tensions with russia over ukraine and china over taiwan. as the omicron theories is blamed for record price and covid cases nationwide, a new study may reveal why it does not appear as deadly as previous strains. live fox news team coverage today, charles watson on the covid surge, president biden's mounting crisis but first, a look back on life and legacy of betty white. senior correspondent laura is live in new york with more. hi, laura. >> betty white died new year's eve, just weeks before her 100th birthday. when she left, part of americana went into the history of 2021 and now today she's remembered with a lot of love and laughter. ninety-nine years old, she had a career in television for second seven decades, she passed away in her home. her resume is very warm, many knew her from the mary tyler moore show, rose on : girls and most recently the show cleveland. as part of their continued to skyrocket in later years, she was in demand for many years, she appeared in an adverse necklace, and internet campaign saturday night live which she did, becoming the oldest host to date. >> about the campaign to get me to host saturday night live, i didn't know what facebook was. [laughter] now that i do know what it is, i have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. [laughter] [cheering] >> great timing from her, stars are tweeting, this one from mel brooks saying bad news, no more betty white, too bad we couldn't get another ten years of her, warm, gracious personality, she was one of a kind and dolly parton taking to twitter saying that he will live forever not only in this world but the world here after, i will always love her as we all will. she died just before the celebration started from her 100th birthday, people magazine had already gone to print with white on the cover for january celebrating her upcoming milestone and while a lot of people saw her popularity in later years in her come back, she said she never saw it that way, she been working steadily for 63 years so she has the humor. julie. julie: thank you so much. she was so loved. william: boulder county sheriff's office holding a news conference on the colorado wildfire, at least seven people entered in the wildfire erupting around louisville and superior 20 miles northwest of denver. went up to 105 miles an hour spread the fire to neighborhoods forcing families to evacuate with almost zero notice, officials say it looks like 500 -- 1000 homes destroyed. we will have a live report at the bottom of the hour. president biden entering 2022 under pressure on multiple fronts here at home and overseas, pandemic to high inflation, tensions with russia prices are piling up on his watch. this is where the president is spending his holiday, rich. >> officials are preparing for americans to return to work in schools here, i massive surgeon covid because of the omicron variant. before the holiday season, and pleading through it, americans were just trying to get test, hours long waits giving testing. buying 500 million at home test to stand up for free, it's unclear when the tests will be available, sometime this month according to officials, president acknowledges he should have moved on more testing two months ago. the cdc has recommended isolation. for those who tested positive from ten days to five as long as they are symptom-free. the latest surge leads to staff shortages across the economy. the administration has several court challenges and issues to base, federal judge blocked vaccine mandates in texas headstart program, that means the case likely continues throughout federal court systems. this product the supreme court is scheduled to hear challenges for the biden administration, faxing or testing mandates for employees of larger companies, 100 or more workers and certain healthcare workers. president faces charges are brought among russia matched tens of thousands of troops along the border with ukraine and appears poised to invade the country for the second time in eight years. in a phone call thursday with the russian president vladimir putin the white house as president biden warned of unprecedented sanctions against russia in response. >> made it clear to president putin that if he makes anymore moves going into ukraine, we will have severe sanctions. >> russian state media reports putin responded to president biden that if the states and other countries move forward on the unprecedented sanctions, putin would consider severing ties with those countries. william, back to you. william: thank you. julie: researchers with potential good news on the fast spreading omicron wave predicting it could plateau after the holiday travel season dies down around mid-january. charles watson is live with the headquarters, it's about time for good news. >> that's right. public health officials are looking at south africa where the variant first emerged and gained confidence in the idea that the u.s. omicron surge will peak before the month, hearing from south african officials announcing omicron surges already peaked and has without a major spike in depth. experts like doctor fauci forecasting the same for the u.s. where record levels with levels remaining relatively well. continuing to focus on growing vaccination rates to protect people from omicron and other variance, a third of their sleep, some medical professionals are criticizing the plan thing the u.s. needs to use every tool in its arsenal to break away from the pandemic. >> the other important thing is working on ramping up production and accessibility and availability of therapeutics, antibodies, antivirals. >> millions of children get ready to return to the classroom for winter break, some schools decided to start things off virtually my public schools pushing back the first day of class, district securing 60000 testing for students and staff that will ultimately determine whether classrooms stay open. >> we are prepared to potentially give it to all my remote learning if necessary, not necessary right now. it could be with class or at the school, too many scenarios to talk about reasonably but the fact is, who will take any measures necessary under the guidance of public health. >> seattle public schools aren't the only ones, several school districts across the country opting to go virtual and ease back to in person learning including atlanta public schools, the idea is to give students and staff time to get tested and avoid spread. julie: thank you very much, charles. william. william: texas border agents reporting arise in nationals trying to enter the u.s. on the southern border, border security is national security, border agents in the el paso sector aggressive 45 national nationalities to date, great job. intercepting five migrants from turkey entering illegally. agents have been exhausted, people from mexico, south america central america, now eastern europe and elsewhere. let's bring in for congresswoman, a member of the house, security and agricultural economic disparity committees, i want to show statistics here we have from 2021. when president trump left office, 78000 apprehensions a month as you see now, president biden wrote to 209,000 setting new monthly records so do you on the gop around the white house basically a year now, almost like you're talking to three blind mice, they don't want to see or hear or talk about it, what are you willing to do to get a plan to solve the problem at the southern border? >> happy new year, first of all. you are right, it's a where's waldo administration, no one can be found and no one wants to take responsibility. you have vp harris who's done close to nothing, secretory mayorkas supply personally have questioned three times in congressional hearings who said he thinks they are doing their job. data shows again pointing to the fact that no, the border is not secure. you cannot have a secure nation unless you have secure borders and if you don't have secure borders, you are not in a safe sovereign nation so what we have here is a crisis, a border crisis and as we have seen throughout the years, what this administration has done turn every town into a border town in america. we have long had a plan to secure the border and we have tried multiple times, all of which nancy pelosi stopped on the house floor. she refuses to acknowledge there's a border crisis happening. her colleagues don't go to the border because they don't want to see what we all know because it is against their narrative. the gop and republicans, when we take the house back in november, we will have a plan ready to go come january when the 118 congress starts and that's important because we have all said it's necessary to win the midterms. william: the house, senate and white house and even the house, you have any leverage? second, what is your -- what are you going to do? the president doesn't want to do it, you won't get any. >> and that's the thing, we think there is great opportunity to take this on as well, having that balance in washington is critical, ultimately what i think americans want so we can put forth legislation, restart the process of securing the border by continuing construction of the wall already appropriated. william: may i ask you, if you have any leverage? is there anything you are willing to give up to get what you are talking about? >> at the end of the day, when you take an oath, you have to uphold the laws and border security is national security. the fundamental role of federal government is national security, democrats don't want to get along on that, that's on them but when you have the majority, we will be passing legislation sending it to the present desk and if they veto it, that's on his hand. we know he's a trafficker and chief completing the cycle or cartel. william: the only problem is, a 20-dollar job almost anywhere. bringing in immigrants from around the world, it's hard for you to turn off the jobs magnet when we, people are offered a job from east africa or south african, you can't fight that. >> that is the thing, we've been encouraging folks, the of administration has been encouraging folks to come illegally because it's reported. when you have 90 billing dollars just this year alone authorized to go to increased kat foods program where you don't have to show any proof of citizenship or legal status, it's a free-for-all, you're basically saying we want to give you free stuff so who wouldn't want to come here? that's one of the most apprehended nationalities along the southwest border, romania, it's a global issue, not just a triangle country issue so we have three states to the fullest extent and get partners in mexico to cooperate. we have leverage their, we need to make sure title 42 stays in place, cdc director. bureaucrats are elected, they work for the people and congress needs to exercise their authority to hold the administrations and the agencies and check. william: we will be talking about it all this year. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you so much, happy new year. julie: global supply crisis sparing no one, not even ikea. house impacting these giants and what ikea plans to do about it. ♪♪ that the gun violence that record high in philadelphia last year, spilling into this year, at least three were killed, several others hurt several shootings across the city, the first victim discovered in 90 minutes. total of 562 homicides in philadelphia last year, most into the city's history. julie: not even the world's largest financial retailer ikea is safe from the impact of the supply chain crisis. i'm known for affordable prices ikea issued the following statement, unfortunately not for the first time higher costs have begun to affect the global economy, we have to pass parts of the increased costs on to our consumers. let's bring in university of maryland economist peter, thank you for talking to us. ikea is a go to for so many people, not only is it affordable, even college students rely on it heading off to their freshman year of college. the prices are going to rise an average of 9% stores around the world for the foreseeable future, how long is this going to last? >> i think the price hikes are permanent, the question is if there is additional hikes. supply chain problems will continue into 2023 and 2024, it's not just computer chips, it's basic stuff like paint and varnish is, things of this nature. supply chain is brittle, is under invested in 2020 when things were at the worst and we are building the chain, it will take many years. >> inflation has skyrocketed we know, strong demand for products, global supply chain, bottlenecks but as a result americans are paying higher prices for literally everything stables, food, gas, 6.8% rose in 2021 compared to the same month one year earlier, marking the largest one month increase since 1982. it's not something the administration can be proud of, what is your prediction for the year ahead and what is president biden going to do about it? >> before you can fix a problem, you have to admit you have a problem in the federal reserve said inflation can go back to 2%. the treasury department expects the inflation to go back at 2%, they are basically wishing and hoping the problem will go away. increasing flows through los angeles is nice but we have a shortage of truckers, we can't find people to do trucking, a lot of it is pandemic relief, people stay home and they have chosen to stay at home. they have to acknowledge some of the things they are doing create inflation. childcare initiative would likely increase the top cost of childcare by about 80% and reduce availability. i don't know how it increases participation of women in the workforce for lowest price but the white house said the program will lower the cost of childcare, that's an absurd statement to make. >> what an absurd statement to make is the fact that the white house has come away from admitting there's inflation in the first place. >> exactly, right after thanksgiving, the cost of a thanksgiving dinner, not only where turkey is not available in large enough supply, prices were up in quality was very poor in some cases but we have to go to several markets on occasion weekly to find certain items. popcorn, we couldn't find popcorn for one week, absurd. >> i know, i was trying to find baking soda the other day, i was trying to attempt to cook in the kitchen and fortunately that saved me and i'd never did make my cookies this year. as far as inflation and the president, let's talk about the fact that truckers, shortage of truckers are responsible for getting goods, from one side of the country to the other, vaccine mandate for men and women making deliveries sitting alone delivering goods. if you put, issue mandate, what will it do to the trucking industry? >> we won't have enough truckers, the folks are independently minded even if they declined to get vaccinated, they will say are not going to because i'm told to do it. truckers are a rare breed out there in the road for many hours, many are entrepreneurs and own their own rig, they don't like being told what to do. my feeling is this will exacerbate the problem. same thing at the port of los angeles and long beach, it's the warehouses, if you look at an iphone, the number from the factory in china, it's rather large. if you look at the component, it's another multiple set of links, along the way people won't get vaccinated, people who catch covid where they don't have access to vaccines and so forth, it's a problem. people should be vaccinated but why does mr. biden say if you want to get government vaccinated, if you want to get medicare subsidy, you have to be vaccinated. the answer is it would cut into his electoral base and he's not interested in this, the mandates are targeted under trump supporters and he knows that. >> university maryland chief, thank you for joining us and happy new year. >> happy new year. william: first time i heard back. a listers and countless fans mourning the loss of ready white. a look back at her legendary career next. ♪♪ devastating wildfire in the boulder, colorado area has called on thanks to some snow but for those looking to recover losses and homes, winter weather can hurt as much as it helped. jeff paul is live with the latest. >> major updates coming in today from authorities surrounding this wildfire, we now know three people are missing, originally that number they say was high as five, they resolved two cases, elderly people they found that were okay but these three people still missing come from homes burned down to the ground so they fear they could possibly be debt and bring cadaver dogs in tomorrow to search the premises. the other big headline is they say authorities say they are getting a tip, they've received several tips in executing a search warrant, couldn't go into detail about that but that's related to the major headline update, the number of homes burned to the ground, close to 1000 and hundreds of others damaged so we are starting to learn more about this as things go on and look behind me, you can see this is just one of the many homes destroyed in the fire and right now folks are trying to get back into the fire damaged neighborhoods like this one but authorities say it too dangerous. however, we did get a chance, to coincide a neighborhood and this is what we have. >> still little fires are burning throughout neighborhoods here, you can smell the smoke, you can hear the word crackling, the snow blanketing the damage, it's nothing to hide the devastation the community will be feeling for months on end. the massive wildfire began thursday destroy close to 1000 homes, tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate some still cannot return home to see if it's still standing. the other concern is the frigid cold temperatures and snowy weather with temperatures dipping to ankle digits, folks are worried about pipes freezing and if they return home and find they have frozen, they will have burst pipes on their hand so another disaster but despite difficulties, people are in shock of what transpired in a man matter of hours. >> for 35 years i walked out my front door and i saw beautiful homes. now when i walk out, i walk out my front door, this is what we see. >> the sheriff saying three people missing, they fear they could have died in the wildfire but even still, miraculous the number is even higher given the amount of damage and how the fire swept through. william: incredible to go from drought two or 3 feet of snow and the number of houses in a 24 hour period, normally we seek wildfires for weeks. thank you so much. >> i am not new to live tv, in 1952 i started my first live sitcom, wife of elizabeth and back then, we didn't want to do it live, we just didn't know how to tape things. [laughter] so i don't know what this shows excuses. [laughter] julie: got i love her. the one and only betty white, hosting saturday night live in 2010, who could forget up that appearance? love her legacy, the legacy of laughter, comedy icon leaves us after her death at the age of 99. her career spans more than six decades. when he her emmy awards and devoted fans of literally all ages, she would have turned 100 on january 17. let's bring an fox news entertainment reporter, ashley, haven't seen you in forever, happy new year. >> happy new year, julie, great to see you. julie: we used to work together many years ago so it's a nice reunion. literally one of my all-time favorite shows growing up, i used to watch with my grandmother and mother but you don't even have to grow up watching to know who betty white is and was, it's an example of how she reached so many generations. >> so many generations and that's what you are hearing now, so many stories and memories shared. just her career, iconic characters she created, longest career by a female entertainer, her comedic timing, her way of being sweet and raunchy simultaneously, something only betty white could do. her positivity on and off screen, people felt like they knew her. they got to know her, she has this charm about her. you didn't have to grow up knowing the mary tyler moore show are golden girls so if you haven't watched it, go watch your character, every scene she was in, every wine she delivered was amazing the 2010 snickers commercial went it became viral, the viral sensation, the campaign to host saturday night live and hot in cleveland, that was a hit series, her third hit series which is incredible to have three and one career. she was only supposed to be a guest in a pilot on that and then she went on to do the show. the movies, the proposal with ryan reynolds and central sandra bullock, you again so she's on the big screen and small screen and costars sharing their thoughts, ryan reynolds said she managed to grow very old but somehow not old enough. sandra bullock set people magazine from a she's going to have a thought, and hot dog, betty writes famously favorite meal and be okay being sat so such a tmendous loss, such an icon but so many stories and people sharing so much love today and there's going to be a film, the movie is supposed to premier and it still will generate 17th to celebrate her life and producers say it will go on in hopes it will provide a way for all who left her to celebrate her life. >> or close friends said i don't think betty feared passing because she wanted to be with her most beloved husband, alan. it was with alan she lived in her oceanfront home in carmel and that's where she wanted to live the rest of her life but unfortunately she had to go back to los angeles county because she did have at home care and apparently more convenient for her but she lived her very best life, an example to us all. i know betty white, which she would be turning 100 on january 17, she'll be having the best birthday party hosted for her in heaven. she is a real classic. thank you. >> absolutely. thank you. william: hospitalizations of children for covid-19 are reaching new highs. the omicron variant surges across the u.s. next, a closer look at the numbers. ♪♪ u.s. military monitoring tensions between china and taiwan after the two countries should concerned new year's morning. taiwan morning china against military adventurism after xi jinping said people in taiwan share china's hope to reunify the quote motherland. beijing warning walmart stores in the west not to remove products from china over human rights abuses? accusing china of running forced labor camps in countries northwest, home to millions of muslims and minorities. >> the number of children hospitalized with covid hitting record highs in the u.s. up to 378 a day week ending on tuesday. the omicron theory appears to be less severe than other strains in terms of symptoms, growing calls to get boosters and vaccines cleared for younger children. i'm joined not by doctor a mesh of dollars, doctor at johns hopkins. put this in perspective, you are told kids were generally not at risk, do these kids have underlying morbidities versus something everyone needs to be concerned about? >> it's been true since the beginning of the pandemic, hospitalization and death, children tend to be the least vaccinated group in the country and because of that, the virus is going to find them and some have underlying conditions like asthma or immunosuppression about put them higher risk for hospitalization. what remains true, children are generally not going to be hospitalized with this and i think we have to separate children's hospitals testing positive because everyone is getting tested in hospitals so sums are admitted with covid but not for covid. >> 14% of five to 11-year-old and 50% of 12 to 17 -year-olds but there's controversy right now about natural immunity, whether you get delta or omicron, children and adult should also get boosters, shots one and two, and the booster even if they've received or have been infected, do you agree or disagree? >> when it comes to boosters, the clear benefit in those above the age of 65 and those with high-risk conditions, i can imagine a child with asthma or underlying conditions needing a booster because when it comes to boosters, the threshold is preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death and it's not something healthy people are going to experience without a booster. i work in a hospital, people are lacking first and second dose was taking up hospital beds, not people flocking boosters surgery they should have a targeted approach to boosters and preventing severe disease because i think think to prevent mild illness in helping people isn't a good use of the vaccine and gives you a transient benefit for a period of time and we need to focus on first and second doses in the american public not vaccinated. william: with the breakthrough infections we are seeing, are we really just trying to just stay out of the hospital? >> i think that is the main goal we have to keep in mind because that's what flattening the curb was about. we talk about covid, it's going to be ubiquitous, something everyone will be infected with, the key is to be infected when it tamer and doesn't put you at risk for hospitalization so infected with covid is after being fully vaccinated, this will be a seasonable respiratory virus we deal with year in and year out and the goal is to make it a defined version of itself antibodies and antivirals but there is no escape, it doesn't magically go back to back so we have to take think about sustainable approaches no we can't get the risk down part of people are not dying and that is a win for the vaccine, a win for all. william: we are looking one in eight being vaccinated, this will just mutate on so basically everyone has it is not what you are trying to say? it's not going to be stopped? >> right, there are four coronavirus causing 4% of hold. this is following that pathway, evolving traits to get around immunity, immunity provided by infections and transmit highly immunized populations so it will settle and probably 60 coronavirus was just like the others before. william: thank you very much. >> thanks. julie: democrat closing out the year with even more retirements, could the party lose its majority in the midterm? a rush to the exit continues. we will look at that, next. ♪♪ our political past more than ever have we faced such serious challenges. this divides us by forcing us to make choices rather than working together on practical solutions. william: eric adams taking the oath of office today from a second black man to hold the office he bases a new covenant search and dramatic rise in private crime. campaigns saying his experience as a retired nypd captain will help him fight this -- sorry, another year of global crisis, the world limit 2021 farewell. highlights and celebrations from australia, so stick around. ♪♪ challenge shared by so many families, one in three children diagnosed with autism, a nonprofit organization for artistic adult living more independent lives. >> a bunch of ingredients to make our famous granola. >> a granola recipe, these are extraordinary. >> i am filling the bags for people who want them. >> it sounds like a cinderella story. you're doing great but the practice, we didn't do this to develop a granola sweatshop. >> doctor lisa, founder and creator of love michael, the granola company then that educating and training artistic adult. commercial kitchen in the heart of new york's neighborhood is a testament to her devotion to her son, michael born with autism. >> one of the challenges is how does a person on the spectrum have the opportunity to live an independent life? >> when michael was a teen, they volunteered in their orthodox church kitchen when she discovered michael had incredible skills hearing food. >> she said lisa, what you did in one bank will normally take us three days. >> teaching michael to do prep work in their home, in a real professional kitchen, they make granola and began selling granola. that grew to a nonprofit granola business. >> we all know what a rolling pin is? >> a schoolteaching basic social skills. >> do you want to read the next part? >> building a network of homes for adults to live independently and build friendships. transformed the entire community. >> they have helped members of this church family learn how to give spiritual gifts of love, acceptance, forgiveness. >> the hope michael is bringing this holiday season is twofold. parents of autism to live in the world and preparing the world to love on the. ♪♪ >> people all over the world bringing in the new year with arise and covid cases looming over the celebration but nonetheless a happy new year. brian is live with more. happy new year, ryan. >> happy new year to you. not just looming over the celebration but in the room at least here in london, one in 15, at least one in 15 have the virus. hospitalizations in the uk, highest they spent because of covid since january. yet at the stroke of midnight, may my neighborhood erupted in a crescendo of fireworks, people chose to stay home and have their own firework displays, friends and family over and they watched fireworks, the city's fireworks if you will on tv, that's what the mayor asked people to do though watching them in person would have been any case because they didn't tell anyone where they were going to be, cloak and dagger stuff. australia where the world first big new year celebration kicked off was quite spectacular, not as many people came out to see them before the pandemic as you would expect that many more than master and it's to be outdone, dubai went for it with a spectacular display, the backdrop in the world tallest building. finally, in rome this morning, pope francis used his new year's day address to say the pandemic is hard, we should all focus on the good which unites us so i guess you could say around the world new year's eve was a lot more normal than last year, but probably a far cry than what we would like to have had or what we had before the pandemic. >> well i'm going to try look at the glass is half-full because the cdc essay possibly omicron could be sort of tapering off by mid-january self let's hope we get better new year's eve next year but you got to look where we were in 2021, obviously stark improvement, would you agree? >> absolutely. what we are seeing is people are beginning to learn to live with the virus so here in london, the mayor's office and government here gave people guidance how to go about their day, there weren't so many restrictions. i had people in my house and others did lateral test in advance because i didn't want to infect anybody so we are learning to live with and as you say hopefully this goes >> absolutely, brian happy new year's to you, thank you so much. it was wonderful working with you. >> what you looking forward to in 2022, you have 20 seconds. >> sticking to a diet in the dry january all those they seem slim picking with homeschooling this week. we will have to see. >> thank you very much. now. >> jesse: hello, i'm jesse watters with dagen mcdowell, geraldo rivera, dana perino, and bill hemmer. it's 5:00 in new york city, and this is "the five." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome to our new year's special. what a wild 12 months it has been, from covid to the crime crisis, the major bite and missteps, high-profile tribes, celebrity news, and everything else in between. sc