president is putting the onus on the unvaccinated. >> if you aren't fully vaccinated you have good reason to be concerned. you are at a high risk of getting sick. almost everyone who died from covid-19 in the past many months has been unvaccinated. unvaccinated. get vaccinated now. it is your patriot duty. we should all be concerned about omicron but not panicked. this is a critical moment. also more tools than we've ever had before. we're ready. >> dana: former cdc director robert redfield is moments away with what you need to know. let's begin with peter doocy. they're waking up to tough headlines for the administration. >> the people in charge are telling us two different things. they can't both be true at the same time. first you have president biden saying this new variant came out of nowhere. >> president biden: covid is spreading so rapidly if you notice. it just happened almost overnight in the last month. so no. it's not -- but the alarm bell went off. i don't think anybody anticipated that this was going to be as rapid spreading as it did. >> the president says he didn't see this coming but the cdc director said yes, they did. >> we heaped this. this is what we have been preparing for. there have been doubling times of this virus in other countries that have had the virus before us in the 1 1/2 to 3-day range. this is exactly what we anticipated. >> not anticipated, either. the run on covid tests before the holidays. they are hard to get right now. store shelves are bare. lines for in-person tests are hours long. now we're getting new details about the digital effort to distribute half a billion tests next month. >> we're providing an opportunity, another opportunity for ability for people to -- an important one. go on a website and request a test if their preference is to get it to their home. not everybody will do that. people who want to request tests that way to have that ability to do. >> another new effort by this white house that took months is to try to get the vaccine hesitant on board by giving credit to donald trump. >> president biden: thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community america is one of the first countries to get the vaccine. thanks to my administration and the hard work of americans, we led a roll-out made america among getting shots in arms. vaccine resistant among some arced. >> the president is trying something new. no longer saying you need a booster shot, take my word for it. he is saying you need a booster shot, take trump's word for it. dana. >> dana: all right. might work for some. thank you, peter, very much. let's bring in former cdc director dr. robert redfield. i think there is some problems in america with trust in institutions, including with health professionals and then when you have the white house and the cdc saying two different things about not even knowing that the variant was going to be a problem when the cdc director says it was. one more thing from vice president harris in which she said we didn't see delta coming. upon his advice and direction she have relied. didn't see delta or omicron coming. that's the nature of what this awful virus has been. as it turns out has mutations and variants. sir, we learned enough that everybody knows you have mutations and variations. they knew on november 8 when the south africans said there is a variant here. i don't understand how they can say they were caught offguard. maybe you can help me figure that out. >> i think you're right. clearly the nature of this virus is, it will keep changing and have new variants. those variants are going to be important in that they will gain transmission advantage. i think on one of the shows on fox four or five months ago i said we should anticipate in the next 2 to 5 months a knew variant more transmissible than delta. that's what happened. i will say in the next six months we should anticipate another variant more transmissible than omicron. the virus will continue to evolve and seek a transmission advantage. that transmission advantage now in a population that's largely been infected in the past or vaccinated will be a transmission advantage in people that have some evidence of immunity from infection or vaccine and that's what we're seeing unfortunately. >> dana: on your screen everyone you are seeing the very long lines of people that are lining up to get a test. 30 degrees yesterday in new york. some people waited up to four hours as reported on the daily podcast this morning from "the new york times." the frustration of not being able to get a test is at a fever pitch. especially as people want to get back to seeing their family this christmas in a few days, many of them one, they've listened to the experts and want to be safe and get a test to make sure they'll protect their loved ones at home. they can't get a test. the store is all out. now they'll send tests to people in january and mid-january? i think the frustration and the failure on the tests is reaching a fever pitch, sir. >> i think it's really important this nation does not have the testing capability it needs. i have said that my estimate -- strictly an estimate. the nation needs at least a billion tests a month to meet the need. testing is not just for clinical purposes. testing is really a fundamental tool for our public health response. routine regular repetitive testing which i've advocated in schools k-12 twice a week where students can go to school, they can stay in school and twice a week they get tested. those students that are not infected stay in school, those students that are infected we find the silent epidemic, pull it out of the school and move forward with schools that do have a case with what we call test and stay rather than sending people home. this is going to require significant testing capability. unfortunately, as we sfwer -- enter the third year of this pandemic our nation hasn't developed the partnerships required to give our nation the testing we need. i was encouraged by the president saying and highlighting testing is a need now. i hope they address this with a high degree of urgency and get the testing not to how many tests we can give out, 500 million, but the real question is how many tests do we need? i would argue that's between 1 and 2 billion tests a month and we need to get to that. >> dana: i think they will probably pay attention. the headlines for them this morning on testing across the country are really bad. you mentioned schools. i wanted to point this out. the protocol from the cdc if you test positive you have to isolate for 10 days even if you don't feel sick. i'm curious if you think as dr. fauci mentioned the maybe the cdc should revise that so people aren't out for 10 days. some schools are already planning to go remote for all of january. do you think that's necessary? >> well first for the schools i think they really ought to look at cdc's recent recommendations. on friday for the idea of test and stay. when you have a case in the school, test the students, students that aren't infected stay in school. secondly, when we look at the recommendations for isolation post infection, really right now it is that if you are tested and negative that day, five or day seven following your symptoms starting or when you got diagnosed if you had no symptoms, you can really get back at day eight. if you don't do any testing it is day 10. i think -- i don't think we are going to probably get much narrower than that. i think the way to go is what i have mentioned before, test and stay. the way to go is start routine regular repetitive testing in groups that have high transmission risk. so you just test them twice a week and pull out the individuals that are asymptomatically infected. that's the direction we need to go. it is really important at this stage in the pandemic that we take advantage of knowledge of infection. i said before it reminds me of my early years in the aids epidemic where they said just wear a condom. we need to know who is infected and who isn't. we need wide scale repetitive testing to pull them out of the transmission cycle if they're positive. >> dana: hopefully that will happen. today a lot of frustrated people who want to travel, make sure they're safe and can't get the tests. we are in year three of the pandemic at this point. i wish you a very merry christmas. thank you for coming on the show >> california will require all healthcare workers to get booster shots. they already have to be fully vaccinated. the governor says it will insure the hospitals are better prepared in a surge of cases brought on by the omicron variant. the second state after new mexico to announce such a mandate. >> dana: more than 100 million people are expected to travel over the next 10 days for the holidays. with omicron spreading rapidly across the country as i was just talking to dr. redfield about demand for rapid tests is surging and travelers are forced to wait for hours in testing lines. david lee miller in new york city. tell us what we need to know as people are anxious to see their family. >> indeed they are. when it comes to what you can expect start with this. bumper to bumper traffic, endless lines and a lot of frustration. despite the omicron variant, people are once again traveling and especially busy always but this time of year even more so. the port authority bus station in mid town a block away from times square. the gateway to the area where the ball is going to drop on new year's eve. according to aaa, new york city ties with hawaii as the fourth most popular holiday destination. number one is orlando, followed by anaheim and theme parks followed by las vegas. most people, 91% of holiday travelers will be driving to their destination. that is down from last year just slightly. the change attributed to the difficulty finding a rental car. gas prices are also a factor. they are coming down from the recent highs. >> averaging $3.50 per gallon down two cents in the last week and 10 cents in the last month. so prices are coming down. they should come down much more because of the coronavirus. oil traders are bidding crude oil prices and wholesale gasoline prices lower. >> for those taking to the skies getting to the airport advised by experts as well as airlines expect long lines. aaa estimates nearly three times as many people are going to be flying this christmas compared to last. some airlines could face a staffing shortage resulting from the cdc guidelines calling for a 10-day isolation period for those infected, even though vaccinated. if you are traveling and you have not finalized your plans, consider this. the experts say the best day to travel both in the air and on the road for the least congestion is new year's day and christmas day. but by then, dana, you may have missed all the fun. >> dana: exactly. don't want to do that. david lee miller, thank you, everyone stay safe. >> fox news alert. brazen attack against one man on what should have been his happiest day. philadelphia groom robbed at gun point moments after tying the knot. another democrat calling it quits. is house speaker nancy pelosi starting to get nervous about potentially losing the gavel? the d.o.j. is allowing those on house arrest to remain out of prison when the pandemic ends. critics are ripping into what they call soft on crime policy and a rise in violence across the country. >> a continuation of the soft on crime attitude on the part of the democrats. soft on crime d.a.s, cashless bail. happen with your va home loan benefit and the newday100 va loan. by borrowing up to 100% of your home's value, you can take out up to $60,000 or more, and lower your payments by an average of $615 every month. no one knows veterans like newday usa. 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(crowd) business! ♪3, 4♪ ♪ ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ ho ho ho! not again. oh no. for the gifts you won't forget. the mercedes-benz winter event. get a credit toward your first month's payment on select models. 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 >> benjamin: a colorado prosecutor is asking the court to reconsider the 110 year sentence imposed on a truck driver who killed four people and injured many others in a huge 28 car pile-up in 2019. the d.a. citing unusual and extenuating circumstances. the trucker was driving at 85 miles per hour before crashing into dozens of stopped cars. the collision caused a massive explosion. he says his brakes failed. the harsh sentence sparked a change.org petition that has gotten nearly 5 million signatures. the driver is getting support from kim kardashian who said i pray that the governor, a leader on supporting reforms and increase human dignity in the legal system will commute his sentence. >> dana: as democrats are determined to expand spending in washington there is a stunning report from the secret service. they say criminals stole nearly $100 billion in covid relief funds. griff jenkins is in washington with details. that's a lot of thievery. >> unbelievable. the secret service calling it the largest fraud in history as the government gave out trillions of the relief dollars intended for small businesses and americans who lost their jobs. the criminals helping themselves to nearly $100 billion as you say. according to the secret service national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator guy named roy dawson with 900 active criminal investigations the fraudsters stole the funds mainly from the small business administration's paycheck protection program and the economic injury disaster loan program. if you break down these numbers a little bit the secret service seized 1.2 billion so far and returned 2.3 billion in fraudulent obtained funds. it's resulted in the arrests of more than 100 suspects running the gauntlet of small time individual criminals to sophisticated trans national organized groups. the 100 billion stolen represents a small fraction of the 3 toin 4 trillion in covid money distributed dawson said the attempts to steal from the massive pot shows how enticing the large pot is to them. >> when the federal funding from the cares act was released they obviously pivoted to that and began targeting those programs. the primary thing that we saw was that individuals and criminal organizations could readily file these online applications and receive the benefits rather quickly. >> the secret service established a cyber fraud task force. partnering with federal, state and local law enforcement as well as international partners and private sector entities. dana. >> dana: let's stay on top of it. taxpayers don't deserve this. thanks. >> benjamin: congressman sighers joining the long list of democrat house members not seeng reelection. the number now stands at 23. the g.o.p. list is much short. republicans need to pick up five seats to get back the majority. will it tilt in their favor? our panel, thank you for being with us today. michael, 23 is a growing list of numbers, a number of those are in hotly contested seats. is that a worrying signs for the democrats? how concerned should they really be? >> it's not looking good. of course, you have historical perspective the opposite party of the president loses the mid-term. overall i would say to you we have massive numbers of members that are retiring for a number of reasons. i this i the first is that being a member of congress in this era is just not a productive use of time for many people. there is so much partisanship and that sort of thing it is not worth it. let's not forget the other part. a year ago many of these people almost lost their lives on january 6th as the gang of criminals stormed the capitol and almost took the lives of the entire united states congress. so for that particular reason i think you see members that are retiring and just decided it is not worth it in terms of the lifestyle, in terms of the safety issue, in terms of all these other things. i've had this conversation with members of congress this week surrounding that issue and many people said both of those things were the reason they didn't want to stick around. >> benjamin: that's interesting. you might think people would feel more strongly about serving if they wanted to change things in light of january 6. douglas, the republicans have history on their side here. on average, the party that wins the white house goes on to lose 25 seats. do you see any way that the democrats can hold onto their majority here? >> it is very tough. historically if you go to 2010 election when i was at the rnc our magic number for obama was 46. we thought if he was below that we would take back the house. in 2010 we won 63 races and joe biden's numbers are much lower right now than obama's were. what worries me is some democrats, too, this escalating rhetoric. if that results in any kind of violence where people get hurt and get hurt again whether we're talking about kill shots comparisons to nazis, all the things we've seen from various republican members putting out videos, democrats as well. or with what donald trump may say or what his supporters may do on january 6th, that is something that is not just bad for the country potentially but also very politically risky for republicans. >> benjamin: going into the mid-terms how does the administration sell their viewpoint particularly when the past year was so bad in terms of polls for the family and country? waint to read you the polls now. fox business poll says this year they said that only 19% said this was a good year for the country. 31% said it was a good year for the family. 70% it was a bad year for the country. 55% for the family. the poll numbers what they consider extremely concerning. at the top 84% are extremely or very concerned about inflation. higher u.s. crime rates 77%, amount paid in taxes 71%. federal deficit 69. you go down that list. those are staggering numbers. how on earth can the administration turn that around in the short few months we have ahead? >> it is interesting. there is a real disconnect between average americans and the elite media. for average americans you have 4.6 million of them who now have health insurance this year that did not have it last year. middle of the global pandemic that's critical. you have the stock market up. unemployment is down. there are a number of economic indicators for the president that show he is doing an incredibly good job. you have the media who continue to sort of attack the president of things that most presidents would not be attacked for. that's the reason you see this sentiment. >> benjamin: we don't have a lot of time left. doug, respond to that. is this the media spinning it or are the poll numbers accurate how people feel about the state of the country? >> it is a bit of both. i remember and dana remembers reporters going to the vice president's resident for squirt gun fights with joe biden. i don't think the same people are being unfair to him right now. >> benjamin: there we have it. 2010, 63 seats were lost by the democrats. president obama admitted it was a shell acting. let's see what happens. i both you will both come on to talk about it when we find out. thank you. >> dana: great panel. thank you so much. beijing olympics, the nhl pulling out amid several diplomatic pull-outs. fewer people than ever are moving to california. the reasons people are staying away from the sunshine state. ♪ ♪ learning is hard work. hard work requires character. learning begins in faith. it must move upwards toward the highest thing, unseen at the beginning - god. and freedom is essential to learning. its principles must be studied and defended. learning, character, faith, and freedom: these are the inseparable purposes of hillsdale college. ♪“i got you babe” by etta james♪ ♪ get groceries, gifts, & more fast and easy. so last minute guests are the only thing you'll be waiting on. ♪ joy. fully. ♪ 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. >> man: what's my safelite story? my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ >> benjamin: even weddings aren't safe. we have stunning video to show you. a groom says i do and steps outside during the reception in philadelphia and is robbed at gun point. bryan llenas is live in new york city with more. >> good morning. the video has gone viral. surveillance cameras capturing the moment armed suspects pulled up on a groom and four of his friends outside in downtown philadelphia at around 11:30 p.m. the groom was getting some fresh air during his wedding reception when these men stole his roll yex outside. the video shows people walking by and doing nothing as it happened. philadelphia police arrested three men last week for this robbery. two 19-year-olds and a 22-year-old. police are reportedly investigating whether they're linked to a dozen other robberies and get this, the philadelphia inquirer reports two of the men were out free on bail when they committed the crimes. one had been arrested twice this year for illegal gun possession and drug dealing. there have been 540 murders this year in philadelphia. that's an all-time record for the city. armed robberies are up 28.6% this year. thefts of people are up 15%. retail tleft up 20% and auto theft up 15%. despite the statistics the democratic district attorney said the city is not experiencing a crime crisis or violence crisis. after criticism he gave an emotional apology for failing to acknowledge the pain and suffering particularly in the black community. there have been arecord number of homicides in at least 12 questions nationwide. philadelphia has more murders than los angeles and new york despite just being a fraction of the size. he and other d.a.s across the country are under criticism for being too lenient on crimes. ben. >> benjamin: arrested, released and reoffend. we hear that story too many times. thank you very much, bryan. >> dana: the nhl and its players are out of the beijing olympics weeks before the start of the games. officials say it is because a surge in covid cases but the decision comes just weeks after the u.s. and several other countries announced diplomatic boycotts of the games. due to china's alleged human rights abuses. enes kanter freedom has been outspoken against china's actions and joins us now. do you think the chinese believe that this is about covid and concerns about health or do you think they will understand that maybe there is a deeper message here? >> about the nhl first of all it's a shame. the nhl already should have withdrawn their players for the right reasons. to join the global boycott. i don't think it is an excuse but the nhl should have the courage to stand up for the victims. a message i'm trying to get across the whole time. i believe no one -- no one should attend the genocide games. how simple is that? >> dana: well, the boycott for at least the diplomatic boycott are the united states, u.k., australia, canada. and it's possible i guess that other countries could join. i think if they were going to do that they would have probably already done it by now. so we're still sending our athletes. do you maintain we should have not sent any athletes to the games and boycott them fully? >> first of all about the diplomatic boycott it is good but not enough. i believe, you know, not just the boycott but i don't think they should send our athletes to a country where there is a genocide happening right now. look what they do to their own tennis player. i'm asking and talking to all these athletes out there. are you going to trust them with our own players to send them to a country where there is a dictatorship? i don't think all the players out there, i don't think they should feel safe to go in a country like china. so no, i don't think every country should say we are not going to send our players to a country like china and it is unacceptable what they are doing to innocent people in that country. >> dana: you mention the tennis player. she has had been put on social media she was accusing one of the elder communist leaders of sexual harassment and even assault. then all of a sudden she disappears and back and now the update today is apparently she is saying or has possibly been made to say that she never made that allegation in the first place. obviously a lot of funny business there. the nba. adam silver was on espn yesterday. he runs the nba. he says everything is all systems go even with the covid outbreak. watch. >> no plans right now to pause the season. that is that this virus will not be eradicated and we are going to have to learn to live with it and that's what we're experiencing in the league right now. >> dana: what is your reaction to that? >> i mean, i believe i have talked to many people in the nba and they believe that they want to make that christmas money and it is a big for the nba and they make a lot of money that day. even if they want -- they are -- i'm telling everybody listen, it's safety over money. they shouldn't be thinking about postpone the nba season. i believe 120 players already tested positive and over100 of them only this month. so we should always think about the people in the locker room and their families and their loved ones. i hope the nba and adam silver and players will do this for everybody. >> dana: even if the variant omicron turns out to be quite mild in the symptoms do you feel the same way? >> depends on. i do trust the trainers and doctors and nba but they care about the play safety first. i believe they'll make the right decision. >> dana: all right. mr. freedom, great to have you on the show today. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. >> benjamin: there could be movement in the russia investigation putting the focus on the clinton campaign team. what the special counsel is telling a federal court next. remember these pictures of haitian migrants under a bridge in text ?as they entered the country illegally. now they're suing the u.s. ♪♪♪ real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? 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(crowd) business! earn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. >> dana: a group of haitian migrant who entered the u.s. illegally are suing the government. they allege an agent shouted at him, tried to drag him toward the river. 15,000 mostly haitian migrants crossed into the u.s. and camped under a bridge in del rio, texas in september. several media outlets said agents used horse reins to whip migrants, which turned out not to be true. >> benjamin: a federal court durham is looking at the clinton 2016 campaign team and a connection to british spy christopher steele's discredited dossier. kash patel former d.o.d. chief of staff. he made a name for himself by discrediting the russia investigation. thank you for joining us today. it seems as if there is an increasing overlap between the clinton campaign, russia investigation and now we learn danchenko, the main sours behind the dossier is represented by the same law firm that represented the clinton campaign. where does it go and what does that tell us? >> thanks so much for having me. yeah, we've known the entire time the hillary clinton campaign bought and paid for the biggest political scandal in u.s. history. what john durham has done and a brilliant move on his part and me as a former federal prosecutor appreciates this is asking the court to look into the potential conflict of interest. the clinton campaign did and still is represented by the law firm that is now representing the main sours of the steele dossier who has been indicted. why does that matter? in federal court this defendant is going to say i didn't do it, the clinton people did it. he can't do that if they are represented by the same exact attorney. that's a major conflict of interest. as you queued up more importantly the clinton campaign is under john durham's investigation and he let the public know. >> benjamin: i want -- what is the endpoint here? are they looking for the big fish, the one connection that says this dossier was orchestrated by the dnc? where is it heading and how long do they have to do that? >> i think it's an organized criminal exercise. where it's heading toward the andy mckaibs of the world and heading to all the major names in russia gate that we unraveled and it takes time to build the pieces. john durham making this request for conflict of interest is one way a federal prosecutor can tell the public not that i've begun looking into hillary clinton but already done it so much so that we can't have a defendant represented by their lawyers. >> benjamin: i want to get your view on a different topic. you were chief of staff to defense secretary miller. it does seem if the administration is moving away from the afghanistan debacle and no further evidence than that than president biden's point person being reassigned stepping down to become an ambassador to the oacd. what does it say they're moving people from such critical roles right now? >> it says it is no longer a priority. they don't want the media to focus on afghanistan anymore because it was such a catastrophe for president biden in the evacuation. what they're saying is we no longer are putting a priority on the thousand american citizens still stranded in afghanistan or afghans that we have to relocate into this country who we don't do background checks on and who might be affiliated with terrorist organizations. it reduces the national security profile of the biden administration yet even further. >> benjamin: i want to play you something that blinken said just yesterday. >> president biden pledged to end america's longest war. this summer we made good on that promise. we knew this would be challenging. it was. in our lessons from the evacuation and relocation that we're learning for the future. but this is also the first time in 20 years that no u.s. troops are spending the holidays in afghanistan. >> there are thousands of afghans who helped the u.s. still in afghanistan and still americans out there. how can me move on so quickly? >> it's a political narrative to push past the biggest failure of the biden administration. i served in those people with those in afghanistan. it is a fairly and atrocity. they want to say we ended the war in afghanistan and claim a political victory. they failed because they didn't do it smartly on a condition's-based withdrawal like under president trump. >> benjamin: they hope it won't be brought up and remembered for the next election. thank you for service and being with us today and merry christmas. >> merry christmas, thank you. >> benjamin: fox news alert. startling new reports out of chicago says school age children are dying at a record pace as a result of gun violence many who haven't reached high school. one alderman 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visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today. hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ new daily moisture for face. >> dana: folks are saying goodbye to california at higher rates between rampant crime, natural disasters and a surging homeless crisis. a new study shows people are leaving california for other states. william la jeunesse is in los angeles with more. what do you think about this, william? i know you've been a long-time resident. >> well, i'm not surprised. so the top line is this. as you said more people are leaving and fewer people are coming to california. for the first time in basically 100 years, the state's population actually declined. but california led the nation in losing residents to other states. basically 367,000. that's a population of cleveland decided to bail out. those moving to california actually declined 38%. >> the most stark trend since the start of the pandemic is the decrease of the number of people entering the state rather that an increase in the number of people leaving the state. in both entrances and exits the bay area saw the most pronounced changes. >> that includes ann and joe, they lived happily in the bay area for 20 years and then came homelessness, crime, fires, black-outs, covid mandates, and in their words hypocrisy from governor newsom. >> it was not hard to leave. honestly it wasn't. i feel sad for what california has become, for the change in it. it is not where i lived. it is not the same. so it wasn't hard once we decided to move. >> the two now live in south carolina where they feel it's cleaner and safely. they're not alone. texas, arizona, nevada, washington, oregon, tennessee, idaho, montana and vermont all gaining refugees from california. >> it might be a little premature to call it an exodus but people are dramatically reconsidering where they live and what makes them happy. >> a main driver is affordability. basically l.a. is 50% more expensive than nashville, popular spot. 150 grand will give you 30% of the houses here. san francisco, in texas or oregon it is closer to 80%. back to you. >> dana: people voting with their feet so to speak. william. thank you. >> benjamin: fox news alert. jury deliberations in the kim potter trial about to resume again. the former minnesota police officer is charged with manslaughter after she shot and killed an unarmed black man trying to drive out during a traffic stop. they miss took her begun gun for the taser. garrett is in minneapolis. >> ben, good morning. this is only the second time we've heard from the jury since they staertd deliberations. after 12 hours of taking it over they asked the judge what happens if we can't reach a consensus? here is what hennepin county judge told them. >> you should discuss the case with one another and deliberate with a view toward reaching agreement. if you can do so without violating your individual judgment. >> the jury also asked if the zip ties on kim potter's firearm could be removed so they can hold it the same way she did april 11 when she fatally shot daunte wright and compare how it feels to the taser. prosecutors argue given potter's 26 years on the force she should have known the difference and realized she was firing her weapon. defense argued it was a tragic mistake in a high stress situation. those arguments factor into how the jury interprets potter's actions whether they were conscious or intentional. the jury started deliberations a little early today. appear to be anxious to wrap up before christmas a few days from now, ben. >> benjamin: we'll watch that closely. we're on verdict watch. we might get something back from them soon. thank you very much. >> dana: violent crime on the rise in cities across america including the nation's capital. a series of shocking crimes right in the heart of washington putting that city on edge as the feds struggle to get crime under control. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm dana perino. bill is off today. we have a treat. here is benjamin. >> benjamin: what a pleasure to be with you. the treat is all mine. thank you. i'm benjamin hall. brazen attacks taking place blocks from president biden's backyard. a father walking with his baby in a stroller attacked on capitol hill by a man with bricks causing serious injuries. other attacks in daylight. the recent actions by the justice department have critics wondering how they will help. we're live in washington with more. >> capitol hill is considered one of the d.c.'s most beautiful neighborhoods. in recent days we've seen horrific headlines that shed light on the crime wave gripping the nation's capital. a dad and kids were out for a walk. a 44-year-old randomly attacked them with a brick. the suspect was captured and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. there was blood everywhere and a heartbreaking scene. a day later another incident unrelated but not far away. a woman was leaving a gym with her family when a man out of nowhere attacked her. she told her story to the local fox affiliate in d.c. >> i felt like a ton of bricks hit me. i went down and felt my teeth immediately. i knew they were broken. and yeah, people came right away to help. >> biden administration is facing growing questions how it can crack down on crime. this week is justice department announced it will disperse grants to address the issue but not a significant increase from past administrations but the latest step to address the spike in crime. the justice department has thousands of prisoners who were allowed to serve sentences at home can stay home and not report back to prison. garland wrote thousands of people on home confinement have reconnected with families, found employment and followed the rules. this is a reversal from plans made during the trump administration which would have seen some prisoners return to confinement. we're hearing from criminal justice reform advocates praising this decision from the biden administration. benjamin. >> thanks very much. mark. >> investing in people and places, it uplifts lives, stabilizes families and make neighborhoods vibrant and importantly safe. >> benjamin: chicago's mayor begging the feds for help to help beef up the city's public safety plan which so far doesn't seem to be working. as a new report shows chicago's school age children are dying at a record rate thanks forgun violence. there is an alderman representing the 15th ward there. thank you for being with us. you have disagreed with the mayor's policies in the past. she announced $400 million in spending for crime prevention now. do you think it's enough or maybe she is shifting her views and is it heading at all in the right direction? >> good morning, benjamin. what we're seeing from mayor lightfoot right now is what i term the great pifshiot. she sees the writing on the wall. people in chicago as well as people across this country view their personal safety their number one issue facing them as we go into 2022. and while she is announcing all these great things and making great asks of the federal government this is the same mayor who, when donald trump was president, refused -- absolutely refused to allow the federal government to come in and help put bad people away. and now after allowing them to have the run of the city, now she is asking for help after they've become bold to the point where career criminals know there are no consequences in this city and even though she is earmarking $400 million towards anti-violence between the state and city and others, you know, that money might as well be set on fire if there are no metrics for success. all of this turns into is a new form of patronage for democratics politicians to buy off organizations to get reelected rather than the safety of our citizens. >> benjamin: not only is there an increase in crime but the people affected by crime. if you look at the juveniles and the way they've been affected. look at the stats. juveniles injured by gun violence from january 1 to december 19th was 409 compared to 360 last year. not only do they not seem afraid of committing crimes but the targets seem to be getting younger affecting a wider branch of the population. i wonder what can be done and what it says about the mind of a criminal. if something like that becomes more acceptable. >> clearly the criminals on our streets have no empathy for their targets or the impact they are doing in the neighborhood. when we've seen not only the young children being gunned down on the streets on a weekly basis but when we see our seniors being executed just walking down the street or trying to go about their business, criminals don't care. and the more we try to come up with excuses for their behavior and enable them or try to lump them in with good members of society they will continue to shoot indiscriminately. years ago there were areas off limits to criminals and gang members. you wouldn't shoot in front of a church or a school. now all bets are off, everyone is a target and more people like lori lightfoot make excuses for them the more we'll see this behavior. >> benjamin: you said earlier they aren't afraid of the consequences. to back your point up 60 felons were released this year who went on to commit violent crimes including murder. i just wonder what you think needs to change in the policies to make them more afraid of the consequences. >> we have to have consequences. our police have to know they're empowered to go after criminals. those who are committed to violence and terrorizeing our neighborhoods. the repeat offenders and individuals who may be on electronic monitoring and have seven page rap sheets. no program will help them. no amount of money we spend will make them better members of society. they have been dealt with swiftly and directly to take them out of the community to keep our neighborhoods safe. that's the only way those other programs that we like talking about will help is if those magnets for violence are gone. if we don't address it and keep giving them chance after chance after chance they'll continue to bite the hand trying to help them. >> benjamin: interesting. raymond, thanks for joining us today and we really appreciate it. i hope that people listen, policies change, and that those crimes particularly among the juveniles get pulled back. thank you, raymond. >> absolutely, merry christmas. >> dana: u.s. population growing at its slowest rate on record this year. the u.s. census bureau says the covid pandemic is partially to blame. jonathon seary is live in atlanta. >> the census bureau says the u.s. population grew by only 1/10 of 1%. the lowest growth rate our nation has experienced in its entire history. several factors in play. not only has the pandemic killed many americans but also it has reduced international migration and caused many americans to delay pregnancy. so all of these factors causing that low growth rate. as the holidays approach, many americans are waiting in long lines at covid testing sites and there is a backlog for home test kits at stores. walgreens announced due to the incredible demand for at-home rapid testing we put into effect a four item purchase limit on at-home covid-19 testing products. cvs has set a limit of four tests. wal-mart allows up to eight for online purchases but physical stores set their own limits based on inventory. the biden administration pledged to ship 500 million free rapid tests in january. >> the administration is doing a lot with regard to testing and we recognize we have more work to do. so that of course includes a $3 billion investment in rapid tests. >> governor gavin newsom tweeted that california will require healthcare workers to get their booster. he is expected to release more details later today. according to a report in defense one within weeks scientists at the wallster reed army institute of research expect to announce they've developed a vaccine effective against covid-19 and all its variants, even omicron as well as previous sars origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide. >> what they've done is taken a protein and 24 different surfaces of that protein are similar to different aspects of the coronavirus so you are getting a lot of different levels of immunity not just to the spike protein. >> that vaccine is reportedly in phase one clinical trials. dana, back to you. >> dana: thank you, jonathan. have a good afternoon. senate majority leader chuck schumer tells colleagues he expects to vote on a revised version of bidens social spending plan early next year. president biden appears to be on a different pace as members of his own administration when it comes to the omicron vair yanlt. former white house chief of staff and former rnc chair reince priebus 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>> well, they've got a lot of problems, dana, it is obvious. i think all of this staertd as a massive communication problem when the vice president walked out first and said that, in fact, in a very forward leaning statement that they had no idea that this was going to happen and that's what started a huge communication problem for the white house. they had three options to think about. number one was kamala harris was completely out of the loop? number two, was kamala harris sabotaging the president of the united states or number three, was kamala harris actually telling the truth? i think that in reality, the communications staff looked at this and said the only option that we can move forward with is that we have to go with option number three, which is that kamala harris was telling the truth because number one and number two is an unsustainable position for the white house. now you have the biden administration looking like they are trying to be in control by adopting a position which is they had no idea that this was going to be as bad as it was while their poll numbers are sink and while the american people, who elected joe biden, who put him in office based on the fact that they were going to get this virus under control, now has testing problems as you've been talking about, they have control problems, and everything they promised the american people is actually not only not happening but it's in worse shape than it was when they took over. >> dana: president biden yesterday got quite defensive when he was asked about the problems of getting tests to americans. they are going to send 500 million tests in mid-january, which doesn't help anybody right before the holidays, reince. >> no, it doesn't help. look, these folks got distracted, i think, by the bbb plan. they got distracted. they didn't anticipate as kamala harris and now biden has anticipated how bad this variant was going to get. and now people around the country are suffering. and so look, it is just more of the same. whether it be the border, the economy, the inflation, the giveaway programs, all the things and the affects of everything they put on the table, here is where we're at. they're combating a radical left that they have adopted. they adopted these positions intentionally and now we're living with the consequences. >> dana: well, it is going to be a tough winter. they said it will be a dreary winter for the unvaccinated. politically for the white house because they are so far behind on testing it could be hard for them as well as they try to dig out of the hole they've dug for themselves. wish you a merry christmas, thank you for being here. >> thank you so much. dana. >> benjamin: drug companies are set to become a pay-out in a big legal settlement. will it make a difference in the opioid crisis? 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[wife whistles] ♪♪ ♪♪ step up to gmc with 0% financing on these gmc models. we...are professional grade. gmc >> dana: president biden meeting with his supply chain disruption task force this morning and private sector ceos are joining getting a progress update how the supply chain is working or not. how to bring prices down for americans. this as inflation surged with 39 year high last month and as the last-minute holiday shopping rushes in full swing we'll give you updates of the meeting as news warrants. >> benjamin: many americans aren't letting the omicron variant get in the way of holiday travel plans and it is screening more than two million people for the past five days. hillary vaughn is live at reagan national airport in washington with a closer look. >> holiday travel seems to be immune to the omicron variant. demand is not dropping this holiday season. but instead doubling. the transportation security administration says last friday and saturday 4.3 million people traveled through tsa checkpoints at airports around the country. that is compared to 2 million people who traveled on those same days last year. we talked to travelers today, some of them admit they are cautious and taking extra steps to protect themselves before getting on the plane like getting tested. others say it is business as usual. >> i did try to get tested before i went flying but i didn't end up getting test results back. that was rough but i haven't had any symptoms so i'm a little anxious but i think i'm doing all right. >> basically masks and high again and that's it. >> i hope it does go away soon. hopefully next christmas we can be free again and travel without all these restrictions. so far it hasn't hindered me at all. >> i think i will have a good holiday with friends and family. >> a lot of travelers have grown to accept safety measures like masks on planes. press secretary jen psaki said today a vaccine requirement to get on board is not on the table but they aren't ruling it out saying they have concerns doing that could delay some flights. if the health impact was overwhelming they would do it. president biden also said yesterday that they are looking at reversing the travel ban they have in place to some of those south african countries that they put in place because of the omicron variant. now that the majority of covid-19 cases about 70% of them are the omicron variant in the u.s., they are looking at lifting that ban. benjamin. >> benjamin: good to see people learning how to live with this virus. hillary, thanks very much. >> dana: relief could be on the way for victims of the opioid crisis. towns are about to receive billions of dollars from three drug companies who agreed to settlement last july. it comes from strings attached. dropping other lawsuits and agreement not to be sued in the future. ann joins us now as an opioid survivor. i would love to hear your story as your family gathers for christmas. a lot of families are going through this. we're all being affected by this. your story was one that is compelling to us because when you were ready to get treatment, how long did it take you to find that? >> i had to wait eight to 10 weeks for a bed. thinking back i think it was the full 10 weeks i had to wait before i could go to treatment. >> dana: and how did you manage during those 10 weeks? >> i continued to use. i was on probation. i was in and out of jail. i was just waiting. i was -- at that point i was homeless. i was about as low as you can get and so i just survived. i'm thankful i made it to that 10 weeks. i think a lot of people probably don't. that's a long time to wait for treatment when you are using substance. >> dana: your treatment was successful obviously. tell us about that treatment and what you do now. >> yes. i currently work for an agency called provoking hope. we are a nonprofit that offers peer support to people struggling with addiction and actually when i went to treatment, my family had pretty much written me off and provoking hope are the ones that drove me the treatment. it was 90 miles from here down in eugene and it was my first experience with provoking hope. a year later they hired me and i've been working here for 3 1/2 years. it is just -- this place does a lot for the community. >> dana: what do you recommend for families who are trying to figure out how to get treatment for their loved ones? in this opioid settlement, i know you won't talk about the details of that but there are there is $26 billion. how can families take advantage of a program that get results. sometimes people go to two or three rehab programs and they don't have the same effect as the one you went to. >> this was my second time in treatment. the first time i went to treatment was in 2011, and it didn't work. as soon as i got out i just went on to different drugs. i don't really know what exactly makes somebody ready for treatment. it's a combination of hitting rock bottom and willingness. i think it is super important when that happens that there is treatment available because that willingness that an addict has to change is fleeting. it comes and goes. and so whenever somebody reaches that point where they are desperate to make that change, it is so important that there is a bed available for them somewhere. it is just ridiculous that they get told they have to wait two months. that's the biggest thing i see. one of the things we do at provoking hope is we help people get into treatment. so we'll reach out to all these different places in the state and it is just -- i don't think it should be that difficult. if somebody wants to get better they should have the opportunity to get better. >> dana: ann, i'm thrilled that it worked for you and you work at a place called provoking hope and you did that for our viewers today. i wish you a merry christmas. thank you for being on the show and telling us your story. >> thank you so much. merry christmas. >> benjamin: russia says it is planning to meet with the u.s. and western allies next month amid concerns whether it will invade ukraine. a major announcement by the nhl among surging covid cases. >> it's a shame, the nhl already should have withdrawn their play for the right reasons. and standing up for basic human rights. priceline can help you make the most of your budget, saving up to 40% on your flight. ooh, we have a comment from the airport announcers. 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putting the season on hold until after christmas and it announced it won't be sending players to the winter olympics because of outbreaks disrupting the regular season schedule. jim gray is a sportscaster and fox news analyst and host of the podcast on xm. i wonder if we could start with the nhl decision. a lot of us forget the league has the ability to send players to the olympics or not. it comes down to them, is that right? in the case of the nhl, it appears as if they have sent not for the safety of the players but to disrupt the regular season. >> they aren't playing in the united states, why should they be playing in china for the olympics? the players want to play. to take away this opportunity puts them on a track for another four years a lot of them won't have the opportunity. so this isn't being done because they want to get their season back on track. they aren't even playing over here. if it's too dangerous to play here, there is really no reason at this point unless the virus or pandemic changes to be going over to china because the nhl first and foremost is a business and they have to be able to carry on with what they have to do and not be as concerned with the olympics as hurtful and upsetting as it will be to the players. >> benjamin: i want to play something from the nba commissioner. he is also struggling with decisions like this. he said we have to learn to live with this and get on with it. talk to me about the decision making behind when you say frankly we're having trouble coming up with the logic behind pausing right now as we look through the cases ripping through the country let alone the rest of the world i think we find ourselves where we knew we were going to get to over the past several months, this virus will not be eradicated and we'll have to learn to live with it. i think that's what we're experiencing in the league right now. so a lot of confliction among the various leagues how do we get on with it and cancel games? talk about the decision making they will be going through and the decisions commercial versus safety and medical? >> i think he is right. they are learning how to live with it. if you remember the nba went into a bubble two years ago and played all their games and had a championship and backed up the season several months. last year they played as the pandemic people got shots and it started to wane and it wasn't the daily concern and the families affected and the tragic deaths it wasn't the daily concern it was at first. they got out of the bubble. now you have -- if teams can't field a team that's why they can't play. the postponements of games and not playing in the nhl. the virus is on its own timeline and they will have to adjust. but to shut down everything they aren't going to do that. a, the players don't want to do it. a lot of guys are testing asymptomatic in the national football league and they changed the protocols and testing to only people who have symptoms, benjamin. guys will come to work if they feel all right. if they don't feel good they'll quarantine and check and see if they have the virus. everybody has to play this by ear because it is such a moving target. to shut everything down as long as you have in you have to field a team and as long as the municipalities are allowing people to come to the game, which will be the next decision, will crowds be able to gather, they'll continue to play on schedule best they can. >> benjamin: what affect is it having on revenue at the moment? teams must be hurting right now. >> i don't think there is any effect on revenue. perhaps shutting down the nhl will affect them but they'll make up those games. when they make them up they'll get back the revenue. most of the money is generated in local cable and satellite television and digital deals. none of those people are pulling out. the games on the nfl had some of the highest ratings in years. nba ratings have rebounded nicely from where they were during the pandemic. television is driving this and television is the revenue. so don't worry about nba, nfl or -- major league baseball is a different thing, there is a lock-out. don't worry about the players and the owners they're still getting paid. >> benjamin: i know all of us share the belief it will get back to normal as soon as possible. jim gray, thank you so much for joining us today. we really appreciate it. >> thanks. hello to dana and percy. merry christmas. >> dana: russian officials begin talks next month about security troops with the build-up of russian troops. it is prompting fears russia may be planning on invading. greg palkot is live in london. i feel i was reading more and more today it seems likely. is that correct? >> the talks for sure. the invasion we'll see. the kremlin seems to be setting the timetable for negotiations with washington about its security concerns. russian officials today saying negotiations with the u.s. and west will be begin early next year, maybe next month. russian president vladimir putin now saying he will resort to military means if his demands are not met. they include ukraine not joining nato and the u.s. and nato pulling back troops, offensive weaponry and military gear from ukraine and other eastern europey an countries. they've been massing 100,000 troops near ukraine prompting fears a full scale invasion by the russian military of ukraine could be in the offing. now president biden for his part said that would trigger severe consequences short of a military response. he also said he is willing to sit down and talk with russia except for some of those red line items like the ban on ukraine nato membership. dana, putin has been pressing his demands on fresh president macron and the new german chancellor. some officials are saying we have about a month to get this thing resolved. that's a very short timetable. back to you. >> dana: all right. thank you, greg palkot. i'm sure we have the president meeting supply chain task force. he will give a few remarks. >> president biden: three years ahead of the protected time it would take to get to that number. applicants for new small businesses up 30%. compared to before the pandemic. and the fact this economic growth of nearly 40 years. there is more as well. today america is the only leading economy in the world where household incomes and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic. even accounting for price increases. the economy i inherited nearly a year ago wasn't just in crisis, it wasn't working for working people. that's the reason i ran. about time the middle class and working class people got a shot. year after year economic growth was too low, wages were stagnant and the number of people starting new small businesses was declining. over this year, we've acted from the american rescue plan to the bipartisan infrastructure law to change thatth projectory to build an economy from the bottom up and middle out. when that occurs wealthy people do very, very well. we're not trying to punish anybody. they do very well. working people in this country, the wages and benefits they deserve is about time they start to see it. creating an economy with more innovation and faster growth. we're making progress. we have a way to go. we're making progress. still top of mind for me is what is top of mind for so many families, the pinch of prices and the cost. look, addressing these costs has been and will continue to be my top priority the entire administration. and the way to do this is not to slow down our economic turnaround, not to step back from this -- all this progress but to build on it. we can and will address prices by expanding productivity capacity in our economy so we move more goods to market. get more americans working, encouraging more investments and innovation and making sure american consumers see those benefits at the store and at the pump when they go to fill up their cars. let me describe three specific areas i'm focusing on. first, supply chains. i owe a lot to the people -- the business people on this call, on this zoom. earlier this fall, we heard a lot of dire warnings about supply chain problems leading to a crisis around the holidays. so we acted. a lot of recommendations from the people that you see on the screen here. i wish we were all able to do this in person. we brought together business and labor leaders to solve problems and much -- the much-predicted crisis didn't occur. packages are moving, gifts being delivered. shelves are not empty. experts in this field look at two statistics for retail inventories, which is how many goods retailers have on hand and on-shelf availability which measures how many goods are on the shelves to be purchased. today retail inventories are up 3% from last year. inventories are healthy and on-shelf availability before the pandemic was 91%. today it is at 90%. 90%. i'm sure you can go and find some shelf where it is empty because the particular gifts are popular. i don't know. 90% availability and delivery times this season for fedex, ups and u.s. postal service are faster than before the pandemic as americans have purchased a record amount of goods. this in part due to the progress we've made at nation's ports which are now moving historic amounts of goods. after working with our administration the ports of los angeles and long beach have nearly cut in half the number of those great big containers you see sitting on a dock for more than eight days. this is striking progress since november. in fact, right now the number of containers moving through our ports is higher than ever. it is because we've sped up -- we, because when i sat down and talked with the folks running the ports and the longshoremen, they agreed to speed up every step in the process. the ports, the trains, the trucking. my bipartisan infrastructure law there are $17 billion to speed up and modernize our ports. and tomorrow the department of transportation will announce over $200 million in grants to ports nationwide. we're making significant investment in freight rail as well and also working to unstick bottlenecks between the ports and the stores by getting more trucks moving all around the country. we've heard a lot about the need for more truck drivers and it is real. and we have gotten to work to address that. for example, i see marti from the labor secretary. you've done a hell of a job, pal, cutting the red tape so companies can set up registered apprenticeships for truck drivers in two days instead of two months, which it was before you took over. these apprenticeships will help new drivers get trained better and faster and help companies retain drivers in a field that has a lot of turnover. so i'm eager to hear about the new partnerships with trucking companies and states to get more truckers on the road and into good-paying jobs. we also need to build resilience into our supply chains. we can never again be left vulnerable the way we were in the early days of covid-19. one important way to do this is to make more things here in america. that has been a goal of mine since day one of my administration. we have more than 300,000 u.s. manufacturing jobs. more 300 thousand added since i took office on january 20th and we'll keep at it because the more -- the more of what we buy in america should be also made in america. second way of protect being american consumes, gas prices. oil production wasn't keeping up with demand as the world started to get moving again to drive up prices at the expense of our consumers. that's why i worked with international partners to coordinate the release of oil our oil reserves and theirs. now gas prices are coming down more than 10 cents a gallon nationally. gas prices in 21 states now are at their historic averages for before the pandemic, historic averages. that's good news for americans hitting the road this week. beyond energy, we need to make sure that there is a robust competition across industries. competing is what encourages companies to innovate and encourages them to invest, build and offer lower prices. i will be convening my competition council earlier next year in january to keep pushing for more bold action. healthy competition is the hallmark of healthy capitalism. thirdly, i am working to reduce the largest cost burden in households and budgets. the biggest weapon in our arsenal is my build back better act which will reduce what families have to pay for prescription drugs, for healthcare, for childcare, and so much more. the bill is paid fully, fully paid for. it won't increase the deficit and nobody making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes. forecasters from wall street forms reinforced just this week that failing to act on the build back better plan will mean less economic growth this year. let me say it again. not a liberal think-tank, wall street. failing to make these investments is going to slow growth, not increase it. look, if we in fact seize this opportunity i think we can lower costs for families, getting more people working, and lower price pressures long-term. we'll keep working on all these fronts because it is so clearly what american families need right now. i'm going to turn this offer. much mo to say but maybe i've said too much. i want an interchange with you guys. turn it over to brian. >> dana: president biden gave remarks after thinks supply chain task force got toefmgt things are on the shelves for the most part. oil prices are coming back and wall street says you need build back better to have growth. we'll see about that and how it's taken. >> benjamin: in the meantime if you're late on getting the last-minute gifts shipped out there is time. we're reporting for fox business live at a florida shopping center near tampa. >> good morning, benjamin. viewers at home if you think i need tips how to get my presents out listen up. time is running out. all the major providers, usps, fed yex and ups have some shipping options available but you nooed to get those gifts out by tomorrow if you want it under the tree. some americans are not going to rely on shipping this year because of the delays we've seen with that. they are going to digital route. what is better than getting a package under the tree, getting nothing under the tree? nothing physical at least. some americans are going to go be bitcoin or digital currency route. opening up a card and seeing a bill is always an exciting experience. why not open your digital wallet and see some dij at that time currency in there? if you go that route you can exchange from one cryptowallet to another or buy a gift card that can be redeemed for digital coin. of course, gift cards continue to be a popular last-minute gift. always an option if you go that route, you won't be alone. 46% of shoppers plan to buy a gift card the second most popular gift behind clothing and starbucks are seeing a lot of gift card sales. they are saying by the end of this holiday season $3 billion will be loaded onto their gift cards. america is going to be very well caffeinated in the new year, benjamin. cheers. >> benjamin: cheers to you, too, madison. thank you for joining us. i don't know about the gift card versus the cash. i'm an old-fashioned gift guy. >> dana: harris faulkner, here you go. >> harris: we just saw the president and we've seen him defend previously his controversial covid mandate so he has a couple of things on his plate this morning. supply chain is the first one for him on this wednesday. about those covid mandates, you add to the mix that he is going hard after the unvaccinated population of america right now. i'm harris faulkner and you are in "the faulkner focus". in his address to the nation yesterday the president again plea