assistance to ukraine. this is as president biden uses the word genocide for the first time to describe what s happening here. david? and that, of course, making global headlines tonight. james longman in kyiv for us again tonight. and james, as you know, the war in ukraine putting increasing pressure on the global economy. and here at home, the new numbers tonight. inflation now at the highest level since 1981. consumer prices up 8.5% over the past year. energy prices up an eye-popping 32%. americans now paying $325 more per month just for the essentials than they were paying this time last year. abc s maria villarreal is in texas tonight. reporter: tonight, those startling numbers from the government confirming what mary beth snyder is struggling withing right now. everybody is making tough choices. reporter: retired and on a fixed income, those tough choices include asking for help. this food bank outside dallas providing her with groceries she
on that. if you want to get involved in the conversation, the numbers are at the bottom of your screen dd host: and here s one of several articles that we ll be referring to this morning. this comes from the washington times with the headline americans will get heavier still. c.d.c. report predicts 42% of delults be obese by the year 2030. andre billups writes there s no sign of a truce of america s continuing battle of the bulge. a report projects that u.s. obesity rates now at 36% of the population will rise to 42% within two decades, bringing with it, a tab of more than half a trillion dollars in health care and related costs. the rise would top off at three times the national obesity rate in 1980. the country could save billons of dollars in health care costs in the coming decades simply by preventing further gains in average weight so we want to talk to you about the numbers being put out by the c.d.c. and the responsibility and who s going to help us out in trying