>> john: but first, president biden's sweeping vaccine and mask mandates and the mounting legal challenges against them. i'm john roberts in washington. sandra, good to be spending a friday afternoon with you. >> sandra: we made it, happy friday to you, john. sandra smith in new york. supreme court hearing a two-fold argument. at issue, whether the federal government can force large private companies to either fully vaccinate their workers or subject their staff to weekly tests and mask wearing on the job. justices will look at whether healthcare workers at federally funded facilities must be vaccinated. a decision could come in days and could effect nearly 100 million americans. >> john: more on that. owner of a louisiana grocery store chain part of the coalition challenging the private business mandate, sandra. >> sandra: first to david is outside the supreme court to begin the hour. how are the justices leaning? >> at this point it appears to be a mixed bag. a little bit too early to tell, though, there have been some passionate arguments inside. this is clearly an important day at the supreme court and as you mentioned an important day for more than 100 million employees across the country. what's interesting is the speed at which the justices agreed to hear this case. covid-19 is a pandemic that has killed tragically more than 800,000 people so the justices wanted to take this case quickly and it has so many implications. justice samuel alito asked the federal government if they could take, meaning the justices, could take a few days to work on this. but they want to get it done as soon as possible. arguments in the first case began three hours ago promptly at 10:00. the white house mandate that requires companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and masks at all times. opponents say the mandates will destroy the workforce. listen. >> grant immediate relief. >> the short version is as soon as businesses have to put out their plans and this takes effect, workers will quit. that itself will be a permanent worker displacement, that will ripple through the national economy. so, we can talk about the billions and nonrecoverable costs the business concedes. >> another justice made it clear in the first eight minutes of arguments where she stands. >> more and more people are getting sick every day. i don't mean to be dramatic here, i'm stating facts and this is the policy that is most geared to stopping all of this. there's nothing else that will perform that function better than incentivising people strongly to vaccinate themselves. >> and the second case, sandra, calling for workers in a healthcare setting that receives medicare or medicaid money to be fully vaccinated. that is the case going on right now in the courtroom behind me. we expect arguments to go about another 45 minutes or so. so you put those two cases together, usually arguments are about an hour for each case. we are seeing two hours today per case, sandra. >> sandra: no doubt considering the number of businesses and americans that this will affect that the country is watching this so intently. >> the country is watching it intensely and you can feel from the justices, you can hear it in their voices just how palpable the stakes are for them, how high the stakes are for them. justice alito said listen, we want to take a few days to figure this out before people lose their jobs, those were his words inside. people are going to lose their jobs if they do not comply with the mandates, so that gives you idea that even the justices on the u.s. supreme court can feel the stakes here, and rare to see something happen so quickly, they hear on a friday and could potentially render a decision in the next few days. sandra. >> sandra: ok, david spunt live outside the court for us. thank you, john. >> john: incredibly important case for a lot of businesses. brandon is the owner of ralph's market, a grocery store chain in louisiana. he is one of the business owners challenging the vaccine mandate in the supreme court. he's also a former republican candidate for the louisiana state house of representatives. brandon, november 10th when it became an issue and you wrote an op-ed piece in u.s.a. today "i am faced with an incomprehensible choice. force the workers fueled by business success to take a covid-19 vaccine, submit to weekly testing at my or their expense or show them the door." what would the impact of this mandate be on your business and other businesses that you are familiar with? >> thanks for having me, john. this would be a huge impact on my business and many businesses across america and in my opinion this mandate is not a health saviour or anything, it's an economic disaster. you are looking at millions of americans that are going to be given the door and fired, and can't supply for their family, it's wrong. it's a massive overreach by the executive branch and i'm doing my part to stand up against it. >> john: potential significant economic impact on you as a business from a standpoint of fines as well. it's $14,000 per employee for not following the mandate. $136,000 for what the government calls willful violation. scheduled to go into effect on january 10th, osha said they probably would not enforce before february 9th. but at issue here is whether osha even has the authority to do this. listen to what justice gorsuch said about that earlier today in the hearing. >> congress has had a year to act on the question of vaccine mandates already. as the chief justice points out it appears the federal government is going agency by agency as a work around to get congress to act. >> john: people are saying it's up to congress to do, not the white house. what do you expect the supreme court to do? >> we are optimistic what the supreme court will do and how fast they will do it. we hope they strike down the illegal mandate. we were excited on everything that they said today. gorsuch was spot on, spot on. this is not a grave and imminent danger to american society. the fifth circuit said that, gorsuch said that and we think they are going to rule in our favor, heavily in our favor and we are excited to see that. >> john: fifth circuit court of appeals agreed with you but the sixth court did not. the white house insists it has legal authority to do this. the press secretary saying the need and urgency for the policies is greater than ever and are confident in the legal authority for both policies. but attorney general for louisiana jeff landry said an important constitutional principle at stake. >> can the federal government force you into a medical procedure, that's at stake. if that is the case, we are no longer sovereign individuals, we are basically serfs of the federal government. >> john: can the federal government force you to a medical procedure, what's at stake here. you said in the opinion piece i simply will not do it, immoral, unfeasible and illegal. if scotus were to implement the mandate you would be facing some pretty serious economic consequences if you don't follow it. so, what would you do? >> yeah, we have always followed the rule of law, we followed everything from the health department and the c.d.c. but i don't want to speculate on a case ongoing and in my opinion, so blatant overreach of the executive branch. we'll see how it plays out. we are very confident in what the attorney general landry said is forcing somebody to take a vaccine they don't want to but putting me in position of my employees, john, putting me in their personal medical decisions. that is wrong, that is wrong. >> john: we will find out very quickly because the supreme court is expected to act on this very, very soon. brandon tropsmeyer, good to speak with you. we'll see how it ends up. appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me. >> sandra: more on that with shannon at the top of the hour, and on to jobs report friday, brand-new jobs report came out this morning and considered dismal to end 2021 for president biden. economists did expect the u.s. would add 400,000 jobs the month of december, but actually ended up only adding half of that, just 199,000 jobs. jacqui heinrich is live on the north lawn for us. jacqui, the president spoke on this earlier. did he acknowledge this major miss? >> short answer sandra is no. the president was quick to point out the highlights in the jobs report, pointing out that the unemployment rate fell faster than expected, and he also pointed out 6.4 million new jobs were added since january of last year. but he glossed over that disappointing jobs number. he also sort of segued into the fact that his policies, he says, are contributing to the economic recovery, not noting that this jobs report, by the way, came before the omicron surge and could show up to be even worse in the next one, and he tried to blunt republican criticism. listen. >> i hear republicans say today that my talking about this strong record shows that i don't understand, i don't understand. a lot of people are still suffering, they say. well, they are. or that i'm not focussed on inflation, malarky. they want to talk down the recovery because they voted against the legislation that made it happen. >> tough week for the administration with record breaking surge in covid cases and nationwide shortage of tests. also muddled guidance from the c.d.c. at a time when credibility is really at a premium. six of biden's former medical advisers urged the administration in a series of op-eds yesterday of a new normal living with covid and stop operating in absolute. the president said that is not necessary. >> no, i don't think covid is here to stay. having covid in the environment here and the world is probably here to stay. but covid as we are dealing with it now is not here to stay. the new normal doesn't have to be -- we have so many more tools we are developing and continuing to develop that can contain covid and other strains of covid. >> the white house defended the c.d.c. amid criticism their revised testing guidelines were confusing and also possibly motivated by factors other than science. dr. walensky took that head on in her first press conference outside the full response team since this summer. >> we are in an unprecedented time with the speed of omicron cases rising, and we are working really hard to get information to the american public. this is hard, and i am committed and to continue to improve as we learn more about the science and to communicate that with all of you. >> walensky reportedly sought media training after a series of messaging missteps beginning last fall, sandra. >> sandra: jacqui heinrich live at the white house, with the snow covering the lawn there. thank you. a snowy morning in new york as well, john. big board, watching market reaction to this on a friday afternoon. the dow was up about 100 points. it did fall initially to start the session after the report this morning because it was considered a major miss, and the s & p 500 is down and on pace for a losing week, the first week of 2022. so, markets did not exactly like what they saw there, but the dow seems to be recovering just a bit. >> john: did you say nasdaq is down? >> sandra: the nasdaq is down, s & p 500 is down. the dow is slightly higher. >> john: that means brian killmeade is not going to get his pick six victory tonight. he thought the nasdaq would finish the highest of the indices today. sorry, brian. sandra, the white house out with a new plan to fight soaring meat prices. focusses on increasing competition within the meat packing industry but is that the right move? tomi is going to weigh in on what's happening in the meat packing industry. stay with us. >> sandra: looking forward to that segment. plus, winter storms slamming parts of the south to the northeast. a look at the chaos it has caused next. >> on a quarter tank of gas and just sitting here watching the road, making it even harder to get home. 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. ♪ ♪ as a dj, i know all about customization. with 30 grams of protein. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ i may have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. or psoriatic arthritis. but we are so much more. we're team players and artists. designers and do-it-yourselfers. parents and friends. if joint pain is getting in the way of who you are, it's time to talk to your doctor about enbrel. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop permanent joint damage. plus enbrel helps skin get clearer in psoriatic arthritis. ask your doctor about enbrel, so you can get back to your true self. play ball! enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common. or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. visit enbrel.com to see how your joint damage could progress. enbrel. eligible patients may pay as little as $5 per month. hello, for the last few years, i've been a little obsessed with chasing the big idaho potato truck. but it's not like that's my only interest. i also love cooking with heart-healthy, idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. storm that caused a pile-up on a kentucky highway yesterday causing havoc in the northeast. some areas seeing more than 13 inches of snow. alexis mcadams has her woolies on, in new york city with more. >> some areas across new york were slammed. buffalo had about inches of snow at their airport, but here in new york city, they were ready, prepared before the storm pretreating the roadways and upper west side of manhattan is in pretty good shape. throughout the morning in new york. people cleaning off the cars as they hit the roads. triggering a big travel advisory in the state. the new york governor is asking people to avoid unnecessary travel. new york city, schools did stay open, kids trekking through the snow heading to class, which parents were probably excited about. a different story, though, in buffalo as i mentioned. schools had to cancel there because of the heavy lake effect snow. as of last night, buffalo breaking the daily snowfall record with 18 inches of snow near the airport there, and watertown, 15 inches of snow. the fast-moving winter system expected to bring frigid temperatures up through new england. this morning some parts of connecticut waking up to a foot of snow. drivers there said the roads were still pretty slick and many people avoiding travel all together. back out here live in manhattan, reports of dozens of accidents across the state and one fatal accident so far in massachusetts. john. >> john: you have to know after cancelling snow in buffalo is serious. down here, somebody drops a snow globe. >> look at your grocery bill and the cost of meat. it's not because of cattle farmers getting rich, as a matter of fact it's exact opposite. it's because fewer processors can charge grocery stores much more money for their ground beef, for example. you've heard me say it before. capitalism without competition isn't capitalism. it's exploitation. i'm determined to end the exploitation. >> sandra: that was president biden earlier this morning, he may be losing sight of a key measure when it comes to lowering meat prices that are currently sky high in this country. american ranchers say the white house should be focussing on preventing foreign meat imports from flooding the u.s. market. could it be the answer to get the prices down. tomi lahren is a "fox nation" host, she comes from a family of cattle ranchers in south dakota. tomi, welcome. >> tomi: thanks for having me, issue so close to my heart and home state and family so i appreciate you taking the time. i know consumers are starting to realize the issue more and more each and every single day, impacting them, impacting us all, we need to get to the bottom of it. >> sandra: it's really something, i don't know that a lot of people knew that about you and when you grew up near, you know, near farms and near these ranches, it's very personal. what are you hearing? when they hear president biden say that the cause of inflation is because of these meat companies, and the lack of competition from these meat companies, that they are able to charge these higher prices. and now he wants to increase competition to bring the prices down. is that the solution? >> tomi: president biden is not all together wrong on this. this is a problem in the meat packing industry. four meat packers control the whole of the market, so they set the price, also able to undercut the ranchers. a part of the equation president biden and others are missing, country of origin. and cannot differentiate from the foreign imports coming in, they are not making money off the increased demand. because they cannot differentiate, they are losing, the consumer does not know where the beef or meat is from either. it's a big problem most americans don't know. >> sandra: we put together where some of the meat is coming in from, put it on the screen as far as the meat imports in this country. top beef and veal importers, a lot of people may not realize coming in, number one, from canada. two from mexico, three from new zealand, four australia, five brazil. and tomi, some perspective on the sky high meat prices we are talking about here, put them on the screen, year over year change. veal cutlets, up 45%. bacon prices we talk about, up 30%. skirt steak, ground beef, a lot of talk about the major meat companies. cargill, tyson foods, j.b.s., national beef packing companies and how much they really control the market. it varies between 50 and 85%, tomi. so, what is the white house need to hear to get these prices lower because this is something the average american family is grappling with. you hear everybody talking about it when they go to the grocery store these days. >> there are antitrust laws on the books not being enforced so biden is correct we need competition, hold meat packers accountable. think of how great things are for the meat packing industry. they are able to import this cheaper foreign beef, pass it off as product of the u.s.a. and our american ranchers, more than capable of supplying the beef and the meat needs for the nation and much of the world cannot differentiate their product. so you are seeing the prices, going to the grocery store and meat costs more but the ranchers are not able to take advantage of that, quite the opposite. they are being undercut. all they want is a country of origin label on their products. and if you want to buy brazilian beef, australian beef, canadian beef, that's up to you. the consumer ought to know. you pay a premium price, you better know where the product is from and i believe the american ranchers have a premium product and that helps the consumer, the rancher and holds the meat packers accountable. right now they are getting rich on the foreign beef exports and everyone else is suffering. >> sandra: it's very, very interesting perspective on all of this because andy puzder of the fast food companies, he was on yesterday talking about sort of the perfect storm for higher prices. a lot of biden's policies that also have led to inflation are also driving those prices higher. so the consumer is paying for it. tomi, good to have you on that, thank you. >> tomi: thank you for taking time for this issue, so important for so many rural americans. >> sandra: of course. we will continue to cover it. >> john: label of origin does not sound like too much to ask. president biden repeatedly saying last year he would defeat the pandemic. now he's changing his tune, saying covid is a fact of life as cases surge. is this really the new normal? >> sandra: america's travel nightmare still unfolding. thousands of flights have been canceled with more winter storms on the way. the latest update we will have for you just ahead. mm. [ clicks tongue ] i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice. kinder bueno. it's crispy. it's creamy. it's not your average chocolate bar. it's kinder bueno! smooth milk chocolate, crispy wafer, creamy hazelnut filling. it's kinder bueno. ♪♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. people everywhere living with ♪♪ type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. >> sandra: he was once considered a star, a rising star in the democratic party but right now disgraced ex-governor andrew cuomo is appearing virtually for a court hearing. a judge in albany is deciding whether to dismiss a fondling case against him. he is accused of groping a former aide in the executive mansion in december of 2020. prosecutors say the case is impossible to prove citing a lack of evidence. last august new york's attorney general released a report on the investigation finding cuomo sexually harassed 11 women during his time in office. >> john: president trump ran into fierce criticism when they said of covid, we need to live with it. new after a futile attempt to eradicate it, the biden administration is saying the same thing. >> as i said before, i'm not going to shut down the economy. i'm going to shut down the virus. i'll shut down the virus, not the economy. i'm not going to shut down the country but i'm going to shut down the virus. i'm going to shut down the virus and build the economy. today we are closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus. >> john: that's what he was saying back then, but now because of six advisors to the president on medical issues they are thinking about changing their tune. joining us to talk more about this is fox news contributor dr. janette nesheiwat. let's put up on the screen the six medical advisors to the president who said change the way we look at covid and more of a chronic infestation we have to deal with, among the people who have advised this, epidemiologist, and rick bright, the falling out with the trump administration. and arrogance to say we can eradicate this virus, paraphrase jeff goldbloom in "jurassic park," nature finds a way. >> where were they to take us through the winter surge with the tests, why didn't they speak up there, instead of prematurely declaring, be should have been planning and proactive and anticipate future variants and not complacent, and making sure the c.d.c. is improving the genomic sequencing, it's putting us in the mess we are currently dealing with. we are learning from our lessons, i hope. hopefully they will know to increase testing, medication, therapeutics, p.p.e. so we don't have to go through this in the future but we do need to get to the point, john, where we can live with covid as we do with other respiratory illness such as influenza. >> john: respiratory virus, the subject of the c.d.c., also have to fix their communications operation. the president was asked a little more than an hour ago if covid is here to stay, here is what he said. >> no, i don't think covid is here to stay. but having covid in the environment here and in the world is probably here to stay. but covid as we are dealing with it now is not here to stay. the new normal doesn't have to be. we have so many more tools. >> john: he said it's not here to stay, but then maybe it's here to stay in the environment, to the point. the whole thing was to get rid of covid like with smallpox, through vaccination. clearly that's not going to work. how do we need to approach this in the future? >> number one, it's all about planning, preparation, organization. i think the number one thing we need to look at in addition to keeping schools open is the hospital threshold. that's the biggest issue that we really are dealing with that many people are not aware of. you see, we need to understand at what point are our hospitals overloaded. at what point does fema need to be called. do the medical military strike teams need to be called to come and help. when do the national guard teams come in. we have to establish that threshold because as you see right now, hospitals are overloaded and john, that impacts every single one of us. you have someone having a stroke and they have to have blood thinners within three hours and they go to the local e.r. but it's full, no beds, the e.r. is on divert. you are going to be in trouble. that's the number one priority is making sure we establish protocols for hospitals and of course for our schooling to keep them open, ensuring we never have short supply of testing. i think that's important, and as well as making sure we have good ventilation and air filtration systems in public buildings, in schools and hospitals, that sort of thing. >> one of the recommendations of the group of advisors was to, to use the metric of hospitalizations and deaths to trigger emergency response rather than overall case count. we see that going through the roof. quickly, a few seconds left. what is the new normal going to be? constant masking, school closures, lockdowns, etc., etc., or say look, it's like the flu, like r.s.v., it's out there, let's live our lives, we'll deal with it when people get sick? >> exactly. i hope we can get to the point we deal with it like with flu and never see a school shut down, never see lockdowns or closures again. we are not to that point. we need to update the vaccination, make sure we vaccinate the world. other variants will come to this country and know your risk and protect yourself, masking, vaccination, testing when available. >> i think we are a long way from the end of the tunnel here. >> we are getting there. we are getting there. >> john: dr. nesheiwat, have a great weekend. >> my pleasure. >> sandra: more than 2400 flights scrapped today and more than 1600 others delayed after a winter storm hammered the east coast but not just bad weather causing problems. short staffing and sick-outs are taking a toll on the airline industry. passengers are fed up about all of it. casey stegall is live at dallas-fort worth international, the worst thing as a passenger, you see the big canceled on the screen it can ruin everything. >> it really can, especially if you are one of the people still on holiday break and you are trying to get home. believe it or not, still thousands of people in that situation. at that point, almost like rent a car and drive home if you can. hard to do if you are international, but we are now closing in on 15 consecutive days of more than 1,000 domestic flights that have had to be canceled. so, that is quite a bit of stretch of time. two primary things to blame here, number one, covid-19, number two, obviously mother nature. so the snowstorms keep on coming, aircraft are grounded in the isolated spots and omicron has seeped through the airline and airport worker ranks causing staffing shortages, analyst the say hang on a bit longer, the nightmare is almost over. >> the health authorities are saying the virus is going to peak in a week or two, that coupled with less travelers, hopefully will improve the situation. >> the latest stats on flight aware.com is showing nearly 2500 flight delays across the united states. and more than 2500 cancellations. sandra. >> sandra: wow. that will ruin a lot of things and people are sleeping at the airport over the holidays. casey stegall, thank you. >> a mess. >> sandra: more bad weather coming, john. >> john: yes, certainly is. two police departments peopling up in the probe of a fatal shooting on the set of alec baldwin's new movie. what investigators are now seeking from the actor. plus this. >> it's really devastating as a parent to see my kids suffer from remote learning. they check out. >> sandra: school is out for a third day in the city of chicago as leaders continue to spar with school officials over in-person learning. the battle leaving hundreds of students and parents caught in the middle of that fight. we will speak to a frustrated chicago father coming up. >> vo: my car is my after-work decompression zone. ♪ music ♪ >> vo: so when my windshield broke... i found the experts at safelite autoglass. they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff,... ...swollen, painful. emerge tremfyant®. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less fatigued. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. i lost 26 pounds and i feel incredible. with the new personalpoints program, i answer questions about my goals and the foods i love. i like that the ww personalpoints plan is built just for me. join today for 50% off at ww.com. hurry, offer ends january 10th. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. >> john: one thing they get in washington state is a lot of snow and rain and there you are looking at the results of getting a tremendous amount of both. this is in central washington south of olympia, off of interstate 5 where the chihalis river has overflowed its banks in lewis county and flooding just about everything in sight. and we pull back here in this helicopter shot, you can see the extent of the flooding. it goes from the sort of farmland area all the way up toward the town, and it is going to take a long time for them to clean up there. lewis county, washington just south of chihalis, as the river has obviously overflowed its banks. wow, look at that. sandra. >> sandra: we will keep our eye on that for sure, john, that's a developing situation there. on to the feud between the chicago public schools and the teachers' union is spilling into a third day, sadly for the children in that city. over 300,000 students are still at home, can't get into their classrooms or go to school, and there is a return to remote learning for now. many chicago parents are outraged over this, rightly so. and feel the union has failed at putting children first. one of those parents joins us now. it is willy preston, the father of six children in the chicago public school system. i know we have had a chance to speak before. welcome back. this is just heartbreaking. >> thank you. >> sandra: for the children there and you have so many affected by this. how is it to handle this as a father? >> this is extremely tough, and thanks for having me, by the way, first of all. but i appreciate you for having me on but the truth is i wish we weren't here. this is just extremely difficult for our children. as you mentioned, i have high schoolers, my wife and i, we have two high schoolers, 8th grader, 6th grader, full gamut and has affected them in a negative way. even some kids in high school are talking about they are going to drop out. it seemed everything was working out, chicago public school system had the mitigation policies in place, they were working. i mean, nothing works perfectly but this just seems to be so unwarranted, like hysteria that came out of the blue. so we were not -- we were not expecting this at all. so i'm getting my kids up, my wife and i are getting the kids up at 5:30, 6:00 in the morning trying to keep them going, trying to make sure they read to us and put this kid on a program so we can keep them going so they don't fall out of contention because we know and the city -- you are in new york, your children in new york are in school. our kids are sitting back idling in chicago. doing nothing every day. >> sandra: you are -- you are a good dad, you know. i know that thought process, we have been in the shutdowns before, but you are back in it and 95% of the country is back in school, your kids are at home. so i know you are going to do everything you can as a parent because that's what you do. you adapt to these challenges. have you had any thoughts about maybe you are going to try to find another school? i don't know, you know, obviously private schools are very, very expensive. but i know how important their education is for you and the socialization of school as well. so are you thinking about alternatives? >> absolutely. and it's sad because you know, my children, we attended private school, they attended private school for much of their careers, in fact, it was just before covid that we put all of our kids in public schools. so, my wife and i are looking at our budget trying to figure out if we can get the kids back to private school, we want them to be stable. but private schools are extremely expensive, and we are not seeing it. we run a small business and we are trying to work those numbers out, and sadly they are not there. but you know, why should we have to? we pay taxes for our teachers to go and teach. i mean -- we are not asking for a gift, we are not asking for a handout. we have contributed already. and we are sending our kids to school prepared. and we are doing our part with sanitizing and masking and the whole -- what else does the union want from us? >> sandra: really, i just want to get this in here your reaction to it. the chicago teachers' union defending their action, this was wednesday, listen. >> this could absolutely be avoided with remote learning. they can still get their education. >> what happens if they don't get an agreement is that the sides will be the classrooms doing in-person instruction. >> sandra: this could absolutely be avoided with remote learning said one of the teachers. and i just want to, in the context of that, put up on the screen the american rescue plan funding that was allocated to chicago public schools, 1.788, i mean, we are looking at 1.78 million -- >> billion. >> sandra: sorry, that was billions. we were looking at the context of the state allocated funds, but chicago got the biggest chunk of it. so looking at almost $2 billion allotted to the chicago schools to remain open safely for your kids. real quick final thought from you, willy. >> i think it's simply the chicago teachers' union throwing their weight around so they can make sure they achieve what they ultimately want to achieve and that's to run city government outright. and they are destroying working class people's abilities to have a quality of life here. we are all sacrificing during this moment, through this pandemic and i think the chicago teachers' union are showing our kids a very, very poor example of how to work together, how to sacrifice, and how to do what we have to do. this isn't right. >> sandra: we have been showing pictures of your family, they are beautiful, willy. you keep being a good dad. you are going to make the right decisions for your kids. >> i'm going to try. there are so many other kids that are facing so many more traumas in the city, they need to be in a classroom. schools save lives where i'm from. thank you. >> sandra: thank you. >> john: frustration there for you. fox news alert, the supreme court just wrapping up emergency oral arguments in the case in the vaccine mandate. will the court allow the state to remain in place or will it overturn it? just ahead. ♪ limu emu and doug.♪ and it's easy to customize your insurance at libertymutual.com so you only pay for what you need. isn't that right limu? limu? limu? sorry, one sec. doug blows several different whistles. doug blows several different whistles. [a vulture squawks.] there he is. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. earn about covid-19,ugar, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. >> john: the three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery are to be sentenced later today. steve, what's the latest? >> waiting for the judge to make the decision on sentencing, it's a pretty narrow choice according to georgia law. either life in prison or life in prison with a chance at parole. now even that secondary charge will carry at least 30 years. so for the three white men accused of murdering 25-year-old ahmaud arbery, it could end up being a life sentence after all. travis mcmichael, 35, greg his father, 66, and the other man, 52. it was a jury of 11 whites and one black that carried out the conviction. the trial that almost never happened. cell phone video leaked months after the murder that sparked the arrest. john, back to you. >> john: steve, thank you. >> sandra: new at 2:00, john, china locking up millions of citizens in quarantine facilities or confining them to their homes. former secretary of state mike pompeo is here to react. and a whole lot more coming up as "america reports" rolls on. is to be on a journey. and along the ride, you'll have many questions. challenges. and a few surprises. ♪ but wherever you are on your journey. your dell technologies advisor is here for you - with the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. ♪ ♪ 80% get genetically meaningful health info with the right tech solutions. from their 23andme dna reports. ♪ ♪ 80%. that's 8 out of 10 people who could get something enlightening. something empowering. something that could change everything. info that could give you greater control of your own health. and it's right there, in your dna. ♪ ♪ it's the most meaningful way to start the new year. and right now, our health and ancestry kit is just $129. ♪do you know what the future holds?♪ pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. relief without the water. >> sandra: starting our second thundershower. >> starting our second hour, covid rules and regulations can be as bad as the virus itself? communist china's iron-fisted crackdown has cost people's lives. >> john: and china not only engaged in genocide of wieger muslims, but callous and cruel toward everyone else. >> sandra: less than a month before beijing is honored with the global spotlight at the olympic games, why are so many of the big american brands we all know and silent and proud to plaster their names on the controversial games. a question many are asking. welcome back to "america reports," we roll on to hour two. john, hello, sandra smith in new york. >> john: john roberts in washington. and mike pompeo, also few who are as fired up about it, he's with us live. as always, begin with what's breaking. >> sandra: looking forward to all that. fate of provided's vaccine mandate in the hands of the supreme court. arguments wrapping just moments ago about running about three hours, and what they ultimately decide will affect tens of millions of american businesses and citizens. >> john: the court, sandra, focussing on two big issues, including whether the government could force private companies with more than 100 employees to mandate the vaccine or weekly testing. and healthcare workers that receive federal funding must be vaccinated but the stakes are beyond the vaccine or the pandemic. >> sandra: to anchor of fox news at night, shannon bream is with us. hi, walk us through the day. what did we hear from the justices? >> good afternoon sandra and john. it has been a case like no other. these two cases have been fast-tracked. the court is not treating them the way they would treat a normal case because there are impending deadlines, employers and employees have big decisions to make before these things kick in unless the court stays them. in the first case the emergency workplace regulation for 100 or more employees, they saw 0 reason to consider putting the mandate on hold and because it provides a masking and testing option, a justice says it's wrong to refer to it as a vaccine mandate. >> there's no mandate here for a vaccine. there is a masking mandate, no different than there is whether we tell people that if there are sparks flying in the workplace where workers have to be -- have to wear a mask, that's no different in my mind than this. so this is not a vaccine mandate. >> the second case deals with whether the biden administration can mandate vaccination for employees, contractors, volunteers at facilities that get medicaid or medicare money from the federal government. this is the healthcare worker mandate. both cases skepticism from conservative justices who note the concept that was retweeted on twitter that the administration is trying to force other entities to do what it said months ago it could not do. justice gorsuch on that point. >> appears the federal government is going agency by agency as a work around to get congress to act. the risks imposed here are not unilateral. there are risks to those who choose not to be vaccinated, that they are trying to avoid. >> to this issue of providing a masking and testing option for unvaccinated employees, justice alito brought up is it workable at this point, we know how tough to get your hands on a test, and scale of tens of hundreds of thousands of americans could be tricky. arguments have wrapped, now we wait. >> sandra: shannon, how quickly could we get a decision. >> this has been fast-tracked from the beginning. the court could do something like administrative stay, saying we are not making a decision on the merits but about to kick in. we need more time to get through the thousands of pages of briefs and information before we make a decision, so like the continuing resolutions on capitol hill and funding for 3 or 5 days, it's possible the court could say give us a breather for a minute to make a decision. but as for the actual stay that's what the parties challenging are asking for, this is not going to be a matter of months, it could be weeks, it could be days in getting a decision here. >> sandra: i think the "wall street journal" editorial, they write the ruling will echo beyond the pandemic. taking it to how far the executive branch can go in rewriting statutes. some justices will be tempted to defer to the executive given the pandemic emergencies but presidents are increasingly eager to find emergencies whenever they are politically convenient. that was the editorial board this morning, shannon. taking that in, could the justices split on the two cases we heard this morning, coming to two completely different results? >> yeah, you make a great point in that op-ed in what is at stake. essentially does at the core, they get to just how far the executive branch can go in using executive power through these agencies. you are right. i think they could split. much more open argument as to staying that federal worker mandate, not federal worker, the employer mandate. i think the justices were much more open potentially to staying that one. the healthcare worker mandate, seemed there would be more resistance. i think they could split one of these mandates is upheld and the other is not, eventually. >> sandra: great on all of this. thanks for taking us through it. we will see you tonight. >> john: another routine day for shannon. and president biden changing his take on covid, from beating back the virus to learning to live with it. >> as i said before i'm not going to shut down the economy, i'm going to shut down the virus. i'm not going to shut down the economy, i'm going to shut down the virus and build the economy. today we are closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus. >> john: byron york, the chief political correspondents for "washington examiner". the message was in july of 2020, we need to learn to live with the virus. joe biden as you saw in the montage of sound bytes said we are going to wipe it out. who was right? >> well, it's not going to be wiped out. it all goes back to what president biden promised during the campaign. you just played it. he was going to shut down the virus. he had the expertise, he listened to the science, he was an experienced government hand and knew how to do this. and now we have since seen the vice president, vice president harris has conceded the administration was surprised by the delta variant, and they were surprised by the omicron variant and cases are skyrocketing. the seven-day average of cases of the virus has gone up 100% since last week. so, this is extremely important politically. i mean, put aside the public health matter, but this is extremely important politically because in midterm elections, the job approval rating of the president is perhaps the most important determination of how his party does in the midterms and right now it's not looking good for joe biden. you are seeing the white house trying to do now is i think cha the way the american public thinks about the virus, to not think of it disappearing forever. but the president, you listened to him today, very careful to say lock downs, all this stuff, shutting down the economy, that's not going to happen even if we have to live with the presence of covid. >> john: joe biden campaigned against donald trump on the issue of covid saying he was going to do the job on covid that donald trump never did. but when you look at what happened in the past year compared to the year before, you pointed out, more people have come down with covid, more people died last year than in the waning year of the trump administration and biden's disapproval rating on covid, used to be one of his strongest issues is at 55%. how does he sell that record in the midterms even by trying to change the topic? >> yeah, it's very hard. in the past when his job approval rating, or the economy, and for the border, and for foreign affairs, when all that was falling, his handling of covid was the tent pole. public approval was the tent pole holding up the job approval rating and now it has gone down. i think what you are seeing here is the white house, for example, is trying to tell us to look differently at things. with covid cases skyrocketing, we are hearing talk about maybe cases, the number of cases is not the best measurement of this. with hospitalizations, you are hearing people say we need to distinguish between people who are in the hospital for some other reason but are positive for covid versus those actually hospitalized for covid. so you are seeing this kind of level of nuance that you didn't see in discussion of the virus during the trump years. and what's going on is the white house is trying to reassure the public when you see this incredible graph of covid cases just shooting straight upward. >> john: we'll worry about other things, not that. about you there are many people who say the metrics should be hospitalizations and deaths. i can see byron before we go here, a big debate between red states and blue states with a lot of red states saying we have to learn to live with it, not live under siege, it's a big issue for the midterms. as always, byron, great to talk to you. have a great weekend. see you soon. you can imagine states like texas and florida and the dakotas saying look, if we are going to live with this thing, we are not going to live under a state of siege with the catapults outside our walls, we are going to, you know, open the doors and go out and live our lives. >> sandra: sounds like the right thing to do, right? i was just thinking listening to you and byron, thinking i mean, does every conversation you have with anyone everywhere these days has something to do with covid. i mean -- you can't get away from it. >> john: nope. >> sandra: pretty much. even our conversations in the morning, right? fox weather alert meanwhile and decades old records falling as fast as the snow from new england down to nashville. middle tennessee seeing single digit temperatures and as much as nine inches of snow in some areas. nashville breaking a record going back 45 years. their neighbor to the north kentucky getting socked just as hard. icy roadways are leading to pile-ups, a crash on i-64 happened yesterday, involving as many as 100 cars seen there, according to local law enforcement. >> john: to the north, upstate new york, buffalo came within a half inch of a record in january. three inches an hour, leading to almost whiteout conditions. and connecticut, just imagine the drivers' white knuckle grip during the terrifying spins, sailing off down the street. it did eventually come to a stop. >> sandra: brutal. all this all the way to the west coast, winter rain storms causing mudslides and record river flooding. steve bender with how the weekend is looking across the country in 60 seconds. hello, steve. >> hello, sandra. we have some major storms to talk about, mid atlantic, tennessee, kentucky, and three different states, rhode island, massachusetts, connecticut, over a foot of snow. it is moving offshore and moving into the north atlantic, so improving conditions here the next few hours and a great opportunity this weekend for the kids to get out there and play in the snow. all week long, though, we have seen the atmospheric river surge into the pacific northwest and that's leading to the flooding that you just showed there, and so here is the river totals. i-5 corridor, five inches of rain in the past few days and that led to the major river flooding. the one spot we are looking, chihalis will crest late tomorrow and then go back down. john and sandra, it's a long way to go for the pacific northwest as they see the heavy rain and snow. >> sandra: we are gearing up for all of it. thank you. >> john: china already faced calls for boycotts of next month's beijing olympics over the genocide of muslims. now new reports of a brutal covid crackdowns that have citizens starving has the boycott calls more urgent. why are some big brands who are sponsoring the olympics refusing to budge? >> sandra: good question for mike pompeo. he spent plenty of time dealing with the chinese government. he will join us live next. mission control, we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten. real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >> john: we have had years of raging debate over how to stay safe from covid without giving up the rights we have as americans but as bitterly as people here are divided, just having that debate is something many in china would never dare. the country where the pandemic began tries to clean up the mess with the so-called 0 tolerance policy, the welfare of china's own people seems to be an afterthought. australian newspaper reporting horrifying stories of rigid lockdown rules. millions of citizens confined to their homes, nobody in or out of town, and that could mean no food to feed families. people forced to trade their valuable possessions to feed their stomachs. someone trading a $300 nintendo switch for a box of ramen noodles, and another city of 13 million in lockdown, and a mom to be was unable to get treatment from doctors until she could find a covid test and have it processed. that turned out to be impossible. she went into a miscarriage and lost her baby trying. former secretary of state mike pompeo also a fox news contributor. mr. secretary, good to see you this friday afternoon. in relation to all of this, increasing calls for the u.s. olympic committee to pull out of the beijing games less than a month from now. you have long advocated that position. as we approach the olympic games weeks away now, what would you say to american athletes about their participation? >> well, john, thanks for having me on. two thoughts come to mind immediately. first the athletes, this is the pinnacle of the career for many of them, spend years getting ready for the olympics, great respect for them and i love the olympics themselves, a great sporting event for the world. about you those people in the chinese communist people know they are coming, they will monitor everything they do and say, they will keep those in the hands of the communist party, and if one talks about the uyghurs in western china, taiwan or tieneman square, they may want to keep them there, so understand the risk travelling to the chinese communist homeland, from the globe perspective, the world perspective, the largest american companies, many american, will put chinese propaganda on the world and they will talk about how great it is, and they will not talk about the terrible things he's done to his own people or the world by hoisting the virus on all of us. >> john: the coca-cola company said in a statement earlier today, we believe the olympic movement is a force for good, bringing people and countries together and we are proud to use our name to raise its profile and support the world's most watched and revered international sporting event. no question the olympics are a force for good, but like the 1936 games were in berlin, a powerful force of propaganda for a repressive regime. >> john, that's what i was speaking to earlier. no doubt the olympics are a force for good, but the international olympic committee, so entwined with the chinese communist party chose to not move the games, they knew they should not hold them there. not in this tyranny of a regime that is designed to do so many bad things to so many people, doesn't care about life in the way we do, does not respect rights. when i hear coca-cola say that, they have told half the story. i suspect they will make an awful lot of money off of advertising from the games but what they are promoting, their presence is promoting, they are permitting the chinese communist party to tell a different story of what's happening in china and the world. >> john: 1980 in moscow, then soviet union invasion of afghanistan. what suzanne lyones said, many never had the chance to compete at the olympics again, and no diplomatic benefit, the soviet union stayed in afghanistan another decade, so saying the cost to the athletes is huge and the diplomatic aspect does not do a whole lot. what do you say in response? >> there's no doubt a boycott would cost the olympic athletes a lot. if one is detained inside of china it will cost that athlete and his family or her family an awful lot, too, john. we should be mindful there have been americans detained, canadians detained for years during the trum administration. this is not unheard of. the chinese ambassador to canada said yeah, most people get to leave the country. this is not a place where we should have lots of americans travelling under this kind of high risk system. you know, i won't get into the geopolitics of what happened in 1980, that's a long time ago, but ping is very happen he's hosting the games and two weeks to broadcast how great his communist party is. >> john: mike pompeo, great to catch up with you. a lot to say in favor of boycotting these games and sending a message, but as much as we hear the human cry about the olympics, we don't hear the same about the fact that america supports the regime by buying hundreds of billions of goods from it every year. >> sandra: absolutely right, and nobody knows how that works better than mike pompeo. good to get his thoughts. and jobs report friday, president biden spoke about it this morning. he praised the economic recovery and his spending plan, even though december jobs fell way short of economist expectations. grover norquist will join john and me on that coming up. ressio. ♪ music ♪ >> vo: so when my windshield broke... i found the experts at safelite autoglass. they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. how bout sushi? i just had sushi for lunch yesterday. indian? ehh, maybe... how bout seafood? you know i don't like seafood. [collision beeping warning] [silence] how bout tacos? tacos. automatic emergency braking — one of six advanced safety features standard on every 2022 chevy equinox. find new technology. find new roads. chevrolet. psoriasis really messes with you. try. hope. fail. i felt defeated. the pain, the stares. no one should suffer like that. i said, enough. i started cosentyx®. five years clear. four years clear. five years and counting. cosentyx works fast. for clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections some serious, and a lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. best move i ever made. i feel so much better. see me. ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. >> john: calling it a disappointing december jobs report does not tell half the story for the united states, adding only 199,000, halfway to the 400,000 economists had expected. >> sandra: a big miss. added back an average of 365,000 per month over three months, a trend seems to be moving in the wrong direction. grover norquist joins us now. i always see the jobs report and you find something in it that you want to find. whether it's good or bad, right? and i think axios does a good job with the headline on it, saying the american economy did hit another hiccup in the month of december when it comes to jobs but the good news they say is nearly everybody who wants a job is getting one. 11 million open jobs, you can go find a job, go find a better job, why we see the quit rate up, right. bad news, number of people who want a job is not rising very fast. so, why aren't those people who lost their job or left their job during the pandemic going back to work? >> well, right now the unemployment rate is about 4%. but if you count what we used to call discouraged workers during the reagan period there under, sorry, when reagan came in, there were discouraged workers, there were not jobs yet and when reagan created more jobs they got to work but some people quit looking for work because they could not find anything. we have more jobs available than there are people unemployed. people are not discouraged workers, they can't find a job. what we have is the biden administration has written checks to so many people and promised them more as long as you stay unemployed. and so we used to look at unemployment number 7 was the higher number, discouraged and could not find jobs, now people leaving the workforce because they are so comfortable with the amount of cash they are getting from various welfare programs. hundreds and hundreds of various welfare programs and this administration has sent a whole bunch of money out in that direction and promises to do more. why get a job if you have the same standard of living not paying taxes, not going to work, not having to buy clothes to go to work, but because you can get a welfare check. remember when they had the benefit trump agreed to, democrats demanded it and he agreed to it, and cut it, more people came back to work because they had become comfortable getting that welfare check rather than coming back to work. so, they are not discouraged workers, they are workers that are accustomed to being in a hammock. >> the way president biden put it, like the jeffersons, the reason why the people are quitting their jobs is because they are moving on up. listen to what he said. >> i would argue the biden economic plan is working. a lot of press coverage about people quitting their jobs. today's report tells you why. americans are moving up to better jobs. with better pay, better benefits. that's why they are quitting their jobs. >> john: seems to be enough jobs open, grover, cherry pick, from slinging burgers at mcdonald's to doing something else, but if you run out of burger slingers at mcdonald's, chronic job openings in some of the businesses and they are not going to be able to operate. >> nice try, biden. 3 million fewer people working today than a year ago back when, before covid hit. we are not even back to where we were with covid, never mind growth. there is not growth. we have not caught up to where we were before the covid thing hit when we had the trump economy. that's not a very good argument on his part and there are too many people not looking for work, not moving up. not moving at all. >> sandra: very interesting analysis there, grover norquist, we can always count on you for that. thank you. >> john: grover, thank you. president biden headed out west a week after a deadly and devastating wildfire tore through colorado. we showed you the horrible pictures. changing lives in an instant as families were getting ready to ring in the new year. alicia acuna in boulder. >> number of homes and businesses now stands at 1,084. the estimate on the damage here is $513 million. however, the estimate, rather, the assessment is still underway, so the numbers are sure to increase. first lady and the president will be here today to see it for themselves. two people remain missing and sadly, partial remains were found at one location of a burned out home. the fire began late morning a week ago thursday. no official cause yet but the flames were picked up by hurricane force winds that blew for more than seven winds. by the time the sun went down, louisville and superior, colorado were empty, and buildings burned. a couple found their home gone, everything destroyed, including those momentos of life's travels and experiences. if all this was not enough, leslie is also battling cancer and before she and her sister ran for their lives, she had lost her job. here is leslie on their return. >> it tore me up. i mean, she came back and i thought i was going to be sort of prepared but it just tore me up. i just cried and cried and cried. >> the investigation into how it started continues. the boulder county sheriff says they are being meticulous and the sheriff's department confirms to fox news they are executing a search warrant on a property this shed was seen burning that morning. on property owned by the 12 tribes religious sect. the sheriff says they do not know if it was the ignition point or secondary fire. now, regardless of the cause, folks are trying to figure out where life goes from here. donations of food, money, and clothing have been pouring in. >> and it's hard to come here and find clothes because i still, i picture my house so clearly i feel we are at an airport and the luggage is lost and i'll get home and the things will be there. >> john, the president will be going through the neighborhoods seeing it for himself in about three hours. >> john: we will see more coverage on that, alicia, thank you. sandra. >> sandra: alec baldwin told investigators to get a warrant because he was not going to hand over his phone voluntarily after the shooting on a movie set. now weeks later, investigators say they are getting what they want. ran homeowners. if you haven't refinanced yet, get in on record low rates now. the newday two and a quarter refi is the lowest rate in newday's history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. just one call, and you can save thousands every year. there's no money out of pocket and no up front fees. the newday two and a quarter refi. at these rates, you may never need to refinance again. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ earn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. >> john: developing now in the deadly alec baldwin movie set shooting, officials in new mexico are working with police in new york to obtain materials from the actor's cell phone. live in los angeles with the latest on this. >> text messages, emails related to the production of this film could be helpful in this investigation. the d.a. also put out a statement saying "the santa fe county sheriff's office and first judicial d.a.'s office are actively working with the suffolk county sheriff's department and mr. baldwin's lawyers to obtain any materials from mr. baldwin's phone that pertained to the "rust" investigation." authorities issued a search warrant for the phone three weeks ago and have not received it yet. the deadly shooting on the set of "rust" happened -- baldwin denies pulling the trigger but some gun experts question his claim. baldwin is sticking to the story. in the interview on the shooting, he insisted he is not to blame, said someone else is responsible for what happened, and that he cannot say who it is, but that he knows it's not him. >> i feel terrible what's happened to hannah, i do. i feel horrible what happened to halls, as far as i'm concerned someone put -- though the investigation is going to find out, someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet not even supposed to be on the property, and this is the thing i hope the sheriff's department does not give up on. >> so far no one has been charged in the shooting yet and investigators continue to look at how live rounds ended up on the set. john. >> john: christina, thank you. sandra. >> sandra: all right. thank you, john. the drama continues down under. officials in australia insist they are not holding captive the world's best men's tennis player, novak djokovic. will, i know you've been following this story as well, he had a medical exemption, thought he was going to go in, defend his title, best tennis player in the world but they stopped him and rules are rules we cannot let you in. his parents are saying he is being kept beyond his will, he has put out a statement thanking people for his, for the support that he's been receiving. i believe this is instagram, he put this out since we last covered the story, thank you to the people around the world for your continuous support. i can feel it. and it is greatly appreciated. where does this go next, will? >> that is a question that's probably impossible for me to answer, sandra, it's been driven not by logic or rational or sensible mind, it's lunacy. they said wait a minute, wait a minute, how did he get a medical exemption, we have been required to have a vaccine mandate, how did djokovic get the exemption, and the answer we don't know. two medical advisory boards, independent acronyms in australia said he can defend his title but no one knows why and that's the point with the insane arbitrary authoritarian rules. privileges the elite. at least we thought. but in australia, insanity rules more than elitism and they said i'm sorry, you cannot pass out exemptions. no visa for djokovic, and now he's in a hotel his parents are calling a prison and he cannot leave until at least monday. >> sandra: you mentioned his family are speaking out, listen. >> he broke no law nor my rule imposed by the federal government of australia. he was in communication with them over the past month. they are holding our novak, our pride in captivity. he is serbia and serbia is novak. >> so that was djokovic's dad and brother. but will, australia is standing by and maintaining he is not being held captive. here is the australian home affairs secretary. listen. >> mr. djokovic is not being held captive in australia. he is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so and will facilitate that. it is the individual traveller's responsibility to make sure that they have in place all the necessary documents -- documentation that is needed to enter australia. >> sandra: there are so many ways to look at this story. i'll add to that, we are now learning of another player who had the same medical exemption as djokovic who just had her visa canceled by the australian government. so, this is getting even more interesting. >> sandra, they say he's free to leave but not enter the country, which is upon invitation. remember, he had received these exemptions. whether or not they were elitist loopholes he had received the exemptions from the tournament directors and the nation state says not good enough, you have to have the papers in order. what were the papers if not the direction from the tournament directors. so they have held him captive and now saying you can leave any time you want. and beyond the tennis world, if australia can go down, sandra, any country, any civilization can go down to fear and authoritarianism. australia has a different relationships with its government. some said they never had a revolution, or rebellion, they are inherently more subservient to the government than say americans. but a first world country with western values and bowed to authoritarianism. and if it can happen in australia, why can't it happen here? >> sandra: a big statement. are you on team djokovic or team australia. australia came out and the prime minister said rules are rules, they should have known the rules, and djokovic for his part and the teammates are saying this is a socially distant sport. they are playing very far apart from each other, obviously. we'll keep watching it. thank you for joining us. >> let's all join team sanity. >> sandra: sounds like a good move. john is on that team. >> john: i'm on that team, where i like to be as often as possible. i thought it was interesting that rafael nadal -- rafa saying look, it's the rules, if you are not vaccinated you can't play. and he would stand actually -- >> sandra: he did not show a lot of sympathy. >> john: he would stand to benefit from novak not being there, no question. consumer electronics show has a lot fewer people during the covid surge but that is perfect considering robot race cars are stealing the show. robot race cars with no driver. we are there live coming up next. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. i have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. so i'm taking zeposia, a once-daily pill. because i won't let uc stop me from being me. zeposia can help people with uc achieve and maintain remission. and it's the first and only s1p receptor modulator approved for uc. don't take zeposia if you've had a heart attack, chest pain, stroke or mini-stroke, heart failure in the last 6 months, irregular or abnormal heartbeat not corrected by a pacemaker, if you have untreated severe breathing problems during your sleep, or if you take medicines called maois. zeposia may cause serious side effects including infections that can be life-threatening and cause death, slow heart rate, liver or breathing problems, increased blood pressure, macular edema, and swelling and narrowing of the brain's blood vessels. though unlikely, a risk of pml--a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection--cannot be ruled out. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, medications, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. if you can become pregnant, use birth control during treatment and for 3 months after you stop taking zeposia. don't let uc stop you from doing you. ask your doctor about once-daily zeposia. >> john: the world's next gen racing is on display at the consumer electronics show. kelly o'grady has a look at one of the fastest inventions headed our way. a race car with no cockpit. >> i know, john. we've seen -- by the way, we have a plane going over. we've seen so many cool toys this week at ces. autonomous vehicles have been a big focal point. i want to bring in paul mitchell from energy systems network. they're the organizers of the indy autonomous challenge. what is this vehicle? >> in is the world's most most advanced fully autonomous race car. it can dry itself around race tracks right here at 150 miles an hour. >> tell me, what are the -- what is different about today? >> in october, we had a time trial competition. teams were just trying to get the top speed. for the first time ever, our cars will pass each other. two cars on the track at the same time trying to overtake each other. we have a lot of amazing teams from around the world. this car is from tii, one of the top teams. it's an amazing challenge. >> there you go, john. we'll see cool racing today. these here on the side, that is the lydar. they make sure they don't crash. >> these are the eyes of the car. >> back to you, john. >> john: wow. i remember a darpa autonomous vehicle. they were running into each other. what a difference. it's like the space race. fascinating stuff. sandra, you want one of those? >> sure. i want to watch that. that is cool. >> john: that is crazy. >> sandra: what is crazy? elmo. when folks think about the fuzzy red monster from sesame street, words come up like cute or cuddly. almost never unhinged. that was the case after a resuffersed clip from the street went viral from back in 2004. in it, elmo wants an oatmeal raisin cookie. delicious. his friend, zoey chose to give to it a pet rock. >> wait. wait. roscoe says he wants the cookie. >> roscoe? that's a rock. you know the difference? >> you can't have that cookie, elmo. rocco wants to eat it. >> how is rocco going to eat the cookie? rocco doesn't have a mouth. rocco is a rock. >> sandra: i have never seen elmo like that before. that clip set social media ablaze. elmo's reps tweeted that elmo still shares and they're best beds. i make oatmeal raisin over the holidays. they're the best. i would always give them to you, not a pet rock. >> john: looks like elmo was channelling our twins. >> sandra: nice. great to be with you all week. i'll see you monday, john. i'm sandra smith. >> john: and i'm john roberts. "the story" with martha starts right now. hi, martha. >> martha: hi, guys. thanks very much. i'm martha maccallum. this is "the story." the white house wrestles with a virus that they are having a tough time getting their arms around. the president's own former medical advisers publish add group of articles to try to get people's attention. also, people's attention at the white house. we