their houses so it's making the market tight. the outlook shows that most of these rates will stay steady at 6.8%. you can see, we're at a lumber yard here in south chicago. acme. we are looking at what it is look for people that want to diy and people that own businesses like this lumber yard. i'm joined by john calavic. he said although it's a great time for people to do a big ticket item on their homes, they're not doing it. tell us why. >> there's been a lot of trouble with financing. they can't afford the rates. with all the inflationary things with cost of labor going up and insurance and that, they have been turned off of doing some big projects. >> if someone has the extra money to do that big project, what are the prices looking like right now for lumber? >> prices are almost at prepandemic level. very close. the lumber is not an issue. it's more the labor and the other inflationary items. >> if you need a diy project, there's good news. >> sandra: it's been a tough time for so many people. the economic environment very indicative that they're not choosing to do some of those additional projects and taking it on themselves. thanks, kelly. again, welcome to the network. >> john: a live look at the prison in the west bank where any minute now we're expecting the release of 30 palestinian convicted criminals in exchange for ten more real hostages. we have not seen the transfer of the hostages yet at the egypt border crossing. we'll keep watching it for you and bring it as soon as it happens. meantime, quick break. we'll be right back. ing. and you can do the exploring. you can do the splashing... ...the sightseeing... ...and the playing. calquence is an oral targeted therapy for cll. more patients begin with calquence than any treatment of its kind, and calquence is proven to work better than chemoimmunotherapy in patients with previously untreated cll. calquence may cause serious side effects, which may lead to death. these include serious infections with fever, chills, or flu-like symptoms; and bleeding problems that may increase with blood thinners. decreased blood counts are common and can be severe. new cancers have happened, including skin cancers. heart rhythm problems with fast or irregular heartbeat, dizziness, feeling faint, chest discomfort, or shortness of breath, have happened. tell your doctor if you have bleeding, heart rhythm, or liver problems; infection, or if you are or plan to be pregnant or breastfeeding. calquence helps you do the fighting. and you can focus on the things you're loving. ask your doctor if calquence is right for you. ♪ my name is josh sanabria and i am the owner at isla veterinary boutique hospital. i was 5...6 years of age and i knew i was going to be a vet. once alexandra called me to let me know that bank of america had approved my loan... it was important to me. we not only just provide the financing piece, we do everything that we can to surround them with the right people. all you need is a perfect, amazing team that will guide you through the right steps to be successful. and that's what bank of america was for me. we come from people we can be proud of. seeing all the places i come from, i know. if it's a serrano, it's something to be proud of. give the gift of family heritage with ancestry. >> john: live look at the tree in rockefeller center where tonight at 10:00, they will light the lights. a big celebration at 8:00 with barry manilow and kelly clarkson, cher and others. lots of protests, too. >> sandra: we hope it all goes underway flawlessly. it's a wonderful celebration. john, great to be with you. i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. "the story" with martha starts right now. >> martha: we will pick