earth written response to manchin's announcement appeared to make things more tense. word today of a sunday night phone call between manchin and president biden to try mend the relationship and try to save something legislatively. but breaking in just the past few minutes, the cdc now says only chron is the most common coronavirus variant in the u.s. accounting for nearly three quarters of the covid-19 cases. this as the biden administration is dealing with a massive increase in the overall number of coronavirus infections. and the perception it was not ready for either delta or the new omicron strains. the president is scheduled to outline his response to the surge in a speech tomorrow. wall street is not waiting. investors bailed today with major markets losing around 1 percentage point in value. over the weekend a federal court reinstated the administration's vaccine mandate for large businesses there are several emergency petitions between the u.s. supreme court seeking to block that rule. in just a few moments dr. marc siegel will answer your questions about the pandemic. white house correspondent jacqui heinrich starts us off tonight a busy news night live from the north lawn, good evening, jackie. >> good evening to you, bret. president biden's year-end challenge combings down to convincing others to advance his legislative and priors both of which he framed as supporting the economic recovery convincing one democratic hold out spend ising plan and convincing unvaccinated americans to get their shots and tamp down the pandemic. both fronts are proving to be difficult. president biden will warn again tomorrow unvaccinated americans are driving hospitalizations and death. >> this is not a speech about locking the country down. this is a speech outlining and being direct and clear with the american people about the benefits of being vaccinated. >> the white house tuning its messaging as the omicron variant surges even among the fully vaccinated and boosted. >> while vaccinated individuals get covid due to the highly transmissible nature of omicron their cases will likely be mild for asymptomatic. we continue to see and health experts assess that you are 14 more times likely to die of covid if you have not been vaccinated versus vaccinated. >> the administration's vaccination campaign buoyed by a friday night ruling from a federal appeals court turning the vax or test mandate for private businesses back on. a supreme court battle looms ahead with appeals now being revealed by supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. also up in the air the future of the president's signature social spending bill after senator joe manchin pulled his support blaming white house staff. >> i just got to the wit's end and they know the real reason. i understand this is not the president. it's the staff. they drove some things and put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. they know what it. >> those close to the west virginia senator say thursday was the final straw. manchin ally steve clemmons writes the white house released a statement blaming manchin for the delay. they tried to strike a positive tone about the future but targeted manchin specifically and alone. >> did the white house share the thursday statement with senator manchin before it was put out and what was his reaction to that. >> i'm not going to detail private discussions or private sharing of statements in advance. >> sources tell fox the answer to that question is no. that was a big part of the problem. now a noticeably softer tone as the white house tries to pick up the pieces. >> he has worked with senator manchin over the course of decades. they share fundamental values. they are long-time friends. that has not changed. and what's most on the president's mind is the risk of inaction. >> now, we have learned that the president and senator manchin spoke on sunday night and there is a sense that the door could be open to more talks in the new year. we'll hear from the president tomorrow as he addresses the nation about the omicron variant and maybe, just maybe he will take some questions, bret. >> bret: we still need his vote. jacqui heinrich live on the north lawn. thank you. more on senator joe manchin's as announcement and the democrats in just a bit. director of the world health organization says there is consistent evidence the omicron variant is spreading faster than the delta strain. the u.s. is averaging close to 130,000 new coronavirus cases each day. and a rash of cancellations and postponements is upon us once again. correspondent jonathan serrie is live tonight in atlanta home of the cdc. good evening, jonathan. >> good evening to you, bret. the omicron variant has been confirmed in at least 46 states. federal health officials say it is the most rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus that they have had though deal with during the entire pandemic. so far. but they do have tools to fight it. >> los angeles called off new year's evizations and rhode island will reimpose a indoor mask mandate. broadway musicals hamilton and aladdin announced the cancellations of all performances through christmas due to break through infections. the nfl postponed several games after 100 players, many of them fully vaccinated tested positive over the course of three days. the national hockey league has postponed a total of 42 games this season. >> when we cancel games or postpone them, it's not because we are trying to interrupt the outbreak the same way. it's because we have to respond to an outbreak that's already happening on our team. >> vaccine maker moderna released new data today showing its current booster shot produces a 37-fold increase in omicron neutralizing antibodies doubling the authorized dose increases the antibodies. earlier this month pfizer released data showing three doses of its vaccine were effective against the variant. >> with those who have maximum protection from the vaccination and boost. you either won't get infected or if you do get an infection it, will be most likely mild, but if you are unvaccinated i'm worried about you. >> federal health officials believe vaccines and treatments will allow the u.s. to avoid more lockdowns. >> i get to see an i.d. >> mandates are a different story. yale is telling students to get booster shots before spring semester. tomorrow washington, d.c. will reinstate its indoor mask policy. and boston's mayor announced people will need to show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants and other indoor venues starting january 15th. eliciting years from protesters. >> there is nothing more american than coming together to ensure that worry taking care of each other. >> and royal caribbean confirms that 48 passengers on board sim family of the seas stopped in miami over the weekend tested positive for covid. the vast majority of them had been fully vaccinated as required by the cruise line. most of the cases appear to be mild. bret? >> bret: jonathan serrie in atlanta. jonathan, thank you. let's bring in fox news contributor dr. marc siegel. doc, thanks for being here. i have talked to a lot of people some have gotten vaccinated and booster and still worried heading into this holiday season. there is this growing frustration even if i'm vaccinated we have got to worry about this. >> well, bret, good evening. actually if you are vaccinated and boosted, you really have to worry about this a lot less as your reporters just said. listen, a new study out of the imperial college of london put it this way. if you have covid, you have about 20% protection against omicron. if you had two shots you have about 20%. if you had the booster it's between 455 and 80%. it's more than that against severe disease. so if you are boosted against this variant, you are almost definitely not going to get more than mild disease. that's what people out there have to realize. that's the issue and that's what, of course, the president is going to be talking about tomorrow. viewers to send in some questions. we have got a few. steve writes in: when will omicron overtake delta strain? we have seen that in cases already, but how much does natural immunity from omicron apply to delta and virus versa? interesting question. >> you know, that's a really great question. i want to say that south africa canned at united kingdom have taught us something, bret. it's starting to plateau now in those countries. in other words, new cases are less. it looks like it burns with a hot fire this variant. whereas delta is still going along in both u.k. and south africa. here you just heard jonathan serrie 73%. we are burning very hot here. here is what characterizes omicron. it's the idea that you are five times more likely to get reinfected with omicron from a previous variants than from delta. it does something immunoinvestigation. it's able to infect you even if you have had something else or been vaccinated but, again, mild case mild case if you have immunity on board. >> bret: there are concerns. nancy writes in i had the j and j johnson & johnson in march. i had pfizer in october. i'm worried about blood clots plus will i need a third shot which i do not want to get rare issue of blood clots extremely rare. enough of a reason by the way for us to veer away from it we're using the mrna shots now instead. if you had the j and j months ago and now you got pfizer and moderna you don't have to worry about blood clots at this point. we will monitor that going forward to see if you need a third shot. seeing here which is how much protection you have. it looks like the pfizer and moderna lasts four to six months. it may that be it will last longer after the booster. but we have to monitor that as we go along. learning is not a bad thing here. i know it makes people nervous. we are monitoring this closely. >> bret: i only have a few seconds here, dr. siegel. what do you want the president to say tomorrow? >> i want him to talk about therapeutics. hundreds of doses. i want approved by the fda. i want those pills out there. they look to be tremendous. and i want rapid testing in every home in america. we need a public/private partnership like we had with operation warp speed all over again. we get those tools, bret, everyone will calm down. >> bret: i know a lot of people who can't find those tests in any store so that's a big question. dr. siegel, we always appreciate your time. >> thank you, bret. great to be on. >> bret: u.s. border agents have apprehended a terrorism suspect who entered the country illegally last week. the migrant was apparently disguised as a volunteer e.m.s. worker. also tonight we have new exclusive video as we watched dozens of illegal immigrants cross the border despite heavy rain, cold temperatures there. correspondent bill melugin is in la joya, texas again tonight. >> border patrol in yuma, arizona report they have caught a potential terrorists after he crossed into the u.s. illegally from mexico. the 21-year-old man from saudi arabia has ties to several yemeni subjects of interest according to border patrol. he was wearing a jacket from the central aneed da volunteer ambulance corps in upstate new york. in a phone call their chief tells us they have no idea who this man is. they have no affiliation with him. and they don't know how he got one of their outdated jackets. here in the rio grande valley bad weather and chill temperatures didn't stop migrants from crossing illegally. late sunday arch at least 100 showed up in la joya, texas, a mixture of families and single adults. many of them shuttle the border patrol processing areas in pickup trucks. one honduran man had told us he had just been smuggled across the river by the cartel. we asked him if he paid them. >> i had to. >> how much? >> $3,000. >> and in rio grande city on saturday, texas governor greg abbott officially announced the beginning of construction of the texas border wall. it's the first time in country a state is building its own wall. >> people aren't making it through those steel bars. >> money while, after president biden canceled all federal wall construction, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of steel already paid for by u.s. taxpayers continues to sit unused at storage location in the rio grande valley. governor abbott says texas has reached out to the biden administration about potentially using or purchasing that steel for the texas wall, but says they have gotten no response. >> if they want to be responsible steward for taxpayer money, they should be providing that material either to the state of texas or to the contractors who are working with the state of texas. >> bret, earlier today we did reach out to the white house to ask them about all of that federal steel that's been left unused out here, but we never heard back from them. we will send it back to you. >> bret: bill melugin along the border. bill, thank you. stocks tum could today on covid fears the dow loss 433. the s&p 500 was off 53. the nasdaq dropped 189 today. up next, extremism in the u.s. military why the top brass at the pentagon are concerned about it right now. first, here's what some of our our fox affiliates around the country are corresponding tonight. fox 5 in new york as the jury receives the case in the ghislaine maxwell trial. the defendant did not take the stand. maxwell is fighting charges she recruited underaged girls for sexual abuse by the late businessman jeffrey epstein. her lawyer says maxwell is not testifying because the government did not prove its case yard. fox 8 in cleveland as the ohio based agency whose missionaries were kidnapped in haiti says the captives made a daring escape overnight. christian aid ministries says its 12 workers walked for miles over difficult moonlit terrain with an infant and other children in tow last week. five hostages had been released earlier. this is a live look at philadelphia from fox 29. one of the stories there master sergeant jared brown returns home from deployment with the international guard whose surprised his son at school as soon as jackson recognized his father, he ran to him and gave him a big hug. you see that it's awesome. it had been at least three months since they had seen each other. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. ♪ (vo) nowadays, business can happen anywhere, anytime. with verizon business unlimited plans, you can get 5g, truly unlimited data, and more hotspot data. so you can run a bakery from the blue line. ha! cupcake. or collaborate with clients from the concourse. and to get your team geared up with the good stuff, book a one-on-one tech check with a business expert. woo! visit us in store or book an appointment to save time and money. because every business deserves better. and with plans as low as $30, better costs less than you think. when i say better, you say business. better! (crowd) business! mom, hurry! our show's gonna start soon! i promised i wouldn't miss the show and mommy always keeps her promises. oh, no! seriously? hmm! it's not the same if she's not here. oh. -what the. oh my goodness! i don't suppose you can sing, can you? ♪ the snow's comin' down ♪ -mommy? ♪ i'm watching it fall ♪ watch the full story at www.xfinity.com/sing2 ♪ ♪ >> bret: former president trump is suing new york's attorney general seeking to stop her civil fraud investigation into his company. the suit was filed after a report that attorney general letitia james would seek to question former president trump as her office probes whether his organization manipulated the valuations of its real estate properties. former president says james' pursuing a politically motivated investigation. james' office said in a statement, quote: our investigation will continue dine terred because no one is above the law. not even someone with the name trump. meantime, breaking tonight, there are growing concerns within the defense department about extremism within the ranks of the military. why now? national security correspondent jennifer griffin is at the pentagon tonight with the story, good evening, jennifer. >> good evening. bret. the pentagon released its new guidelines on extremism in the ranks a year long be review spawned by the january 6th attack on the capitol. new dod guidelines about what amounts to extremist behavior including liking certain posts on social media that call for violence or overthrowing the government. >> will they be monitoring social media 24/7 of their unit members or any recruits. >> there is no monitoring. there is no ability for the department of defense to monitor the personal social media content of every member of the armed forces. >> john kirby said the task force found about 100 cases of extremism in the ranches out of 3.5 million service members and defined extremist behavior as anything leading to an act of violence but would not list what groups are considered extremists. >> there is no federal list of extremist groups. so we didn't think it was appropriate for the department of defense to establish one. >> so if a member of the u.s. military likes a post that says that joe biden is not the president, is that considered extremist behavior and punishable? >> nothing about this has anything to do with who a service member votes for or doesn't vote for or their personal, political views. we encourage the men and women of the military to vote. >> but if the service member is advocating violence or overthrowing the government on social media or by displaying flags or insignia of groups calling for the same, that would be punishable according to kirby. service members can go rallies but if those rallies turn violent or toledo looting, they must leave. the military is also updating its counseling for those who are transitioning out of the military so that they're not easily recruited by extremist groups or militias seeking their military expertise. bret? >> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. jennifer, thank you. up next, democrats react to senator joe manchin's decision to oppose president biden's build back better plan. first, beyond our borders tonight. the death toll from the strongest typhoon to batter the philippines this year climbs to 375. more than 50 people are missing there. several central provinces are struggling with downed communications and power outages and pleading for food and water. a japanese billionaire, his producer and a russian cosmonaut are back on earth tonight after spending 12 days on the international space station. fashion tycoon were the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009. just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. >> bret: his announcement it reverberations around washington. senator manchin being harshly criticized by fellow democrats over his decision not to support the president's massive tax and spending bill build back better. congressional chad pergram shows you from capitol hill. >> political fallout, day after joe manchin dropped a they're thermonuclear bomb on his own party. >> i can't get there. this is a no on this legislation. >> liberals are apoplectic. >> we all knew that senator manchin couldn't be trusted. the excuses that he just made, i think, are complete bull [bleep] >> he has every right to be furious with joe manchin. we have to stop giving people get out of free cards. enough, enough. >> hectoring. >> surely to god we can move one person. surely we can badger and beat one person up and beat the living crap out of people and think they will be submissive, period. >> still senate majority leader chuck schumer pledges a vote on the bill early next year. schumer says democrats should make their position known on the senate floor not just on television. democrats may have pledged too much to their base. >> promised things to progressives that were never politically realistic. >> still democrats are undeterred. >> i have confidence that senator manchin cares about our country and that at some point very soon we can take up the legislation. >> democrats need manchin more than he needs them in a divided senate it? >> would not surprise you to know that i have suggested for years it would be a great idea keeping a deend red state like west virginia for him to come over to our side. >> kid gloves may be in order for manchin. manchin was asked again if he would remain a democrat. he said he is fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. manchin said if there are no democrats like that the party must push him where it wants him. bret? >> bret: more on this with the panel. chad, thank you. deliberations are underway in the case of a white former minnesota police officer who killed a black motorist during a traffic stop. we will be bringing this case during closing arguments the prosecutor said kim potter's shooting of daunte wright was entirely preventable. the defense said it was a mistake. not a crime. correspondent garrett tenney is live in minneapolis tonight with the latest. good evening, garrett. >> bret, good evening to you. jury is now fully sequestered as they begin their deliberations to decide whether to convict or acquit kim potter of marijuana slaughter. in their closing arguments prosecutors' attempts to address the emotional testimony potter gave last week by telling the jury this case isn't about whether the former officer feels sorry for killing daunte wright. it's about the action she took and years of training she disregarded when she shot him with her gun instead of her taser. >> every year she was told about the risk of weapon confusion and that pulling a gun instead of a taser could kill somebody. members of the jury, we're here because this was entirely preventable. totally avoidable. if she had followed her training, paid attention, to what she was doing, and considered the risk. >> in his closing argument, defense attorney earl gray said daunte wright is responsible for his own death. not kim potter because his actions of resisting arrest and trying to drive away forced the brooklyn center officer to try to stop him with a taser to keep her fellow officer safe. >> the state wants [inaudible] street no, no, it's at this point that she knew she had a gun. how can you recklessly, consciously handle a gun if you don't know you have it. >> the jury of six men and six women who are mostly white will be able to handle kim potter's taser and her handgun during the deliberations, to be able to see and feel the difference between it themselves. they will also have access to all of the video evidence that was presented in this case. the jury does not reach a verdict by friday on christmas eve, the judge will send them home for the weekend, coming back and picking up again on monday. bret? >> bret: we'll follow it all. garrett tenney live in minneapolis. garrett, thanks. chinese tennis store peng shuai is denying she said she was sexually assaulted by a chinese communist official. a post attributed to her will the official forcing her into sex. she dropped out of sight prompting the concern well being. video peng taken sunday she says she has been mainly staying home in beijing but is free to come and go as she chooses. from tennis to golf. tiger woods and his 12-year-old son finished second in the pnc championship this weekend in florida. did you see this? it was the elder woods' first tournament since that horrific suv crash last february in california. tiger and charlie woods strung together a tournament record 11 consecutive birdies, it was awesome to watch. john daly and his son john ii, john daly ii was a college golfer won that event. john daly with a little santa look there. up next, the panel on senator joe manchin's next moves and what happens to the administration agenda. as we go to break we remember former georgia senator johnny isaksonson. he died at home in atlanta. isakson had previously disclosed he was battling parkison's disease. weighs one of the favorite senators when he was up on capitol hill. both sides of the aisle. johnnie isakson was 76. >> man: what's my safelite story? 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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! we knew he couldn't be trusted, you know, the excuses that he just made, i think, are complete bull [bleep] >> 222 democrats in the house and 49 democrats in the senate have been working in good faith for six months or longer trying to get this very important piece of legislation done. i think arrogance on the part of senator manchin who thinks that he should have total say as to what gets passed. >> bret: well, i knew he was going to make news but i didn't know senator manchin was going to make that news. i had about 10 more questions about the specifics of build back better he said no, it's a no. the white house came out with this really scathing statement jen psaki writing senator manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead to work with us to reach that common ground. if his commence on fox and written statement indicate a end to that effort sudden and reversible breech to the house colleagues in the house and senate just as he reversed decision this morning we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his decision yet again to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word. well, he senator reacted to that. >> it's staff. it's staff-driven. i understand staff. it's not the president. they put some things out and that absolutely inexcusable they know what it is and that's it. i knew we could not change. it was never going to change it never could change with that many people. >> bret: so, where are we? let's bring in our panel. ben domenech publisher of the federalist. morgan ortagus former state department spokesperson and juan williams is a fox news analyst. ben, what's your reaction and the fallout from it? >> well, first off, to identify react to the way that the white house staff responded to this situation, you know, look, i think that anyone who was paying attention to what senator manchin really wanted his priorities and everything going into this has known for a long time the amount of movement that would have to happen in order for him to consider voting for this bill. he has been very clear about that. since the summer and even earlier, if you were paying attention, about what his criteria looked like. and for the staff of the white house to respond to this situation by basically just trying to bully him and calling him essentially a liar, saying that this was, you know a situation where he, you know, was not someone that they could respect going forward because they couldn't trust his views, you know, suggesting that he is someone who, you know, has been all over the map on this when, from my perspective, he has been very consistent sips the beginning was just completely out of bounds and as a former staffer myself. i just can't imagine that this was the kind of thing that they viewed as being a professional response to the situation. the senator himself, i think, has been telegraphing this for a long time and to suggest that he is the only senator who has these views about this measure is, i think, also inaccurate. i think there are a lot of other senators who would have been with him on this if it was not something that would have been dangerous for them politically, and i think he was actually speaking for a lot of people when he said this thing is dead. we couldn't find a way to move it forward and it's time to move on. >> bret: yeah. juan, they still need his vote and if chuck schumer the senate majority leader is going to put back the build back better bill as written and make everybody vote on it, ben may be right. there may be other senators who have a problem with it senators who may be vulnerable in elections to come. but, steve clemmons, who is a friend of manchin's wrote in an op-ed in the hill this white house incivility is what lost joe manchin. in my view the control had shifted from biden who had said don't support this unless you can really get behind it to a white house that wanted to play the blame game. this is not the way biden usually operates. he doesn't blame either side in a negotiation. he usually works it through detail by detail resolving problem after problem. when temperatures cool after the holidays perhaps the white house will see with manchin temperament matters, juan? >> well, i think democrats are in shock. i mean today, i mean, you can't talk to any democrat in on the hill today and i'm talking about people who are, you know, liberal, progressives, you know, from ilhan omar to abigail spanberger and, of course, people at the white house, and they are all in shock. they had no idea that joe manchin was going to unilaterally call an end to the negotiation. and part of this, i think for them is now the question is this a negotiation ploy, brit or is this really the end? that's what you are referring to on that hill piece people saying maybe it's the white house attitude and if that attitude shifts maybe joe manchin will reenter talks with joe biden as opposed to anything that happened with the staff. but i think what have you got to focus on here and i think, you know, i think from the chuck schumer point of view from the white house point of view. just last week joe manchin handed the white house a draft of an outline, if you will, of what was acceptable to him. you know, like a point of negotiation. he did the same thing back in july with the senate majority leader chuck schumer. >> so, i think that there are lots of people who do feel betrayed and feel like, wait, we were negotiating. we were open to the infrastructure bill was passed. separated from this social safety net bill. and the elements of the bill are so popular with the american people the economists say it will not add to inflation and, yet, you hear joe manchin saying this is going to restructure american society. that doesn't sound -- >> bret: the economists there are different economists who say it would lead to inflation and obviously inflation is real and manchin is worried about that juan. and morgan, manchin has said time and time again don't put programs in there that you know are supposed to last 10 years and only list them as one year in this bill. don't do the gimmick stuff and let's make priorities. is there a way possibly forward? yes, but, maybe not the way they are treating him here is mitch mcconnell on guy benson's show late this afternoon. >> i never get angry about losing a vote because you know, the most important vote is always the next vote. so, i was shocked at the vitriol and basically seemed to me they were calling senator manchin a liar. i think that was not smart. this is a 50/50 senate. it's going to be 50/50 for another year. believe me, that's not the way i would have handled a disappointing vote like this. >> bret: morgan, the underlying message there is he is there with open arms if manchin wants to come to the republican side. >> well, and it's not just manchin broke the news. he broke the news on fox, which is an original sin for the progressives and the party. congratulations on that, bret. by the way, i think we were all stopped in our tracks for our sunday brunch whenever had you that interview. but, listen, i want to go back to something that ben said that i think is really important. that's the staffing question. there is what steve clemmons wrote about in the hill that you referenced earlier. for our viewers what does it matter what the staff are doing and what they are communicating? i think it's crucially important because as staffing the secretary of state there was not a statement that i put out that he did not sign off on that he did not agree to. so, you have joe biden who is supposed toen bringing everyone together, who is manchin's biewy and friend and staffer beating up on him. one two of things happening, one, joe biden is approving all of this and playing buddy buddy to manchinen in private but fully letting his staff beat up on him or two his staff is running amok, issuing statements even before the one that the white house issued yesterday, the one that really set him off was a few weeks ago or excuse me a few days ago. so there is an issue here that either joe biden is allowing his staff to do this or his staff is doing things that he doesn't know about, issuing statements that are really up ending the policy and political debates in d.c. and i think that's concerning. >> bret: all right. panel, stand by. up next, the omicron variant surging you, the coronavirus surge, what does it mean heading into the holiday? 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(gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ just for being with us. enjoy rewards like sing family fun nights! rent sing for $1, then belt out all your favorite tunes from the movie with sing karaoke. plus, see sing 2 in theaters with buy-one-get-one free fandango tickets. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. >> it's not going to be kick but by next christmas close to normal. >> vaccinated looking at a winter of severe illness and death. >> we're in for a world of trouble i'm afraid in the next month or two. >> we are going to see a significant stress in some regions of the country on the hospital system. this virus is extraordinary. did has a doubling time of anywhere from two to three days. right now in certain regions of the country 50% have omicron which means it's going to take over. >> bret: the cdc said tonight it did take over the number of cases in the u.s., three quarters are now omicron. the vice president was asked about she's variants and told the "l.a. times" friday we didn't see delta coming. i think most scientists did not upon whose advice and direction we have relied didn't see delta coming. we didn't see omicron coming. that's what the nature of of what this awful virus has been which has it turns out has mutations and variants. asked about that this weekend. >> i think that the vice president's statement was taken a bit out of context i believe she was referring to the fact of the extraordinary number of particularly with omicron, no one had expected it that much. we were well-prepared and expected that we were going to see variants. >> bret: not sure, if she was taken out of context. the bottom line there are a lot of questions ahead of this president's statement tomorrow, whatever that speech is going to be. >> peep of science has graduated to interpreting the vice president i see. the remarks tomorrow are not going to change anything fundamentally. at this point what we can recognize about the way americans are livings their lives is that a significant portion of them have already tuned out. they have the words they are hearing from this white house and from figures like anthony fauci. they have decided to live their lives according to their own priorities they are not as squared of this omicron variant. looking at the same news and stories. also deciding to live their holidays the way that they will. that requires a shift on the part of the white house's messaging in going forward in order to try to get them to do what they would like them to do which is get vaccinated. juan a lot of criticism. will that go to the biden administration if there are all types of questions if this outbreak and things start to shut down? >> it could. we have it watch and listen. the politics of this are tiresome and puzzling become politicized because it's a threat to the whole country, all of us, regardless of party. i think tomorrow you will hear the president speak in dire terms about what is coming in the next few weeks or next two months, which is a contrast, of course, to people who down played the impact initially. other thing is hospitals. hospitals we'll have to ely pay attention to the doctors and nurses and hospitalization rates. it's overwhelming them. [that's a big number. morgan? ?>> public private partnership f operation warp speed. i think that's a statement that everybody needs to hear. >> bret: panel, thanks so much. merry christmas. when we come back, a special observance. ♪ nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. every business is on a journey. and along the ride, you'll find many challenges. ♪ your dell technologies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. 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(crowd) business! >> bret: finally tonight remembering our nation's fallen heroes. it was special over the weekend saturday. a tradition going on 30 years. i talked with the founder on "fox news sunday" wreaths across america. i was invited there on this show on sr tuesday tweets. >> it's a holiday tradition to remember, those who paid the ultimate price. >> it's a very humbling day. >> bree kingsbury has helped volunteers and gold star families pay tribute to our nation's fallen for 8 years. and this year i had the honor of joining them. i send out tweets and what do you say. >> i will ask if you come to arlington national cemetery and lay wreaths. >> bret: december 18th. >> i started jumping up and down screaming i'm on the tv. >> i will bring my family too. >> bret is talking about us and he said. our team name is team bear. it's a -- to be here with us. >> bret: they created team bear in 2013. has since led fundraising efforts help others who honored those to pay the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. >> every day is difficult for gold star families. especially the holidays. we have 40 friends buried here at section 60. >> bret: section 60 is the full-time resting place for many service members who were killed in america's most recent wars. >> bret: for you personally it means a lot. >> it means the world to me. we are here because they are buried here. we don't necessarily focus on the death. we are here to celebrate their lives and celebrate the families that they left behind. >> bret: i'm really happy you sent the tweet. >> i'm really happy you said yes. >> bret: we are officially a part of team bear. >> high five. absolutely team team you are an honorary bear now. >> bret: thanks to bre and all those out there and obviously thanks for all those that served and paid the ultimate sacrifice and those families. wreath retirement will be held saturday, january 22nd. if you are interested in volunteering they take them off. information available on the holidays on wall streets across america website. tomorrow on "special report" president biden outlining his response to the omicron surge. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight that's it for "special report" fair balanced awneld and up afraid. "fox news primetime" hosted by brian kilmeade starts this week right now. >> brian: great final segment. real awesome. also great to see you without aa tie and rarity and something to look forward. to say i will see you tomorrow. we will get started good evening, everyone. and welcome to "fox news primetime" as bret gave away i am indeed brian kilmeade. >> the reason we are not going it back to a shut down we are now in a very different place we were in a year ago. >> we should avoid lockdowns. we should avoid shut down, we should avoid restrictions. >> we