>> martha: the white house has announced that the president will hold his first formal press conference at the white house in ten months. it's going to happen wednesday at 4:00. that will be appointment viewing. we'll be there. so far, we don't expect big policy shift because of what we're hearing in the tea leaves from washington. the latest moves seem to be digging in deeper on their existing policies. like what? like more covid money? another go-around at build back better and also they say the way they want to turn the tide here is to go back to shifting on police reform. or backing police reform. often, when the president hit as rough patch, he turns to the old staff shake-up. so is that coming? >> is the president planning any sort of staff shake-up or changes at the white house given recent setbacks. >> we're continuing to fight for every point of his agenda and his plans for his presidency that he outlined when he ran for president. >> martha: that's not really an answer to the question, but it's a tough question to answer about whether or not any of your colleagues will go. peter doocy was in the briefing with jen psaki and he joins us with the latest. hi, peter. >> martha, there's the first formal press conference here at the white house since last march, a lot of the things that we could ask the president about then remain issues today. the president knows it. >> there's a lot of talk about things that we haven't gotten done. we'll get them done, i might add. >> that was an event where they're trying to draw attention backwards to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. they're going to start awarding contracts and breaking ground on things like that. but that is not the only thing going on right now. >> president biden promised to bring decades of these experiences to the oval office. but build back better has not passed, voting rights won't pass. vaccine requirements are apparently illegal. what happened? >> first, peter, i'd say if you look back at last year and what we accomplished, that include getting the american rescue plan passed, a package that has -- is contributed to cutting childhood poverty by 40%, helped ensure we're moving toward a record low unemployment rate and 90% of the schools are open. the work of the administration continues after one year and he will continue to press forward on all of those priorities. >> the number 1 priority is the pandemic. we got a big update on the white house's pandemic response. they're saying the 500 million free at-home covid tests are going to be able to be ordered starting next wednesday. the thing is though, can't wait until you think you have covid to order one. it's going to take seven to 12 days for it to be delivered. if you think you have covid symptoms, you wait 12 days, the covid is over by the time you get it. >> by that time you're unquarantined. thanks, peter doocy at the white house. joining me now, a great panel to discuss this. mark penn, former adviser to bill and hillary clinton and joe concha, fox news contributor and columnist for the hill. his new piece is out today. good to have you. mark, i want to start with you. you wrote a piece in november which looked at a disastrous 48 hours after the new jersey and virginia races should have been, as you pointed out, should have been a wake-up call for president biden. that was november. we're deep into january. what's going on? >> yeah, i think this administration has had wake-up call after wake-up call after wake-up call. unlike the clinton administration. they've got to make some changes here, a 33% job approval, you can be talking about a historic wipeout in the mid-terms unless they change staff, change policies, change direction. i see holding a press conference for the first time since march. you can't paper over the same old thing. that won't work. >> martha: let's put up the top staff at the white house. as i said, you see a changing of the deck chairs. nobody wants to say it's me, i'm the problem. so they tend to look at the policy makers first. these are the people that fill those roles. ron klain is indicative of the policies. tony blinken. do you expect any changes? >> i don't. to this point, martha, there's not been any changes. think about afghanistan. if nobody was fired after that, that is a problem. so seems like they want to stay the course. if they fire anybody, that finally acknowledges that things are going wrong for this administration. i wrote about the disaster rouse 48 hours. think about the last six months for this president. afghanistan, build back better fails at the hands of his own party and messaging that it will cost zero dollars and reduce the deficit. no. covid explodes. the administration flat-footed on testing. peter doocy said the tests still haven't been sent out. now the approval goes down to 33%. 25% with independents. stacey abrams blows him off in georgia. his vaccine mandate for business is shot down by the supreme court. so mark was there in 1994 when bill clinton lost 54 seats. it was a wipe-out. he advised president clinton, you have to go to the center. declare the era of big government is over. balance the budget. it happened and bill clinton won in a landslide in 1996 because he made that pivot. this president, this administration doesn't want to go down that road, martha. >> martha: mark, you're nodding. you said joe manchin and kristen sinema are the very heart of the democratic party. bill clinton was a young man. he had a political future ahead. do you think that this administration is quick enough to shift gears? can they do it if they don't change the faces we saw on the screen? >> what surprises me, they have some of the most experienced hands. ron klain. people that have been in government for 20 or 30 years. they should know what to do here. instead, we're seeing the opposite. the january 6 speech, what would we have done if we were trying to reach out? we're going to prosecute those people that were violent and we're going to pardon people that were not violent and it would have been an enormous reach over to the country. unity, numbers would have shot up 10%. instead, he gave such a partisan speech that it turned off independents and sympathetic democrats. another step in the wrong direction here. that's the problem. people who are experienced and with me in 96 when we did the pivot after 94, i wasn't there in 94. i was there as a result of the 94 election. we don't see the pivot being made today. >> martha: mark, what do you think is going on with president biden? he sees these things. he doesn't want to be a failure. what is going on personally with him? >> look, president clinton said i never want to be a one-term president. i'm going to take back my white house. president clinton said i'm a prisoner in my own white house. the staff had taken over. he reasserted himself and changed the staff. i don't really know whether biden is in fact behind all of this or he's a prisoner and has to change the staff. who knows? people close enough to interact with him every day would know that. >> martha: one of the interesting steps is with black voters and the approval with black voters. it's down from 78% in april to 57% right now. i don't think democrat candidates can expect to win with a 57% number like that with african american voters. this is a drift that we've seen. we saw more support for president trump with african american voters and american voters what do you think about that, joe? >> i've never seen a number like that before. 57% as far as the black vote in a democratic president with a democratic house and senate. you look at the hispanic vote though, martha, that is more disturbing. i saw a poll, quinnipiac, that has him at 28% approval among hispanics. that is not sustainable in any way. mark talked about a wipe-out in november. it will be a tsunami. here's the problem if he goes to the center. the far left will revolt. they're the most outspoken and passionate. they will probably threaten him with a primary challengers. presidencies are remembered like certain moments. george w. bush, iraq war and katrina, obama, the huge losses in the house and the senate and killing bin laden and trump, covid turned everything around there. joe biden's moment may have come and gone this past week when you wonder can you this man approaching 80 years old, can he recover and turn this around. the only way that happens is to change course. doesn't look like it's going to happen for the time being. >> martha: may be that black voters are caring more about the safety in their cities and the economy than they are about voting rights or about police reform. maybe that is a message that needs to get across. i have to go. i'm going to leave you with this picture because i love this headline. bill and hillary peek their heads out. we talked about this with you. bill and hillary clinton according to this piece smell blood in the water. we'll see what that means. that will be interesting to watch as well. mark penn, always good to talk to you. joe concha, great to have you with us as well. thank you. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: the white house today is warning that russia is taking further steps towards war with ukraine. there's pretty interesting and creepy things going on in the ukraine right now. the russians are said to be behind it. senator tom cotton will be with me in moments to talk about that. first, why law enforcement in one of america's largest cities went over the head of their own v.a. and said to the federal investigators that we need to bring you in here because we don't think he's going to do the job to get this cop killer. ♪ limu emu ♪ and doug. we gotta tell people that liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast. 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how awful this was. november 21. the s.u.v. came close to hitting that little girl that was out in the street dancing, having fun. the suspect, darrell brooks, in court in waukesha today. his lawyers said that he was high during the crash and didn't mean to kill anyone. prosecutors say he did kill these six people who ranged from eight years old and then you have the dancing grannies, 81-year-old was the oldest person. a tragic loss of life here. the milwaukee d.a. has admitted the suspect's bail of $1,000 in a previous case was too low. they figured that out. brooks is now behind bars and now has a $5 million bond. and in los angeles county, the sheriff turning to the feds to help prosecute the brutal killing of an off-duty officer. they're taking that course because they're concerned the l.a. d.a. won't be tough enough on the killer. the police officer, fernando arroyos and his girlfriend were out house hunting when they were robbed at gun point. leo terrell says this case is a massive warning to a shift that other criminals should pay attention to. first, william la jeunesse with the rest of the story. hi, william. >> the concern was the democrat d.a. wouldn't hold the alleged cop counters accountable. over what? two silver chains worn by the officers. he graduated crenshaw high, to cal berkeley and living his dream by joining lapd. he stopped to photograph a home for sale when a woman and 13 gang members approach grabbing his chains, stealing his wallet. then they exchanged gun fire when two of the gang members took the girlfriend's walking stick. they called 911. it was too late. >> it breaks my heart. it's one son. >> when you work side by side with someone and he's not there, it hits home. this is different. >> so the u.s. attorney is prosecuting because la's progressive d.a. george gascon opposes long sentences and refuses to file gun charges against gang members. if convicted under federal law, they face possibly a death penalty. >> i believe their plan was to prosecute with no gang enhancements or gun enhancements, nothing. i'm thankful for the u.s. attorney stepping in and bringing the full weight of the government against this gang. >> so police have surveillance video of the attack and two gang members. one has admitted the motive was robbery. $100 and 2 silver chains. martha? >> martha: awful. william, thank you. let's bring in leo terrell, host of the leo terrell podcast and a favorite fox news contributor of ours. you think this is a big deal and an indication that there's going to be a change in the way that some of these murders are adjudicated? >> martha, this is a huge deal. let me be clear, this is a vote of no confidence regarding george gascon. as the local progressive extreme leftist prosecutor, he would not prosecute gang members on enhancement or drug charges. this officer was murdered. thank you, federal government, for stepping in and filing these charges under the federal charges these individuals would get a life term. under gascon, these guys would get out. gascon is facing a recall because he sold his soul to the political left. and now with this type of federal charge, this is a deterrent for gang members if the feds will step in. >> and maybe they can look at it as a gang conspiracy at the federal level. this man, luther trent, is an arsonist in baltimore. he said that they dropped the charges -- lowered the counts against him and he feels like he should still be in jail because he tried to burn his girlfriend's house down with her and two of her friends in it. listen to this closely, everybody. >> i was just charged with 18 different counts. that was dropped to 10 and dropped to 1 when i shouldn't be out right now. >> you think you deserve to be out of jail? >> personally, yes. but on a principal note, no. i disrupted somebody's life. i traumatized somebody. >> that is incredible. >> no, no, martha, i saw your previous segment. you know why colored people are losing confidence? there's terror among -- in urban cities affecting people of color. blacks and browns and what is happening is, there's nothing taking place on the democratic side regarding law and order. that's a criminal telling you he should be in jail. in 30 years of practicing law, i never heard that before. that will tell you how weak the democratic party is when it comes to law and order. >> martha: take a look at this video, this is a carjacking in midtown manhattan. carjackings are up 56% in new york. 34% in philadelphia. watch this. i mean, you know, there's so much -- you can see they blocked the car. pushed it away. they get away. after that, the -- the people apprehended the car run off. one runs in the subway system. nobody chasing any of those people. i don't think anything will happen, do you? >> no. he got a get out of jail card. the d.a. doesn't prosecute cases like this. this is crazy. eric adams needs to step up. the criminals got a get out of jail card with progressive district attorneys. this is not normal. >> martha: no. no one should expect this would happen and they wouldn't be pursued by the police. but they're not. it's not the police's fault. if they get them, they'll be out tomorrow morning. they know it, too. why not just steal the car? thanks, leo. an interesting story about what might be shifting in california as they turn to the feds instead of the local d.a. the safety of u.s. athletes heading to the beijing olympics. think about this for a moment. china is building temporary quarantine rooms that you see on the right and left-hand side of the room in a stadium for people that test positives. so are our athletes be put in those boxes? senator tom cotton joins us next. ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® 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 ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? 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"the new york times" writing "for the officials, virus control comes first. the people's lives, well-being and dignity comes much later." this has raised concerns about the safety of our u.s. athletes heading to those games that according to team u.s.a. will be kept in isolation for a time determined by the chinese health officials. if they pest positive for covid. this raises questions and concerns about our athletes. here is senator tom cotton from arkansas. he's advocated for the united states fully boycotting the games that start in three weeks. when you look at the white cubicals, some of them are in a stadium. you think about our athletes heading there, what goes through your mind? >> the quarantine sites are alarming illustration of why i caution the biden administration about last summer. i asked for their plan to keep our athletes safe from around the clock, electronic surveillance, dna harvesting and outright kidnapping. they never responded with a sound plan. that's why i called for a boycott. there's no plan to keep our athletes safe. now coronavirus is raging across the country in china, it adds one more risk to our athletes. imagine if we have athletes that don't get coronavirus but let's say they break perhaps break the extremely draconian lock-down policies of the chinese government and are arrested. can we guarantee their safety? look at the records today that athletes are being advised not to take their electronic devices. they're being advised to take burner phones to china. the very fact that we ask the questions what kind of questions, what happens if they're out after curfew or if they get covid is why we shouldn't be putting them in the way in the first place. the games should be delayed an conducted somewhere else that is safe, free and democratic at a later date like the tokyo olympics were pushed back a year. >> martha: i'm not sure why the ioc isn't the body in charge or each country in charge of taking care of their own athletes if they get sick. according to these bullet points, the length of isolation period will be determined by chinese health authorities. there's a lot of different things that come to my mind when i think about reasons why you might want to isolate one of our athletes. >> yeah, martha, i can give you a good guess about why the ioc is deferring to the chinese communist party. because they're fool of stooges. just like the world health organization where china is deep in their pockets. that's exactly in almost all likelihood what's going on at the ioc. they're terrified as an organization and institution and as individual members to cross the chinese communist. their terrified what the it means. >> martha: this is the number of depths that china claims they've had. 5,699. does anybody believe that? this is a population of 1.4 billion people. they say they've lost 5,699. we know their vaccine doesn't work. it's proven ineffective against omicron for sure and potentially others before that. before i let you go, i want to ask you about this breaking news story that deals with russia and ukraine. the reporting is that the biden administration says we have information that indicates russia has already prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern ukraine. we've seen this happen before, before world wars, actually, where people are infiltrating and they attack in order to provoke a reason for russia to come in. what do you think? >> martha, i don't want to comment on classified intelligence. i have no reason to disagree with the reports about the intelligence. you're right. this is the kind of thing that russia has done before in ukraine and crimea and georgia and elsewhere. that's the kind of thing you'd expect from a state whose president is a former kgb spy. >> martha: all right. we'll follow that story closely. senator cotton, thanks for being here. >> thank you, martha. >> martha: so covid cases crippling school staffing levels. i'm sure you're experiencing this with your kids. teachers are sick. it's very complicated. some parents are stepping up to act as substitutes to avoid their children to having to go to online school. carol marcoweitc. she will talk about that when we come back. cranky-pated: a bad mood related to a sluggish gut. miralax is different. it works naturally with the water in your body to unblock your gut. free your gut, and your mood will follow. [upbeat acoustic music throughout] [upbeat acoustic music throughout] [upbeat acoustic music throughout] >> martha: not too long ago, parent involvement in schools was a very controversial subject. remember those school board meetings in virginia, right? so now the schools are asking the parents, can you please help teach the kids? school districts across the country need them to be substitute teachers because they have covid-related staffing shortages. they want to stave off a return to remote learning. joining me now, karol markowicz. she just moved from new york to florida. she just wrote a piece on how new york city schools are. so what do you think about how the schools asked parents to stay out of the curriculum issue and now they're asking you to come teach schools to keep schools open? >> there's a level of irony there. in places like new york city that they could have more subs if they dropped the vaccine requirement. the vaccine requirement was there to prevent spread ostensively. we know vaccinated people can get covid, spread covid. it's a new world of information. if they drop that mandate, you might have more substitute teachers that had covid in the recent past and have natural immunity come in and teach. you know, i love the idea of parents stepping up and helping. the other thing, a lot of places they don't want parents in the schools because they don't want any additional people being added to the mix for covid. so the idea of parents coming in and helping out, i'm all for it. >> martha: yeah. i think it's a good point. senator marco rubio said schools with remote learning shouldn't be eligible for taxpayer dollars. remote-only school, no covid-relief dollars for you. it's simple. if an institution is not bearing the costs with reopening and continuing to teach in school, why does it neat money from the government, karol? >> a really good point. every parent that had remote learning last year knows that it's not real school. it's not. unless you see your 5-year-old have remote p.e., you can't grasp how remote learning is not school. so parents saw it on a widespread level. so we know this remote education is not really education. marco rubio is right. part of the reason that our family moved to florida is we know definitively the schools won't close here because governor desantis said they won't close on his watch. i believe him. the idea that other school districts go remote and get funding is absurd. marco rubio is correct. >> martha: i go back to the number of days promised for every child across the country. it varies from state to stay. somewhere between 176 and 180 days, somewhere around there. i want to know when the teachers will talk about the days that they're going to make up and which break and which part of the summer they'll use to get kids to where they need to be in order to advance them to the next grade. they shouldn't advance unless they got what they were promised in the grade they're in. >> right. kids are so behind. it's absolutely a travesty what is happening. i don't think we have the days to make up, so we have to stop schools from closing now. we have to say no more remote learning and that's that. >> martha: thanks, karol. grood -- good to see you. coming up, pete hegseth has been dealing more with the education system and he joins us next. ♪ 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♪ learn about covid-19, only pay for what you need. 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. >> martha: the very big story. the supreme court blocked the biden administration's vaccine or test mandate for private businesses. giving hope to companies struggling to hire workers. pete hegseth is standing by. first, edward lawrence live from the white house. hi, edward. >> hi, martha. now the administration is going to try to put pressure on individual companies to individually mandate themselves. the vaccine mandates for workers. some companies have shelved the plans to have vaccinated workers. citi group is going forward with firing any unvaccinated worker january 31. they must show proof of vaccination today to avoid the pink slip. the florida attorney general said the ruling stopped a power grab by president biden. >> i was so elated to hear about the decision. this is not the end. you'll see more mandates and more attempts by this administration to approach on states to obliterate the separation of power and in order to have a free society, you have to have people stand up. >> osha clearly exceeded their authority adding this is a significant victory for employers. the supreme court allowed the vaccine mandate to go forward for healthcare workers at facilities that received federal funds. the white house saying that they will aggressively enforce that mandate. martha? >> martha: thanks, edward. edward lawrence from fox business. and now here with us, pete hegseth. >> hi, martha. >> martha: obviously this is a constitutional question about the rights of the federal government or the federal government agency like osha. it's interesting this morning ben shapiro said once osha is allowed to do that, gives them health control over 100 million people in america that work for private companies that could use this as a precedent for other things that they want to make sure that they make you do. >> very much so, martha. that's why this decision has such big consequences and so welcomed by freedom lovers that knew this was not constitutional from the beginning. the federal government or the white house never had this power and they tried to use osha as a work-around to get around the fact that anything like this, if you want it to happen, pass it through congress. they abdicated their responsibility on a lot of levels. so the supreme court stood up. thank goodness for most of the newly appointed conservative justices that stood up for that and takes away a lot of excuses for people and employers. it is shameful, martha, that some companies are continuing to impose this like they feel like it has to be -- it's already baked in that they most force employees to get the vax or lose their job. >> martha: but they're private companies, pete, they can decide what they want to do. that's the beauty of being a private company. an employee says i can work somewhere else. joy reid upset about the new makeup of the supreme court. here she is commenting on this last night. >> the usual six that voted the way we expect them to vote. the six right wingers. at this point, neil, have they not just stated by their actions they're more in favor of right-wing politics, the kind of desantis-style ring-wing politics than in saving lives? they don't care if this causes less people to die, clearly. >> martha: is that the take-away from the opinions that were written by these justices? >> parentally. actually, it's more complex than that. the second ruling as you pointed out, cavanaugh sided with john roberts that sided with the liberal justices multiple times on the healthcare side. it's more mixed than that. this is the supreme court version of deathsantis. if you don't do what they like, if you side on the side of freedom, you must be wanting to kill people. like sotomayor and kagan don't have left wing views. we knew who they were when they got appointed. elections have consequences. trump picked three. as a result, freedom lovers have a shot when things get appealed like with this mandate. >> martha: it undercuts justice sotomayor's credibility when she says things from the pench that a patently false and didn't take the time to research what she said in order to get that across. i don't understand why that isn't addressed. i guess i do. i want to play a quick clip from this. i was intrigued be i think. it's called the miseducation of america. you're documented in this special the origins and roots of how the slow drift of the way that kids have been taught in this country. here's a quick sound bite of you speaking with dennis craiger. listen. >> the 1619 project is alive. it's not a different of view. i don't mind differences of view. this is a lie. the america revolution was not taught in order to sustain slavery. that's a lie. your kids are being taught lies. they're indoctrinated, not educated. >> martha: we look forward to that piece. >> thanks for the opportunity. this is an important special today. it's about the 100-year progressive takeover of our classes. things like crt, the 1619 project didn't spring up out of nowhere. they're part of something that progressives have been doing to change our classrooms and mold our kids. part of the recovery is acknowledging that you have a problem. watching this series will remind us and give us a pathway out of it. >> i hope that people that think this isn't happening will be open enough to watch it. if they don't believe it after that, that's great. watch it. it's very interesting. thanks, pete. good to see you. >> thank you. >> martha: a startling warning about the state of millions of afghans that are on the brink of starvation as the fall-out from the u.s. exit continues to haunt the biden white house. after this. people with moderate to severe psoriasis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the entrance they make, the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. welcome to allstate. where auto insurance now costs less. ♪ now save more with allstate. you're in good hands with allstate. call a local agent or 1-888-allstate for a quote today. >> vo: my car is my after-work decompression zone. call a local agent or 1-888-allstate ♪ 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. ♪ veteran homeowners, newday's rates have dropped again. it's time to refinance. newday's low rate refi offers their lowest rate in history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. save thousands every year and there are no upfront costs. not one dollar. the newday low rate refi. take advantage of these record low rates so you and your family can save. >> you have afghans on the verge of death. i'm talking complete death on the ground because of hunger, because of diseases and lack of assistance. >> martha: a dire call for more aid to afghanistan as a nonprofit that works there tells fox news that some u.s. aid will fall into the hands of the taliban. the administration says any money they send will go to vetted partners on the ground. here's ryan crocker, former ambassador to afghanistan. ryan, thanks very much, for being here today. what do you think about the enormous amount of money that the u.s. sending to afghanistan and what will happen to that money? >> thanks for having me, martha. it's an important i. you. the tendency on the part of the u.n. is to exaggerate the extend of the problem as a way of getting more out of donors. but the problem itself is real. i think it's real that aid going forward is going to get to the taliban. there's no way around it. they're running the country or mismanaging the country. that will happen. i think it's important that we find ways to step forward to ease the suffering of the afghan people. we can do that with reasonable assurance. some u.n. agencies work well as they're headed by americans. i think we do need to step up to this. we need to be very careful though. as certain as we possibly can be, we're not seeing funds diverted not just into the taliban but into instruments that will help them recreate their repressive behaviors of the past. >> martha: what was the impact of our exit from afghanistan on the current situation? >> absolutely devastating. this is one more example. we worked hard over the years to help afghanistan's economy by moving farmers off of government help. this is a gift that will keep on giving in terms of enhanced threats to the united states. it was a combination, a duel act. president trump set it up and president biden implemented it. it's given us a problem from hell. >> martha: this is a quote from gordon brown, the former u.k. prime minister that is now w.h.o. ambassador. he said our reluctance to act is not only a moral outrage but will have real world consequences. there will be a rising production of heroin, recruitment of terrorists. so there are humanitarian and also national security implications here, correct? ambassador? >> i think there are. we have to be very careful to see there isn't large scale division of resources intended for humanitarian purposes in the taliban mechanism. it's hard to do but i think we have to step up to it, ensuring reasonable controls are in place. >> thanks, ryan. ambassador. good to have you here today, sir. >> thank you, martha. finally a birthday salute of veterans to d-day. jim rogers turns 100 today. we heard a massive irish ceremony is happening in new jersey. he was on d-day and he is -- here is with his late wife kathleen on their honeymoon in georgia. wash him a happy 100th birthday. happy birthday to jim rogers. thanks for being with us today. it's friday. >> shortages, soaring prices. the arrival of omicron making it a december most retailers don't want to remember. shoppers pulling back as inflation takes a toll. retail sales dropping 2% with the prior months with department stores taking the biggest hit. the dow dropping almost 200 points. it was down more than that earlier. today's report is raising wherries about the economy and earnings. how bad will this get? welcome. i'm charles