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(this is a test) >> benjamin: new year, same debt. the u.s. will kick off 2022 with a national debt of nearly $30 trillion as democrats push for more spending with president biden's social agenda. the congressional budget office found the trillion dollar spending bill that passed the house last month would add, get this, under $365 billion to the deficit through 2031. fox business network lydia hu joins us live with more. >> i checked this morning and the national debt as of right now stands close to 29 1/2 trillion dollars and that figure is just climbing. already the country is paying $1 billion in interest on that debt per day. that's according to the peter g. peterson foundation. congress recently raised the debt limit by $2 1/2 trillion. lawmakers are considering spending more with president biden's 1.7 trillion dollar build back better agenda as we enter the new year. as you mentioned the congressional budget office found the version of the plan that passed the house in november would add $365 billion to the deficit through 2031. that's not including $207 billion in revenue from i.r.s. enforcement. mean whiem with the build back measure stalled some republicans are calling for more oversight demanding a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. senator lindsey graham from south carolina said it would force lawmakers to balance the budget each year as is required in his state. but for now it seems as if the national debt is snowballing. look at this. when president clinton left office in 2001 the debt was $5.66 trillion. it doubled during president's bush's administration to 10.7 trillion and nearly doubled again to almost $20 trillion during president barack obama's administration, $8 trillion was added during the trump administration to reach more than $27 trillion. consider this, ben, if we needed to pay off the near $30 trillion in debt that we have right now, u.s. debt clock.org said each taxpayer would owe $232,240. ben. >> benjamin: such a big figure it is hard to imagine them. clocking up that quickly is something else. lydia, thank you. >> julie: all right, the new year is almost here. i can't believe it. tax season is coming up fast also not looking forward to that. but that means now is the perfect time to map out a strategy on keeping more of your money instead of giving it to the i.r.s. joining us now is cheryl casone fox business anchor and host of the new show american dream home on fox prime. always lovely to see you. i am happy you will come on and give us some good news. we want our money. what should we be doing before the end of the year to boost our chances of getting a tax refund? tell me. >> keeping our money in our pockets instead of giving it to the i.r.s. big fan. there are things you can do. deferg income. you can't defer your salary coming from your company, we understand that. but say you are self-employed and invoices you need to collect on. it might make sense to wait until 2022 to collect that income. you are taking the income in in 2022. if you work for a big company and you get bonuses, for example, some employers are asking their companies can you delay the bonus pay-out until january of 2022? it's one idea. a couple more things. last-minute deductions. charitable deductions. you give the money to charity. a good charity to give today and tomorrow. get a receipt. tax harvesting getting rid of losing stock market investments before the end of the year. rebalancing your portfolio, get rid of the losers and pick up other staff. finally your retirement account. if you're worried about your tax bracket next year and thinking you will be in a higher bracket, go ahead and take some of your cash and put it into those tax-free investments, your ira or retirement accounts. >> julie: what about 401k, put the maximum into that? >> i say you should always put the maximum amount into the 401k. tax-free money. it goes into your 401k before you pay your weekly taxes, so i always say max it out. anything you can do. i think i have better power and control over my money than the government does referencing linda's story a couple of minutes ago. i always max out my 401k. >> julie: 2021 we have shortages all over the place and we're hoping that come 2022 it will get a little better. there was from worker shortages all because of the vaccine mandates, mask mandates and people simply not wanting to work, gas, chicken, truckers, covid tests and toilet paper. that has been from the very beginning, remember when people were hoarding toilet paper? we are still talking about toilet paper shortages. will it get better next year when it comes to shortages? >> the shortages are probably going to continue at least into the new year. january and february. we have seen some improvement over the last month or so since everybody started screaming about the supply chain shortages that we saw and you are right, the port back-ups we saw with long beach and los angeles. the trucker shortages. they're paying truckers more, businesses are not willing to pay truckers more trying to get things moving quicker. a lot of the big retailers which was real smart in 2021 is they actually paid for their own ships to get goods coming from in particular the asia pacific region. think about clothing prices. those have jumped. one retail ceo was saying i can't get products out of vietnam right now. they have low vaccination rates there, so those factories are facing a slowdown. that's just one example, if you will, julie, of what we're seeing in this country, again that broader inflation story. you have consumer prices at a 41-year high. every american feels it. we see it everywhere. so for the first couple of months the short term i will give you that. it is everything. it's hairspray, combs, this hairspray, i can't tell you what i paid for this yesterday. very annoying. with all of you out there in america who have had it with these high prices. >> julie: i want to talk more about that. first of all inflation and the high prices, i wonder what is going to happen. as our shortages maybe start to improve, are we going to see continued spikes in prices because supply and demand. people are going to their store shelves in the grocery store and seeing empty shelves for canned goods, canned soups and food. empty shelves of canned foods. i imagine a can of soup is never going to go back to what it was pre-pandemic, or will it? >> the bad news is that we've already heard from kraft and campbell soup, specifically them saying yes, prices are going to be higher at least for january. that's as far as they are willing to go on the record. and i get it. these companies and ceos are realizing a lot is out of their control. they are very aware and know the grocery shelves are empty and they don't want to be in this position, either. they want to sell you that can of soup, trust me. i'm buying a case if it will be this cold in the northeast. >> julie: all right. make good use of that hairspray. don't use too much. you need to ration. that's what i do. i have a couple of cans here myself which i've had for a year and haven't run out. this shows you how much i love doing my own hair. cheryl, thank you for those useful tax tips and catch american dream home hosted by cheryl on tuesday's 8:00 p.m. eastern on fox business prime. >> benjamin: michigan's democratic governor whitmer may have a new political crisis on her hands. a new report find the states' unemployment insurance agencies paid out $8 1/2 billion in fraudulent claims during the pandemic, higher than what auditors expected to find. she pushed back against scammers following the report's release. >> julie: he made big promises when he came into office. we are talking about president biden obviously. he is wrapping up his first year in office with few accomplishments. a look back at what hasn't gotten done straight ahead. plus operation crossfire hurricane and hillary clinton. now the special counsel's russia investigation is getting closer to her. we're a different kind of dentistry. one who believes in doing anything it takes to make dentistry work for your life. so we offer a complete exam and x-rays free to new patients without insurance - everyday. plus, patients get 20% off their treatment plan. we're on your corner and in your corner every step of the way. because your anything is our everything. aspen dental. anything to make you smile. book today at aspendental.com, walk in, or call 1-800-aspendental. >> benjamin: the democrats have the wind at their backs controlling both the house and the senate this year. even with those majorities their list of accomplishments is looking very short. aishah hosni is live in washington with the latest. >> good morning. democrats had a razor thin majority this year but also had plenty of interparty fighting between progressives and moderates. sometimes it got very personal so it has been a tough year to get much done here. a look at the democratic wins this year. three big ones at the top. the $1.9 trillion american rescue plan they got that done at the beginning of the year alone and the 1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and national defense funding bill they got done with the help of republicans, mind you. here is the list of what democrats failed to accomplish. a long one. we'll scroll it for you starting with the president's massive tax and social spending plan build back better which one of their own senator joe manchin blew up right before christmas. that's eaten up a lot of the left's focus this year. democrats haven't passed any voting rights legislation, raised the minimum wage and any negotiations around police or gun reform have failed. not to mention democrats could not extend a nationwide eviction moratorium or cancel student debt. still haven't worked out how to pass immigration reform. with the mid-terms around the corner the left is feeling a lot of pressure to give the president some much-needed agenda wins starting with build back better. >> we know there is still work to be done and why we want to pass this important initiative to help families in the ways we have just talked about. also we're pushing ahead with the freedom to vote act. working at a caucus to make sure we get all 50 of our members to find a path to getting this done. and january will be the make or break month for doing that. >> lots of goals. we'll see if it translates to compromise and action. but it all comes down to all the fighting, all the drama happening within the democratic party. ben. >> benjamin: absolutely. aishah hosni live in washington >> julie: prime example of do as i say, not as i do. incoming new york city comptroller will have an nypd security detail despite repeated calls to defund the police. he was disturbed the city's annual budget bill passed over the summer adding $200 million to the police department's budget and last june he put out a letter to his constituents calling to slash funding to the nypd by $1 million saying this, i have to acknowledge our well-intentioned reforms have produced far too little. the time has come for bolder action. it is time to defund the police and reimagine our public safety. >> benjamin: deadly crime spiked at alarming rates across the country in 2021. at least 16 major cities from coast to coast have set new records for homicides. it comes as other violent and non-violent crimes declined in the same areas. joining us now is former detroit police chief james craig running for governor in michigan and president of the st. paul police association. i want to put up a list of the 16 cities that have broken records. i won't read all of them. of those 16, 15 of them are democrat-run. the only one not is macon, georgia. just to look at some of the stats. we look back over the past year portland last broke the record set 35 years ago. philadelphia a record set 32 years ago. minnesota 30 years ago, that record and austin, texas was a record set 38 years ago. jump up significantly. i wonder, james, how can you explain these record breaking homicide levels? >> happy new year and thanks for having me on the show. this is no surprise to me. d.o.j. puts 1.6 billion to do what? so they can move away from the progressive social lifts that keep still talking about defund the police. it is not going to work. these political servants don't really understand how are you going to recruit, retain police officers? but more important than that we keep focusing on police. the reason why we're seeing a spike in crime in the major cities is because we have progressive judges, progressive d.a.s, funded by george soros we shouldn't be surprised. you mentioned philadelphia. that d.a. got up and made this reckless statement about we don't really see violent crime. however he framed it. that's an inappropriate response. who speaks for the real victims in our communities and cities? >> benjamin: james talks about the 1.6 billion that will be distributed to cities and towns and what garland said. it will deliver critical public safety resources helping public safety professionals, local agencies and nonprofit organizations confront these serious challenges. i suppose the irony is that some of these cities have called to defund the police. is this level of funding what cities need? what should be done with that money? >> good morning, benjamin and thank you for having me. i can tell you from our perspective in st. paul we need that money. d.o.j. allocated enough money to provide us with 30 more police officers. unfortunately our city leadership has not made a decision whether or not we'll accept that money. i can tell you right now we're down about nearly 100 officers in st. paul and we need more cops. as you stated previously, we reached a record number of homicides. we've had a couple more in the place few days and i clipsed the record by four homicides. you mentioned about the term of reimagining public safety. what's happening right now is not imaginary, it is real. these are real victims of real crimes and we need more cops. it will take a lot of time to get back to a place where our communities feel as safe as they once did. >> benjamin: james, how would you like to see this money spent? if there is money coming what's the best way for it to be put to use? >> i think, ben, the money is good. it's a great start. certainly you can hire more police, build agencies that lost so many. you can rehire but as i've said in my earlier statement, how are you -- who are you going to recruit? how are you going to retain the experienced police officers that are there? that's the real issue. and then when we talk about violent crime, where are we going to stop just talking about police and hold these progressive judges and d.a.s who are also public servants but they are more political servants who are doing nothing? that's the real issue. unfortunately we don't have enough police chiefs and progressive mayors standing up and holding these folks accountable. let's face it, look at chicago. lori lightfoot. she has been getting a big pass, 911 operator said it best. they are sick and tired of it. they don't feel safe. she needs to be held accountable. accountability looks like this, vote, vote, vote in 2022. put in real leaders and get the political servants out of office. >> talk to me about the morale among the police where you are. is that being hit hard? >> yeah, it is truly at an all-time low. we have officers that are really at the top of their field looking to go into other professions. we have suburban departments coming to st. paul recruiting our officers due to the professionalism and experience of our cops they are going to work for other departments where they feel supported by police chiefs, local politicians, and yeah, it's tough right now. i think cops are feeling under appreciated. we are committed to the community and we need support from politicians and judges, we need support from district and county attorneys to go out and do their jobs. >> benjamin: thank you for all you do and thank you for joining us as well. happy new year to you boat and let's see if 2022 brings something different. thank you both. >> thank you, happy new year. >> julie: all right. biden administration launching a new legal bid to overturn president trump's remain in mexico policy. will it work? that is the question. we'll ask former acting -- can we scroll back? i can't see what we are trying to say there. we'll form acting dhs secretary chad wolf that question and we have a remote teleprompter. flight cancellations are piling up. covid is not the only factor. what to expect this new year's weekend. >> it's a mad dash to get a new flight. there are no flights. >> disaster. a lot of families, people are inconvenienced. i have been at the airport since 9:00 p.m. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose 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federal court reinstated the policy known as mpp and now the president wants the supreme court to overrule the lower court and end the policy saying quote, mpp is not the best tool for deterring unlawful immigration. that mpp exposes my grants to unacceptable risk and yet it detracts from the executive's foreign relations efforts to manage regional migration. the policy requires migrants to remain in mexico will until a u.s. judge hears their asylum claim. it can take months or years exposing migrants to unacceptable risks. >> these acts of violence are undertaken with the complicity of corrupt officials in mexico with corrupt border agents and corrupt police, national guard and so it continues to be extremely worrying to us. >> migrants know they are exposed to all the risks when they choose to journey to seek work in the u.s. most are not fleeing persecution, illegal migration fell under mpp until biden reversed it. >> what we've seen since january is an administration willing to break open and dismissal of the policies that were working to control that border in favor of what? in favor of an open border. >> in the last 24 hours agents in just two areas of texas apprehended 2,000 illegal immigrants. most will claim asylum. under the president's preferred policy most would get released into the u.s. benjamin. >> benjamin: william la jeunesse live in los angeles. thank you. >> julie: for more on this let's bring in chad wolf, former acting dhs secretary and visiting fellow at the heritage foundation. thank you very much, chad, for talking to us. biden is asking the supreme court to hear this case on whether it could be forced to continue implementing the trump-era remain in mexico policy for migrants seeking asylum. that plan is brilliant. it prevents mexicans from coming into this border or other illegal immigrants from coming into this border and gives them a place to stay so they can legally wait in line and wait their turn as they should. how will the supreme court react on this? >> i think that's a good question. what we know is mpp works and we have the data and facts to demonstrate that. it roots out that asylum fraud we know is inherent in the system. we know the biden administration doesn't like the policy. this latest ploy to ask the supreme court to overrule it is yet another issue with their messaging and their policies when it comes to border security. you can't implement the program and at the same time say that you want to dismantle the program and think that is going to resonate with migrants and cartel members and other smugglers. this is again just another step that the biden administration is pursuing that is going to incentivize more and more illegal immigration coming to the southwest border and continue month after month to hit historic records in a negative way historic records. if they aren't going to embrace mpp and not going to implement policies we know work, then they need to come up with another solution. they have had 11 months. there is no solution in sight, no strategy in sight and why you continue to see historic numbers coming to that border. >> julie: historic numbers on overstays. republican senators are saying the dhs report overstays. illegal immigrants still here in the country. the agency hasn't provided that information to congress or the public. in recent years the number of visa overstays make up the majority of illegal immigrants. in 2019 total overstays over 675,000, 2018, 666,000, 2017, 701,900. so these immigrants who are still in this country, their visas have expired. is there any oversight whatsoever on regulating and overseeing immigrants that come into this country and never leave? >> well, that's a good question. i would say there is very little oversight. during the trump administration we decided to increase penalties for those individuals who knowingly overstayed their visa we increased penalties when they were apprehended they had to pay a significant fine and have it be a deterrent. the biden administration did in their first month in office is eliminated all penalties associated with overstaying their visa. there is no consequence. no consequence for an individual to overstay their visa. the number will be significantly higher this year in 2021 and perhaps that's why they haven't released the information. but again i think this points to a larger issue. you have an administration here that is releasing hundreds of thousands of individuals into the interior of the country. they won't tell the american people how many. they won't tell the american people where they're going. they are on late night flights to places like tennessee and other states and not being hon west the american people. that's a larger issue. it goes hand in hand in the overstay issue and a larger issue at play as well. >> julie: i'm not even sure they know where they are. if your visa expires and you stay here you know you are doing something wrong and that you are breaking immigration law. you also know that if you are caught, and you do have to fly back to your country, you won't be allowed back. obviously nobody is going to come forward and admit they are here illegally. senators hawley and langford say it is vital to have the information since the social safety net bill offers parole to immigrants who resided since january of 2011. i will read part of the letter. these reports hold vital information for our oversight work of your department and for the public as the american people seek to access -- assess the impact of the biden administration's immigration enforcement efforts. your continued delay in providing these reports violates the law and raises significant questions about your commitment to uphold the law congress enacts. why is the law being ignored here? >> it is a good question. they need to be able to release this information publicly on a public website so all americans can take a look at it. the timing is a little bit at issue here. again remember as they were negotiating the build back better bill in mid-december, there were immigration provisions that were also in there. fortunately they have been stricken and taken out of that bill. one could argue that you don't want to advertise the overstays or increased number of overstays at the same time you push for amnesty in a build back better bill. it goes back to the transparency. this administration not being transparent to the american people with overstay numbers as well as other information where a lot of these illegal immigrants are going. >> julie: those who overstay their welcome and then disappear into the system. and continue to enjoy the benefits of being in the united states. chad wolf, thank you so much for talking to us this morning. we appreciate it. benjamin. >> benjamin: thanks. fox news alert here. the white house pumping the brakes on a plan to mail out half a billion free covid tests. what does it mean for the latest surge? we'll ask former testing czar brett giroir. parts of california have a blizzard and we have the holiday weekend forecast straight ahead. for the individual service person. we want to be known as america's mortgage company for veterans and active-duty service people, and they and their families. we're the ones there to help them. people are doing hard, arduous, difficult, dangerous things. some of them are giving their lives right now, today, for the freedoms that we have here in this country. they're willing to do that for you, for me, and for our family. so for us, at newday, to have the opportunity to turn around and help those people at this point in time. it's a labor of love, it's a noble service, and that's what we're all about. >> julie: snow pummeling the west coast including in lake tahoe where officials are now saying this december was their snowyest ever record. i really want some of this white stuff on the east coast. meteorologist adam klotz is tracking all of the weather for us this morning. are we expecting a second day of severe storms to hit the south today? when are we going to get snow in the northeast? >> i know you want the winter weather across large portions of the eastern united states. look at the map and you see a lot of heat. more spring-like in the eastern half of the country and jump toward the west and that's where winter just continues to rage on. some of these areas really cold temperatures. up in the northern plains your feels like temperature, the windchills fairly widespread down to negative 10 in some cases colder than that. that's what it feels like outside. the storms in the southeast. we're seeing a line of very heavy rain along i-20 over i-20 from birmingham to atlanta. flood watches there and some could be severe. lightning. back to the west. the temperatures are a lot colder and mostly round after round of winter weather. this snow in the interior rockies. southern california a little warmer. all of their moisture is very heavy rainfall. some of these mountains have already reached their seasonal average for how much snow they would see in a season and we aren't close to being over yet. maybe another couple feet of snow for them. unfortunately it will be a while until we see more winter weather in the northeast which is i know what you want. >> julie: i'm dying for it. everyone makes fun of me when i pray for snow. i'll take two feet of snow any day. thank you very much, adam. >> i have a dog i want to get back to. i'm scared. >> disaster. a lot of families, people are inconvenienced. i've been here at the airport since 9:00 p.m. >> i don't know what i would have to do. try to rent a car and travel 1300 miles across the country. >> we've been nervous about getting back home. we saw the cancellations and with the increased cases of omicron. >> we plan to get to the airport extra early this morning. >> julie: airline passengers feeling the frustration as hundreds of flights all across the u.s. are once again grounded by widespread cancellations. welcome to a brand-new second hour of "america's newsroom." i'm julie banderas. benjamin. >> benjamin: glad to be back with you today. benjamin hall. the disruption hampering travel. a thousand flights have been canceled today on top of the more than 3,000 delays and 900 cancellations yesterday afternoon. some experts say the turbulence will last through the new year. >> julie: david lee miller is live at laguardia with the latest and he is watching this. traffic crawling since what was that, christmas? david. >> that's right, julie, good morning. if you think you have heard this all before, you have. today marks the seventh day in a row that airline passengers are going to have to cope with flight cancellations. as benjamin just reported more than 1,000 cancellations today and it is only mid-morning on the east coast. more than 860 delays. now the staffing shortages caused by covid have resulted in the overwhelming majority of flight disruptions. the latest data from the tracking service shows 17% of its flight jetblue canceled flights. it will offer fewer flights through january 13. is airline issued the warning to give passengers time to consider other options. other airlines reporting cancellations include alaska air, 14%. it is asking travelers to postpone non-essential travel. united 8%, delta 3%. more than a quarter of the flights at seattle have been canceled. in addition to covid-related staff shortages winter weather is plaguing the region. customers are tired, angry, and frustrated. >> a mad dash to get a new flight. it is a panic and you go in line and want you to rescheduled on a different airline. we canceled it and bought a new flight. >> i was supposed to come home sunday, my plane was supposed to land in seattle at 6:00. it was canceled. we've been trying to get home since then. >> the nation's top infectious disease expert dr. fauci is saying that depending on the data in the future there is the possibility there could be a vaccine mandate for domestic flights. but for now a mask will provide the necessary protection. julie. >> julie: david lee miller at laguardia airport. thank you, david. >> benjamin: the white house is pumping the brakes on mass mailing half a billion covid tests and lines stretching for miles at testing sites across the country. lucas tomlinson is live in washington with the latest. >> good morning. the record setting surge in cases hitting during a testing shortage. the true numbers could be much higher. the president promising half a billion tests for free beginning next month but his covid czar says the contract hasn't been completed. >> the white house is getting bad medical advice from a small group of individuals who are are like minded and shut down other ideas. got burned badly on masks and testing. >> "new york times" reports the covid number of cases reached a record and skyrocketed to half a million compared to the worse single day last winter. the risk remains the highest in the nation's capital. 900% spike in two weeks as the cdc recommends isolation time be cut in half from 10 days to five. critics accuse the administration of not following the science and instead are following the business. to the delight of millions in the country. cdc director explained the new guidance on isolation is the limit on what most people can kol rate. no testing requirements to return to work. airline and nurses unions are protesting the move. the rapid tests might not tell the whole story. >> the tests that are used, the antigen tests don't really have a good predictive value as to whether or not you are transmitting. >> not all states plan to follow the new cdc guidance. michigan's department of health issued a statement saying it won't be adopting the new shortened quarantine isolation time for now. >> benjamin: thanks for that. appreciate it. >> julie: more on this now let's bring in admiral brett giroir. former coronavirus white house task force member and health and human services assistant secretary for health. thank you for talking to us. a lot of mixed messages. cdc is changing their tune regarding covid isolation period. they took it from 10 days to five. they say it is based on science. then the cdc director then admits outright the new guidance is what we thought people would tolerate. what do you make of these two messages. >> as you pointed out this is a tremendous underestimate of the number of cases. we're probably at a million and a half cases per day and one out of every three is what we're detecting. the cdc finally came clean. it is not just an infection control exercise where we lock everyone up and try to minimize the number of infections. we have to balance infection control with overall public health like mental health and children in schools and psychological harm as well as keeping society running. this is long overdue to shorten the period. however, because they have a lack of tests i don't believe they are implementing the actual guidelines correctly. and that's due to a long range lack of planning that started last january. >> julie: i want to pick up on her comment the new guidance comes from what we thought people would tolerate. let's play this sound bite and dig into it. >> it really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate. we really want to make sure we have guidance in this moment where we were going to have a lot of things people were willing to adhere to and that speak specifically to when people were maximally infectious. >> julie: the new guidance causes confusion. among businesses and generating a push from essential employees. it is confusing to the average worker, is it not? >> it is confusing. the guidance has been confusing, often contra particular tory. leadership chaotic. i do agree with the fact that this is not a simple infection control exercise. you need to balance the recommendations with what people will tolerate, with what you need to keep society functioning, and you have to not ignore people's individual liberties and rights. that's exactly what we did in the trump administration, to balance those to what is overall good for the country, not just what is good to keep zero risk for everyone. they are moving in the right direction. >> julie: is the biden administration still following the science, though, or are they more concerned with the public how they feel or how much they can tolerate? >> so all policy decisions are based on epidemiology and science but that is not the whole picture. you have to look at overall society. look when the outbreak started way back in march of 2020, if critical workers were exposed we said you don't isolate at all. we needed to do that or every hospital and meat packing facility will close. my issue they are confusing, contradictory and not implementing it correctly. they let the rapid testing infrastructure crater for nine months. they are playing catch-up and not doing it very well. >> julie: i want to get to the debate over vaccine mandates for domestic flights. that's back in the spotlight. thousands of flights are canceled. we've been reporting on it every day due to staff shortages. fauci says masks are enough for now but says the situation may change. now another reversal. let's play the tape. >> right now we feel the masking requirement and the degree of filtration on a plane is sufficient to keep people safe. so it is just keeping an open mind that the situation may change but at this particular time we do not feel that it is necessary to make that a requirement for domestic flights. >> julie: this also comes days after the cdc said the definition of being fully vaccinated could also change. no longer is fully vaccinated two shots, fully vaccinated could become you must have the booster as well. >> so all the data that i've seen is flying is safe particularly if you wear a mask. this is not about keeping people safe on airlines. this is another way to try to coerce people into getting vaccinations. i am very pro-vaccine. i want everyone to get vaccinated. the federal government should not be in the position of inflicting as much pain as possible economic, freedom of movement, freedom of speech and religion in order to coerce you to get a vaccine. if they do a vaccine mandate for domestic flights it is vaccine coercion and not about public health on the airline. >> julie: i'm all for vaccinations. i got all three shots myself but i think the problem is when you tell somebody they have to do it they purposely don't want to do it. more and more americans are more turned off by wanting to get the vaccine like you would a child with i tell my child not to do something he does it. maybe tell them what not to do and maybe they'll do the right thing. a mom of three talking. >> i think you are correct. be transparent with the american people. be humble and honest with the information. americans will make the right decision. that's what i believe strongly and that is what the trump administration's mantra. >> julie: all right. brett giroir, thank you very much for talking to us. have a wonderful new year. benjamin. >> benjamin: new developments in the plot to kidnap michigan governor gretchen whitmer and what the suspects are asking a judge to do. ghislaine maxwell's guilty verdict is in. will she open up about other high-profile clients of jeffrey epstein to lessen her sentence? we'll talk about that and more when we come back. with the newday 100 va cash out loan. it lets you borrow up to 100% of your home's value: up to $60,000 or more. and veterans are saving an average of $615 every month. with more ways to help more veteran families, no bank, no lender, no one knows veterans like newday usa. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ 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yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. only pay for what you need. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ >> julie: chinese created tik tok and while it has been at the center of many controversies this year, the latest includes a claim that an alexa told a child to take part in a dangerous viral challenge on the app. a moderator says in a lawsuit she developed severe psychological trauma while working for tik tok. mark meredith has the latest. >> you know, tik tok is one of the most popular social media apps there is but how people are using it is generating complaints from consumers and employees that once worked at tik tok. one mom is criticizing them alexa suggested she plug in a phone charger halfway into an outlet and touch a penny. that's a terrible idea. not long ago something made popular on tik tok. we reached out to amazon that says as soon as we became aware of the error we fixed it and taking steps to prevent something similar from happening again. a former moderator of tik tok's content is suing the company claiming it failed to protect her mental health working to prevent inappropriate content from going out. we reached out to tik tok says it is not commenting on the specific case but our safety team partners with third party firms on the critical trying to help the tik tok community and wellness services so moderators feel supported mentally and emotionally. other social media companies have faced similar complaints from employees. facebook had to settle a $52 million lawsuit with some of its moderators who were complaining they were too often exposed to inappropriate content online. >> julie: mark meredith, thank you. benjamin. >> benjamin: thanks, it was a busy year for special counsel john durham. michael sussman and -- the origin of the f.b.i.'s trump, russia probe. what can we expect are both trials are slated to begin next year? let's bring in former federal prosecutor james trusty. thank you for being with us today. i want to pull up a breakdown of how this probe has moved on since it first started. may 2019 then attorney general barr assigned durham to examine the origins of trump/russia probe. august 2020 we had a first guilty plea. october 2020 it became a special counsel. 2021 we had three major events. three indictments and then december 2021 revealed they spent $3.8 million so far. when you look back at the past year a big uptick in activity and what does it tell you if they're getting closer to perhaps the conclusion? >> i think it's really getting closer to its natural conclusion and be very interesting in 2022. in part because of some recent things. the danchenko indictment and a recent motion that they filed regarding a potential con flict of interest tells me they're zooming in at the hillary clinton campaign and looking closely at people that fueled the russian dossier creation and transportation of that dossier to the willing eyes of the f.b.i. where it was used to spy on a political campaign. i think behind the scenes what we won't hear about for some time is they are scrutinizing communications maybe all the way up to hillary about whether or not these communications are attorney/client privilege or whether there is a basis for being able to use them in an open courtroom. >> benjamin: that conflict of interest that you discussed there danchenko is represented by the same law firm that represented the hillary campaign. the special counsel designation provides a degree of insulation. when the biden administration came in garland reserved the right to overrule durham's major decision. with that in mind do you get the impression the administration would like to see it ended and put behind them? >> i think that's probably a fair read. every test that we've had of attorney general garland when it comes to independents of the d.o.j. or principles of federalism has been about an f. you look at using the f.b.i. to do search warrants to recover a diary, spying on parents, suggesting that parents at school board meetings are almost terrorists. these are bad signs in terms of how he is running the department. i'm concerned if he doesn't have much independence or judgment when it comes to federalism and professional prosecution that he will be an obstacle for john durham rather than someone who accepts durham at his word. >> benjamin: i want to get your views on the guilty verdict for ghislaine maxwell. she faces up to 65 years. i suppose the big question is what she does next. it has long been suspected she has a long list of powerful people involved with this. bill gates, bill clinton, prince andrew have all flown on epstein's plane. would she be in a position now to argue for a plea deal to reduce her sentence in exchange for naming names? >> there is a chance. there is a federal procedural mechanism called rule 35 that allows for prosecutors to credit someone for cooperation after they have been sentenced. now the question is has she already come in and tried to talk to the government and they said she wasn't particularly honest or helpful? that would be one problem. if she hasn't done that and she didn't testify at trial, that was a big moment. that eliminates the problem of her perjureing herself. maybe she can help the government's case against the johns. all these folks are in the category of johns, customers of a sex trafficking enterprise. career prosecutors would traditionally go after them. interesting to see as we get into the sentencing and beyond the sentencing whether miss maxwell becomes a star witness to the government to try to knock down some of the damage she is looking at at sentencing. >> benjamin: i know you'll keep an eye on both those cases for us. happy new year. >> julie: teammates were reportedly considering a boycott against trans swimmer leah thomas but eventually decided against it. did woke culture influence their decision? plus aaron rodgers slamming the nfl vaccination policy. is he right in saying the league has created a two-class system? clay travis is on deck with reaction to both of those stories next. ♪♪♪ >> julie: public schools issuing new covid guidelines in d.c. students and staff must show negative test results before returning to school after the winter break next week. here is mural bowser with more on the plan. >> we made the decision to delay by two days the return to school so that the pickup and testing can occur. we're asking our parents to go to a website to upload the result tuesday by 4:00 p.m. >> julie: new covid rules are also in place at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. princeton. now imposing restrictions on traveling off campus as covid cases rise. the ivy league school says students cannot leave mercer county in new jersey where princeton is located once classes resume next month. >> benjamin: the suspect in the plot to kid nam governor whitmer asking the judge to dismiss the charges. it comes as the f.b.i. is under the microscope for its handling of the case. david spunt is live in washington with the latest. what are the defense attorneys here asking for? >> these defense attorneys for the five men accused of plotting to kid nam governor whitner in 2020 say their clients were set up by the f.b.i. and prosecutors. they want this case completely dismissed. we have mug shots of the six men. the bottom right man on in your screen pleaded guilty and serving a six year prison sentence. they were charged with a kidnapping plot and prosecutors say they were upset over covid-19 measures implemented by the governor. they staked out her vacation home in northern michigan. according to a 20-page motion filed days ago, defense attorneys for the men argued the f.b.i., justice department and others invented a conspiracy and entrapped the men who could face life in prison. they argue the conviction of f.b.i. agent trask arrested on a domestic violence charge in his personal life is enough for them to throw out the case. prosecutors admitted that trask also posted a tirade full of obscenities about former president donald trump on his facebook page. the investigation was flawed and that tirade is a prime example. defense writing in the court filing when the government was faced with evidence showing the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot it refused to accept failure and continue to push its plan. the attorneys specifically are asking the judge to throw out the conspiracy charge which essentially then would nix the main part of the government's case. the trial is set to begin march 8. f.b.i. and justice department not commenting on this case as it is still pending. ben. >> benjamin: david spunt, good to see you. thank you. >> julie: the backlash against trans swimmer lia thomas is even bigger than we previously thought. a report in the daily mail.com says her teammates at the university of pennsylvania were actually considering boycotting the final competition of the season but finally decided against it. what made them change their decision? the daily mail cites a source close to the team. they have been ignored by both penn and ncaa and a feeling among some of the girls they should make a statement. seize the opportunity while they have a spotlight on them to make their feelings about the issue known. joining us now is clay travis, the founder of outkick.com. the swimmers who considered that boycott at their last home meet, the reason they decided against it was for fear they would be labeled transphobic and be banned from the ivy league championship. with the threat of backlash and even a championship ban looming, the question is, is the university an ncaa effectively silencing the players being ellipseed by thomas's advantages and success? >> thank you for having me. happy new year to everyone out there. that's exactly what's going on. we had two of these women anonymously reach out to outkick and speak to us earlier this month and they said they would love to be able to go public and talk about what a ridiculous situation this is when we have a biological man, not just a biological man. he was a good enough swimmer for pennsylvania -- u penn to swim for three years for the men's team before deciding to become a woman, switching over to the women's team and becoming potentially the greatest women's swimmer according to ncaa rule book and regulations in the history of college athletic competition. and almost all women, really, in college athletics know this is wrong but in particular women who are in the ivy league and frankly even their parents are terrified of the culture of fear that exists if you come out and say that you disagree with this. what does it mean to their future employment prospects? these girls are not going to be able to go pro as swimmers. they have to find jobs. a lot want to go to grad school. very successful academically and don't feel they can share their opinion without a universe coming down upon them. the mob online trying to destroy their future professional prospects because they actually have the courage to say what almost everyone believes is true, men and women should not be competing against each other in women's sports. >> julie: this truly doesn't have anything to do with being transphobic. it is just about wanting to have a fair game and a fair outcome and obviously lia has an advantage. parents of one of the swimmers tells the daily mail.com, if it were me i would step up with a sign on my chest stating ncaa speak up, we need answers. it is possible the swimmers may end up doing nothing baut they are afraid to be perceived a transphobic. let's look at some of thomas's best swim times versus the ncaa women record holders. there are a lot of numbers on the screen. look at thomas's best time for the 500 freestyle. 4 minutes 34 seconds. compare that to the men's team she came in at 4 minutes 18 seconds. she is not as strong of a swimmer as a trans woman than she was as a man if that makes sense. if you compare her times to the ncaa women's swimming records, she is not as fast as katie la ducky who swam it in 4 points 24 seconds. she is not making ncaa women's records but she is beating the ivy league record. that's what is affecting these women. they are swimming among ivy leaguers and she has broken that record and so they believe the reason why she has broken the record is because she is a trans female. do they have an argument and do you think the ncaa will hear them out or is the university just going to press forward and try to dust this under the rug if you will? >> what happens every single time a story like this emerges is they pretend it doesn't exist. the ncaa isn't going to issue any statement at all. the vast majority of people in women's athletics, people who are supposedly feminists and huge proponents of title ix will say nothing. they have 100% a strong case. let me make this clear. we do this all the time in the world of sports. if you are 18 years old you don't get to play little league baseball, right? if you are a fly weight in boxer you don't fight against a heavy weight. when you look at the data here, we always divide and conquer when it comes to competition based on age, sex, size of school. this is not uncommon. >> julie: we are out of time but i really want to get to the story we teased earlier before the break about the reigning packers quarterback aaron rodgers saying the league has created a two-class system for the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. what is your take on this? >> he is 100% right. the goal with the nfl was they bought into covid zero, the idea if you got vaccinated covid would go away. it would be like smallpox, we were never going to talk about it again. the reality has been the difference between players testing positive, vaccinated and unvaccinated. never made any sense. the nfl has acknowledged that all of that was wrong, the policy they put in place never made any sense. all the unvaccinated players who were unfairly maligned in the nfl are being treated the same as the vaccinated players and the nfl has had to change policy because everybody is testing positive and want the players to play because they are healthy. >> julie: okay, all right. clay, thank you very much for talking to us. happy new year to you. >> benjamin: why the latest crack down has activitys worried in hong kong. president biden is going to have a phone call with vladimir putin. can he prevent a possible invasion of ukraine? 100% of your home's value. up to $60,000 or more. veterans are saving an average of $615 every month. with more ways to help more veteran families, no bank, no lender, no one knows veterans like newday usa. look, serena williams... matrix... serena... matrix... serena... matrix... ♪ get your tv together with the best of live and on demand. introducing directv stream. i'm so glad we're finally on vacation. yeah, and kayak made it so easy - searching hundreds of travel sites to find us a great flight. my ears still won't pop after the flight but i don't even care.... what? kayak. search one and done. >> julie: police raiding the office of a pro-democracy news site in hong kong. just the latest effort by beijing to stuff out its critics. alex hogan has the story from london. >> global criticism and pushback after this latest effort to increase pressure on hong kong from china. just yesterday police raided the most prominent pro-democracy media organization to stand in hong kong. the raid involving 200 officers. it froze the company's assets and arrested seven and current former senior editors. law enforcement charging them with conspiring to public wrong material. after the raid it shut down with all of its employees dismissed. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken on wednesday condemned the closure calling the move a silencing of independent media and urging china to release those detained and stop targeting the press. chinese officials today are refuting those claims. >> these actions have nothing to do with so-called suppression of press freedom or suppression of democracy as some will put it. so i would say that nobody should associate law enforcement actions by the police department with the freedom of the press. >> the raid follows another alarming trend. the removal of statutes to the -- among other recent calls of international concern. a meeting in october chinese bishops said xi's view on religion describing his vision of one that encompasses chinese characteristics. clerics have called this the most assertive attempt to impact and influence the diocese in hong kong. julie. >> julie: alex hogan, thank you. benjamin. >> benjamin: this afternoon president biden and vladimir putin will hold their second phone call just this month. it comes as russia continues to mass troops along its border with ukraine stoking fears of an invasion. senior white house official saying both leaders believe there is genuine value in direct leader to leader engagement. we're at a moment of crisis and have been for some weeks now. let's bring in sarah westwood from "the washington examiner". thank you for being with us today. i just wonder they spoke a few weeks ago on december 7th. very little has changed since then except that vladimir putin has been making more demands. he wants nato to pull back and troops moved from the eastern borders and doesn't want ukraine to join nato. what would come from this call that they didn't discuss a few weeks ago? >> a lot of speculation why putin requested the call. it is significant putin is the one who initiated the need for this conversation to happen barely over three weeks since the two leaders last spoke and barely two weeks before leaders from both countries are set to talk about these very issues in geneva on january 10. speculation that potentially it is because putin wants to de-escalate the situation or the exact opposite. he wants to lay out a list of aggressive demands that the biden administration has no ability to meet and use the failure of the biden administration to meet those demands as a pretext to invade ukraine. biden is facing a delicate balancing act and not a lot of evidence he has the savvy to navigate that. on the one hand he needs to show he has the willingness to confront russians in a way that would be sufficiently deterrent but also he can't rattle his saber so hard he risks escalating the situation further and he doesn't on the world stage have the credibility to thread that needle effectively, i don't think. >> benjamin: you get the feeling the only person who knows what putin will do is putin himself. i want the play something from congressman waltz >> putin is backing himself in win/win situation. he demands security guarantees where he is dictating the expansion of nato and where we put our troops and our bases, either we pull back from that or he has a pretext to invade ukraine again. >> benjamin: do you think president biden could be walk sboong a trap right here? >> it is entirely possible. his desire to take over ukraine is something he wanted for a long time. he annexed crimea during the obama administration and some of the policies in the trump administration to get russia to back down. the trump administration did supply weapons to ukraine. the biden administration hasn't been willing to do that. the trump administration opposed the construction of the nord stream pipeline. biden administration backed down from that. if you are putin and watching the biden administration's actions and gauging whether there will be a willingness there to confront you on your actions you are thinking that this may be the time to do what you've long wanted to do when it comes to ukraine. >> benjamin: gosh, of course all this comes at a time when russia is holding two former marines. i know their families are very concerned any escalation would make it harder for them to come home. thank you so much for joining us today. we appreciate it and happy new year. julie. >> julie: cameras watching, the good, the bad and the ugly in 2021. we'll take a look back at some of the most memorable moments next. the line with their two and a quarter refi. that's 2.25%, with an apr of 2.48. this is their lowest rate in history. the newday two and a quarter refi can cut thousands of dollars off your mortgage payments. there's no money out of pocket and no up front costs. lock in your rate. 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[ joe ] clearchoice has changed my life for the better. it's given me my health back. there's an amazing life out there if you do something for your health now. priceline works with top hotels to sell their unsold rooms, saving you up to 60%. ah, yes. the parental delegation? you should stay with us. it's no trouble. it's no trouble for him. fine, don't stay with us. i didn't really ask to... okay. every year we try to exercise more, to be more social, to just relax. and eating healthy every single meal? if only it was this easy for us. >> julie: if you missed or forgot the most viral caught on camera moments of 2021 you are in luck. jonathan hunt has a look back. >> even in these turbulent times there is one thing we can count on, year after year people get caught on camera doing good things, bad things, or just funny things and 2021 was no exception. take this 9-year-old boy, for instance, who hitched a ride on an airport conveyor belt. surveillance footage capturing the moment he hopped on board and calmly made his way through the baggage system. a florida woman coming face-to-face with an alligator while paddle boarding. the gator getting close enough to bite the board before swimming away. >> no one likes an unexpected party guest unless it's celebrity. tom hanks crashed this wedding ceremony in california and stayed until offered the pair marriage advice. cameras love crime and captured a lot of it, too. from high speed car chases to the persistent porch pirates. this naked intruder caught trying on clothes in a southern california home. >> what are you doing here? we'll call the police right now. >> things taking a turn when he killed the family's pet birds before being taken into custody by police. >> frightening bystander video capturing a tense hostage situation at a los angeles apartment complex. a man can be seen holding a gun to the back of a woman's head. a swat team later entering the apartment taking down the suspect. and while we saw some of the worst of humanity this year, we also witnessed the best of it, too. from heartwarming reunions to dramatic rescues. like this scene in new york. a police officers teaming up to save an infant trapped underneath a car. this michigan officer pulling over a speeding driver who confessed to having a bad day. instead of handing out a ticket the officer followed the man home and helped him hook up his tv. >> hi, boy. >> and a homeless vietnam veteran reunited with his lost service dog rerun. the family who helped find the pup sending a dog tag and food to the grateful owner. no matter what the new year brings, one thing is for sure, with more surveillance technology expected in 2022, even more buzz worthy moments will be captured. in los angeles, jonathan hunt, fox news. >> julie: i've always maintained that if they kept a camera on me behind the scenes that would have made that package but thank god they haven't put a camera behind the scenes where i am. that would be must tv and the end of my career. i always love behind the scenes video. i try to do that on twitter to show people what a mess i am off camera. >> benjamin: i doubt that at all. it has been a great pleasure being with you today. happy new year to you and your beautiful family. and for everyone at home. "the faulkner focus" is next and anita vogel is in for harris. >> thank you and fox news alert. president biden scrambleling to show leadership after telling the american people there is no federal solution to the pandemic. critics say is so-called plan is not nearly enough as cases spike across the country. you are in "the faulkner focus" and i'm anita vogel in for harris today. president biden rolling out parts of the white house's response to the omicron