mandates for both federal workers and employees of large companies. raising new questions about supply chain issues. white house correspondent peter doocy starts us off tonight live from the north lawn, good evening, peter. bret. >> peter: good evening, bret. even though officials have talked for months about the urgent dangers presented by crumbling roads and bridges, president biden still hasn't signed the infrastructure bill congress sent to his desk three days ago. >> any lessons from what you just gone through with the bipartisan infrastructure. >> none that i didn't already know. >> pete: now that the bidens are back from a beach weekend the officials are celebrating the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. >> we are excited with an exclamation point. >> next up, a few trillion more in the build back better plan. >> the economic policy agenda that you hear we say this all the time that 81 million people voted for. last year just a year ago. >> what they voted for and what they got may be different as 44% of independents claim biden is doing worse than they expected. just 6% say he is doing better in a "u.s.a. today" suffolk poll. >> polls are all over the map and that's not going to be our focus right now. >> this poll is dismal for biden 59% disapprove and even more 46% say they hope he doesn't run for re-election as officials prepare to pay some illegal immigrants who are suing the government. >> now that the president is on the record as of saturday supporting compensation for illegal immigrants who were separated from family at the border. >> if, in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration, you coming across the border whether legally or illegal and you lost your child, you lost your child! its gone! you deserve some kind of compensation. >> who counts as separated? if somebody was just separated for a few hours or a few days, would they be eligible to settle a suit and get this payment from doj. >> peter i have will direct you to the department of justice for any specifics on this. >> peter: the president's story has changed on this one. >> you said last week that this report about migrant families at the border getting payments was garbage. >> no, i didn't say that pete. >> peter: yes, he did. >> if you guys keep sending that garbage out. >> now he claims the garbage was a reported settlement of $450,000. >> the number i was referring to. >> the confusion has critics wondering about how policy decisions are made. >> i think that the president came home and he is getting taken to the wood shed by the people who are actually running the white house. >> today's main event toasting the milwaukee bucs. >> getting closer to passing the consequential investments our nation and our people. >> peter: that's in that next multitrillion dollars spending package. there are some democrats in town who want the president to wait to vote on until the congressional budget office has analyzed it, figured out what's in it, figured out how much it costs. but, officials around here don't want to wait for that. basically arguing that the bill is completely paid for and you can just take their word for it bret? >> bret: all right. peter doocy, live on the north lawn. peter, thanks. the u.s. borders with mexico and canada are now fully reopened for vaccinated travelers. also tonight coronavirus related restrictions on travel for much of europe have been lifted. that sets the stage for emotional reunions nearly two years in the making for some families and potential relief to tourism industries across the country. there is major pushback in several countries to the federal government mandates on vaccines. government mandates in these various countries. they range from large nations such as india, germany and france to slovenia and south africa with protests hitting the streets over the weekend. this is the final day for federal employees here in the u.s. to be vaccinated in this country in order to meet the president's deadline. national correspondent william la jeunesse tells us tonight from los angeles there is still significant resistance across this country. >> federal employees protest president biden's vaccine mandates. >> no one should be forced to take a medical treatment just to keep their job. >> from nasa workers in mississippi to prison guards around the country. >> i think basically it comes down to distrust. >> today is the deadline for federal workers to get their final shot in order to be fully vaccinated by november 22nd. though penalties can start tomorrow, some agencies report sky high numbers of workers declining the shot or refusing to report their vaccine status. >> about 40% of the border patrol workforce has a ahas applied for exemption religious or medical exemption for this requirement. to be frank, it's because people believe that this is a federal overreach. >> union reps claim supervisors are threatening to impose penalties, though many haven't even processed employee exemption requests. >> it's a rock and a hard place. they are trying to be compliant with the mandate and keep their jobs, at the same time, they are not being given the tools in which they need to do so. >> records with fox news show up to 11,000 border agents are either unvaccinated or refuse to disclose their status. 14,000 from ports of entry. tsa and the bureau of prisons also report thousands of holdouts. >> they are telling me that they are going to either resign or retire or face the disciplinary action. >> to obtain a religious exemption, an employee must swear their beliefs are sincere. however, if they're unvaccinated status creates undue hardship on the government, they can still be fired. >> we just don't know what the next few months hold. you know, we don't know what choices will end up being forced to make or not. >> so major fear if enforced this could lead to staffing issues at agencies like the atf and dea. the border prisons and airports just in time for the holiday season. bret? >> bret: one to watch. william, thank you. the justice department says there are additional legal challenges to the federal government's vaccine mandate. similar requests have been filed in five other federal appeals court. the new orleans court has given attorneys until tomorrow to provide final briefs. the run of record closes on wall street continues all three major markets had new highs at the finish. the dow gaining 104. the s&p 500 finished ahead 4. the nasdaq was up 11. the biden administration is considering shutting down another pipeline even as the gasoline prices soar. the administration is pushing back tonight saying it is studying the feasibility of replacing the so-called five pipeline but a decision on whether to shut it down has not been made. the pipeline stretches across michigan carrying more than a half million barrels of croyle a day from western canada. here's the biden administration's response earlier today when pressed by fox news' peter doocy. take a listen. >> so why is the administration now considering shutting down the line five pipeline from canada to michigan? >> so, peter, that is inaccurate. >> what's inaccurate? >> the reporting. the reporting about us wanting to shut down. >> i didn't want say want. i said is it being studied right now? is the administration studying the impact of shutting down line 5. >> yeah, the army corps of engineers is preparing environmental impact to. >> bret: they are studying to shut it down. pipeline in question is operated by canadian company elm bring involved in legal battle with the state of michigan tried to shut the line down in may. critics say biden's energy policy has already made america more dependent on foreign oil. the oil and gas industry as well as canadian lawmakers say any more shutdown also only drive prices higher especially for propane that many americans rely on for heat in the winter. average price for gallon of regular up $3.42 up from 1.30 last year. energy secretary jennifer granholm says that she hopes gas prices won't reach $4 a gallon. the prices are surging for everything from energy to groceries and the biden administration is definitely feeling pressure to fix the links in the broken supply chain. heard from transportation secretary about that today. president biden says americans don't understand how the supply chain works. take a listen. >> we were going out and having lunch together. let's ask whoever is at the next table no matter what restaurant we are in have them explain the supply chain to us. do they understand we are talking about? >> bret: well, american consumers do know how inflation is eating into their pocketbooks and that spells bad news for the economy and obviously the president's approval ratings. let's bring in senior political analyst brit hume with a look at this. good evening, brit. i will tell you this energy process and this administration's policy on it seems to fly in the face of trying to get gas prices down. what are your thoughts? >> looks to me as if this is an administration that was willing to sacrifice a lot on the altar of moving away from carbon-based fuels. and gasoline, obviously, oil, coal, natural gas, all those in the interest of trying to save the planet. seemingly willing to have the consumers pay higher prices. politically, even if inflation in other areas of the economy subsides, pooh people are still paying sky high gasoline prices and fuel prices the feeling is going to be that this administration brought us inflation and it's here to stay. not good politically. >> bret: right. you look at those numbers and they are taking a dive. the he has had success the president has in getting the infrastructure bill across the finish line. look as little more daunting for the reconciliation bill. people are feeling it at home. that's where that approval number goes? >> yeah, i think so, bret. and, look, inflation is really a dangerous ching, because whatever other gains are made in wages and so forth, are wiped out by inflation. and it damages your savings. as long as the fed -- if interest rates are low going to be hard for people to have savings to make the kind of gains that they want and need. it's really -- it is about as corrosive a factor in american life as one can imagine. and has remained at bay for many years now. and here it's back. the fed keeps telling us it's transitory. maybe it is. but if this administration is going to have anti-fossil fuels policy that continues to drive energy prices ever higher, they are not going to be able to convince people that inflation is under control and it is very kind of thing that they are going to take out on the party in power at the polls. i don't think there suspect doubt about that. this is politically insane to let this go on. and to shut down pipelines and not approve pipelines and end up begging saudi arabia to increase its production to offset the locals of energy here at home i think is not going to sit well with the public. no question about it. >> bret: sure. one of the first things president biden did was the abandoning the keystone xl pipeline and then the nord stream two pipeline in germany and russia's efforts there went forward. you think that is really a potent political baton for the republicans? >> brit: i do. i think it is. we had achieved something quite remarkable owing in a considerable measure to fracking which is permitted under republican administrations and which this administration and other democratic administrations and states around the country have resisted. you know, barred. banned in new york, for example. but the effect of it was to make us energy independent. anything that expresses that and suppresses the flow of fuels. mined outside of this country and into this country. pipelines into this country only going to exacerbate the shortages and send the prices up. in my view, it is probably unwising in policy and absolutely crazy political policy. >> bret: all right, brit, thank you. >> brit: thank you. >> bret: congress is taking a break plenty of work to be done on the massive spending initiative. we will have a live report from capitol hill. >> the moderate democrats are in no position of power at all. yeah they are celebrating this infrastructure bill but held to the line to vote for the reconciliation bill the larger package. ♪ ♪♪ if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, what?! no! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating the eyes and may provide temporary relief. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you are allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. ♪♪♪ this holiday, ask your doctor about xiidra. umph! do you take aspirin? plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. new vazalore is the first liquid-filled aspirin capsule clinically shown to cause fewer ulcers than plain aspirin. vazalore is designed to help protect... releasing aspirin after it leaves your stomach... where it is absorbed to give you the benefits of life saving aspirin... to help prevent another heart attack or stroke. heart protection with your stomach in mind. try new liquid-filled vazalore. aspirin made amazing! ♪ ♪ >> bret: rap artist travis scott will reportedly refund the price of tickets to fans who attended friday's astroworld festival in houston. at least 8 people were killed there when many of the 50,000 in attendance pushed forward as scott can came on stage. >> i started struggle glick to breathe. i told my boyfriend like we got to get out of here, but there was no way out. once you were, in the only way out was to gowp. once i passed out, he lifted me over the crowd and, you know, basically crowd surfed my unconscious body about 4 feet to the right where security guards pulled me over. >> bret: the first lawsuits over the incident have already been filed. scott, drake and other artists are listed as defendants. a committee investigating the capitol riot on january 6th is issuing subpoenas to six associates of former president trump who were said to be involved in his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. included on that list is former senior adviser jason miller, attorney john eastman and former national security adviser michael flynn. committee chairman bennie thompson says former president trump's aides drove a campaign of misinformation about the election and planned ways to stop the count of electoral college votes. we are still waiting for president biden to sign the infrastructure bill, as mentioned earlier. meanwhile, congress is taking a break for the next several days before more work on the president's massive social spending bill, the build back better bill congressional correspondent aishah hasnie has the latest tonight from capitol hill. >> the motion is adopted. >> president biden's legislative victory may be short lived. on friday, the house finally synched up with the senate passing a trillion dollars bipartisan infrastructure bill. but democratic infighting is still around the bend. house speaker nancy pelosi pumped the brakes on the vote for the bigger tax and social spending plan called build back better to appease house moderates who want to see a congressional budget office score first. that's the gold standard in pricing out the true cost of legislation, which the white house is currently selling as 1.75 trillion over 10 years and completely paid for. >> we expect the information that we receive to be in line with what we receive from the treasury department. >> republicans aren't buying it. >> the price tag is going to be a heck of a lot higher than what's been advertised. >> the democrat politicking is now affecting republicans. delaying the vote on the build back better bill caused six squad members to reject the hard infrastructure piece. so 13 republicans stepped in to pass it. but now, face threats and anger from their own party. congressman madison cawthorn tweeting vote for this infrastructure bill and i will primary the hell out of you. >> all they have done is created a pathway for joe biden's job killing socialist agenda to be passed here in the united states. >> but republican congresswoman nicole malliotakis thinks she did republicans a favor. >> we have actually undermined alexandria ocasio-cortez and the socialist wing of the democratic party from being able to hold infrastructure hostage and now they have lost their leverage. >> progressives certainly have a tough bill to sell if they can even get it passed senate moderates like joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. >> bret, the timing of the cbo score could also be troublesome for democrats. it could take about two weeks to come back. and they already have a very full plate. the extension for funding the government expires around december 3rd and then the debt ceiling crisis as that looms around the same time. a lot to get to for democrats on the hill. bret? >> bret: morphos call cliffs. aishah hasnie lyon capitol hill. thanks. >> you bet. >> bret: new push for answers how the coronavirus pandemic began. here is what some of our fox affiliates are covering tonight. a train crashes into a vehicle stopped on the packs in pompano beach leaving a woman and child with minor injuries. the train was set to take part in a ceremony commemorating the company's return to service after a 19 month hiatus due to the pandemic it remains unclear why the vehicle was stopped in the train's path. fox 11 in los angeles where residents are now required to show proof of vaccination against covid-19 in order to enter indoor restaurants, gyms, entertainment and recreational facilities and some city buildings. although the new vaccine mandate takes effect today, enforcement of the law will not begin until november 29th. and this is a live look at minneapolis from fox 9, our affiliate there one of the big stories there tonight, baby center releases its list of top 100 baby names. olivia and liam are the highest ranking names in the u.s. for a second straight year. emma and amelia took the second and third spot for the girls while noah and oliver scored silver and bronze for the boys. there you have it. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report," we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ isn't she lovely ♪ ♪ as someone who resembles someone else, i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ kids can change minds. they can even change the world around us. packed with protein plus 21 vitamins and minerals we nourish them with carnation breakfast essentials. because today could change everything. 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a wave of ransomware attacks. one of those led to the temporary shutdown of the world's largest meat processor. the other snarled businesses around the globe on fourth of july weekend. one of the two was arrested in poland. >> most of the time the actors themselves are trying to hide abroad. but, as we have shown time and time again, we're still going to pursue them, disrupt them, and hold them accountable. the long arm of the law reaches a lot further than they think. and we have got ways of disrupting those sheltering in places like russia. >> bret: u.s. officials say the u.s. has recovered more than $6 million from one of the suspects. well, there is new pressure tonight from congress to get answers about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. state department correspondent benjamin hall tells us tonight a new investigation would not rely on the chinese for help. >> this is like a nuclear bomb that went off, killed 10 times more people than any nuclear war head did. it's been almost two years since covid up ended our lives leaving 700,000 americans dead but still there is no definitive answer on how, where or why it started. now a group of piper senators are calling for a full 9/11 style commission to investigate the origins amidst mounting evidence that the virus leaked from a wuhan lab. >> we need to find out where this came from. >> led by republican senators marshall and johnny earns and democrats dianne feinstein and kirsten gillibrand in new commission would examine the u.s. response and allow sanctions to be placed on labs like the new one in wuhan that won't cooperate. sanctions against china. senator marshall also claims that certain u.s. intelligence agencies have not cooperated. >> i think that the intelligence agency has been not forthcoming. i think that they have not released the documents that could have been released. >> the state department has repeatedly said it backs the current world health organization investigation despite the fact that china has repeatedly blocked those attempts. crucially this comu commission would be free from chinese interference. >> china is doing everything possible to prevent that kind of investigation. but we can't give china a veto over whether or not we investigate the worst pandemic in a century. >> china meanwhile, points the finger the other way saying on friday, the u.s. turns a blind eye to facts and science and has politicized covid-19 response and then resorted to intelligence community led origins tracing. >> bret, we reached out to the intelligence community and sources there just pointed us in the direction of president biden's 90 day intelligence review on the subject. that never got to the bottom of the covid origins, always deemed to be too slim in time and scope. tony blinken is hosting a virtual meeting with foreign ministers from around the world to discuss this subject. we don't know if the chinese foreign minister has been invited or will attend. >> bret: benjamin hall our new state department correspondent. welcome to washington. >> thank you, sir. >> bret: concern over chinese military is. mock-ups of u.s. navy warships apparently for use in attack scenarios. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot shows you don't. >> china appears to be getting ready to do a pretty realistic target practice with the u.s. its sights. new satellite images show beijing has built life size mockups of u.s. navy ships at u.s. test range. one looks like a u.s. navy carrier. another missile destroyer complete with fake exhaust tunnels and weapons. another pretend u.s. naval vessel on rails so it could be moving while chinese vessels fired at it. >> it should definitely been a wake-up call. the chinese have been sharpening their knives and working diligently to capability to hold at risk our most capable platforms. >> all of this comes at a time of tension what china is doing off the coast of beijing threatening taiwan and disputing bases in the south china sea. comes as china ramps up military including testing a range of ballistic missiles. one is branded a carrier buster for its powerful antiship capabilities. chinese government is tight-lipped. >> i'm not aware of the situation you mentioned. >> not like the u.s. isn't preparing for trouble. recently the aircraft carrier uss gerald r. ford went through what's called a shock trial surviving a huge charge detonated off its side. there are other measures the u.s. is taking to deal with the dangerous pace of the chinese military build-up. what we are focused on is that pacing challenge and make sure we maintain the right capabilities and the right operational concepts to meet our security commitments in that part of the world. >> one expert said ship mockups are more detailed. than they need to be. send a message to the u.s. about china's intent aerial photos. >> bret: up next biden's plummeting poll numbers as pieces of his agenda remain in limbo. beyond our borders tonight. iraqi officials say sunday's drone attack targeting the iraqi prime minister was carried out by one iran backed militia. the prime minister escaped unhurt after three drones carrying explosives were launched at his residence in baghdad. the tension stirring up in iraq where powerful iran backed forces are disputing the result of last month's general election that dealt them a defeat. the lawyer for paul way leon says his will fight for his transfer to the u.s. despite losing a court appeal. convicted of spying in russia and sentenced to 16 years in jail last year. waylon denies the allegations claiming weighs set up in a sting operation. and the first chinese woman to conduct a space walk spends more than six hours outside that country's space station. ping and a fellow astronaut installed equipment and carried out tests alongside the station's robotic service arm. the six month mission is scheduled to be the longest yet for chinese astronauts. just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. we'll be right back. ♪ i booked our hotel on kayak. it's flexible if we need to cancel. cancel. i haven't left the house in a year. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. tums vs. mozzarella stick flexible cancellation. when heartburn hits, fight back fast with tums chewy bites. fast heartburn relief in every bite. crunchy outside, chewy inside. ♪ tums, tums, tums, tums ♪ tums chewy bites ♪ >> we are still going through a hard time in this country, people are tired of fighting a pandemic. >> i don't know that anything has gone wrong. the country is in a bad place. it's a real tough time to become president of the united states. >> the biden administration is just in total chaos and disarray and every time you turn around you are slapped with a new crisis. >> we are confident that our policies will improve the lives of nearly every american. the components of the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the build back better framework are very popular and that's important to note. >> bret: well the infrastructure bill is across the finish line has not been signed into law as of yet. now the second piece of that puzzle for the administration is still kind of stalled and will be worked on on capitol hill for a couple of weeks, at least. this as new poll numbers come in from the "u.s.a. today" suffolk university poll. the president's approval rating 3% in this poll. how about this? the vice president, kamala harris, do you approver disapprove? 28% approval. do you hope joe biden runs for another term as president in 2024? yes or no? 29% yes. 64% no. those are bad poll numbers. and most of it was taken before the infrastructure bill, obviously passed. will that effect it? we don't know. let's bring in our panel a little smaller tonight so far guy benson political editor at town hall.com host of the guy benson show on radio. fox news radio and jeff mason washington correspondent for reuters at the white house. guy, let me start with you, by the way you are in studio here which is a new element. >> very exciting. i forgot what this felt like. >> bret: welcome back. baby steps. we are going to get one panelist at a time. >> i'm delighted to be here. what a treat. >> bret: when you look at the poll numbers and see where the president is, what do you take from 30,000 feet? >> the president is extremely unpopular. i mean, to be in the 30's with 21 points under water at this stage in your presidency, that's not a great place to be. and that final number that you flashed up on the screen about sort of enthusiasm about another biden term or another biden run is obviously not great news for him, but let's just say a lot of the these people say nothing we are not into round two of joe biden a lot of them are actually democrats who are not terribly excited about the prospect of nominating him for a second time. so then you start to wonder okay, who would be waiting in the wings potentially who is the heir apparent the first name that would come to mind the vice president. you saw her numbers which are 23 points under water. so i don't know how you can spin this poll in particular which is similar in trajectory to some of the other numbers we are seeing if you are the democrats. i would add one more nugget from that poll the congressional ballot heading into next year we're now one year out from the midterm elections. republicans plus 8 on a met trick that they almost never lead on in any poll. so this is maybe a two or three alarm fire poll for the democratic party still smarting and hurting from last week. >> bret: jeff, you are at the white house there. they are dealing with all of the fallout here, all of these poll numbers. but, successful in getting the infrastructure bill through. how do you think they see it as he had head into this next kind of morass? i don't know who is screaming there. hopefully it's not somebody with the administration. i bet they are outside the front gate though. >> you are right about that. somebody on the other side of the gate. but, to your broader question, bret, i mean, first of all, they see polls as temporary, and you played that clip from a earlier which was my response she is playing down the polls. that's what white houses do. the truth is you are just nine months in to this administration. the time when they're going to be talking about a second joe biden run is two or three years away. the midterm elections though are just one year away. so the polls do matter. i would share with you that i spoke with a democratic lawmaker last week who said, you know, they are all in congress, the democrats are watching the president's approval ratings because it has an impact on whether or not they will likely be able to hold control of the house and control of the senate. if he is able to bring those approval ratings up, it's going to help the dems, the democrats. if he is not, it's going to hurt them at large. but, in general, to get to your question how they are feeling they are focused on his policings. they are confident that this infrastructure bill, the build back better bill if they get it passed despite their being some confusion from the public about the benefits that eventually it will go to their favor once it's law. >> bret: third member jason riley "wall street journal" columnist, senior fellow at the manhattan institute. jason, it's interesting to see the reaction from the administration, from democrats, to the virginia win to the narrow republican loss in new jersey to the other things that we saw from the election last week and what's yet to come on this battle with the build back better bill. what are your thoughts? >> it's not just interesting, bret. it's fascinating the way they are trying to spin this. you know, if the american people didn't like how fast the democratic agenda was progressing, why did they reward the party that was opposing it? that's what we saw happen last week. and the administration, the white house, democrats in general, are trying to spin this otherwise. and it's not just biden's approval rating falling generally across the board. it's falling with those specific groups that helped him win office in the first place, independents, suburban voters, suburban women and so forth. i think, you know, this is a reality check that the democrats have to realize is going on here. and i'm kind of fascinated that they have failed to come to grips with reality. >> bret: yeah. this is a "new york times" editorial. the "new york times" editorial. it says bill clinton saved his presidency and here is how joe biden can, too. senator joe manchin and senator kyrsten sinema are not outliers in the democratic party. they are, in fact, the very heart of the democratic party, given that 53% of democrats classify themselves as moderates or conservative. you can't dismiss a clear electoral trend, the flight from the democrats was disproportionately in the suburbs and the idea that these home owning child rearing tax paying voters just want more progressive candidates is not a sustainable one. guy, that's pretty clear but if you look at aoc's tweets or other members of the squad, they say the reason terry mcauliffe lost was he wasn't progressive enough. >> that's the consensus among progressive twitters broadly which seems to be driving so much of the conversation at the elite level in our politics, including at the white house. we are seeing a dominance of progressive twitter right now which is not serving the administration political ends very well. i think it's safe to say. by the way, the quote that you played from the white house deputy press secretary saying that we're confident that our policies will help the overwhelming majority of americans, i'm paraphrasing, this knoll we were just citing from "u.s.a. today" asked that question one out of four voters agreed they would be helped by the policy. that's in line with a recent abc news poll. that is not a good number for them. the people are not clamoring for this build back better bill, no matter how often they say they are. >> bret: yeah. and inflation factors into all of this. all right, panel, stand by. up next, the growing concern over china's military build up. ♪ ♪ (man) go on, girl, go on and get help! 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this is china with mock-ups according to satellite images of u.s. aircraft carriers and other naval vessels that the u.s. could operate. we showed those satellite images on the screen. mockups of the aircraft carriers for exercises. and add this to the current mix of what we're looking at. you have the hypersonic missile test that caught the intelligence and the pentagon off guard. you have aggressive flyovers of taiwan increasing not decreasing. and some very belligerent language coming from the chinese. we are back with the panel. jeff, where do you think this is on the white house alert, you know, as far as what they talk about, what they care about on the national security front? >> i think it's high and i think, bret, it just underscores the extent to which china and the relationship with china is sort of the underpinning all of president biden's foreign policy. when i was-when he was at the g-20 and i was traveling with him last week, he was asked about china and, of course, he has this virtual meeting coming up with the president xi and he said something along the lines of he does not want conflict with china and he also doesn't want there to be an accidental conflict with china. and, it really is at the core of virtually all of the decisions that they are making on all sorts of things, on everything from climate change to economic policy to defense. >> bret: jason, when it comes to, for example, the investigation into the coronavirus, this administration does not seem to be that aggressive on that front. not like the last administration. but, they have, this administration has left a lot of the tariffs in place from the last administration. >> they have. and that's an indication that they see china as somewhat of a threat. a sort of grudging acknowledgment that trump and the trump administration is on the right track there. but, i think they need to step up their game. china, you know, we also have to remember that a lot of times with these autocracies, a lot of what we see is a reflection of what is going on eternally in these countries, and right now china is worried about taiwan independence. they are worried about energy issues in terms of working with australia, for example, to make sure their energy needs are met in china. so, this is a reflection of all of that. but, at the end of the day, what we don't want is for china to perceive any sort of weakness in the u.s. and that's what concerns me. and whether that weakness is displayed and how eager we are for climate issues. how eager we are to getting out of afghanistan, how eager we are in terms of nuclear deal with iran, that is what we are projecting right now under the biden administration and china is paying attention to that. and so that's where i think the biden administration really, really needs to be careful in its dealings with china right now. they have their own internal issues. how they respond to those internal issues will be in part a reflection of how the biden administration is responding to how we're projecting our might militarily and otherwise, economically and otherwise, american might worldwide. >> you have the olympics coming up which will be a p.r. coup eventually for the chinese president depending on how we play that where do you see it? >> it's actually astounding to me that the olympics seem to be just just moving forward next year in communist china given the last two years. you just ticked off a whole list of the increasingly, i would say, brazen military provocations, there is also this report about antisatellite weapons being tested by the chinese that could affect our satellites. then you throw on top of that the covid origins and the cover-up and lies about that. the destruction, slowly and systematically of hong kong's democracy in violation of international law. the genocide against the uyghurs, you put all of this together, and the global community is going to just say okay, let's give this big p.r. win to chairman xi and the ccp in 2022? what message would that send the chinese aside one of very weakness and a lack of resolve in the international community really do to do anything serious. i think that would embolden the chinese and i fear that's what's going to happen. >> bret: jeff, i only have a few seconds do you think the line-up for that virtual meeting is already set and do you think that this administration is really considering the olympics moving forward. >> i think they are not entirely set yet on that lineup. i think it's coming up soon. we actually asked about that today in the briefing. it's going to be a critical meeting and we are going to be watching it closely. as far as the olympics is concerned. they have been saying repeatedly that the u.s. is going to participate i suspect they are going to stick with that line. >> bret: all right, gentlemen, when we come back. tomorrow's headlines with the panel. ♪ at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. people with moderate to severe psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the way they exaggerate the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not an injection or a cream it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. s out of president biden's speech in glasgow which was a barn burner with regard to climate change. >> bret: jason? >> the media headline will be the fake russian collusion story isn't our fault. i think there is a lot more to come from special counsel durham's investigation. into the russian collusion story. most of the washington press will continue to deny the central role it played in helping the clinton campaign spread lies. >> bret: that's a story we will follow. thank you, gentlemen. tomorrow on "special report" how realistic is a red wave in the house 2022? thanks for inviting us neuro noah your home tonight. that's it for this "special report" fair balanced and unafraid. "fox news primetime" hosted by lawrence jones starts right now. ha,lawrence. >> lawrence: hey, bret. thank you very much. welcome to "fox news primetime," i'm lawrence jones. and tonight we start by looking at the failures of joe biden's presidency. every step of the way biden has let america down. so concerned getting rid of the orange man and his tweets and willing to crash the economy and your life just to get their way. 10 months into biden's presidency and it looks like the american people are having second thoughts. now joe biden's al-approval rati