a movement the likes of this country has never seen before. iowa represents this country more than any place and also represents tradition. other candidates have like seven people standing in a farm and they are talking and it's a very nice, it's a very nice thing to watch. >> john: former president trump basking in his status and taking a shot at rivals at a town hall with sean hannity in iowa last night. another jam packed hour, sandra. >> sandra: indeed, good to be with you. this is "america reports". voters will be caucusing, can you believe this, in just six weeks, and the media, it is fair to say, is starting to freak out over the possibility of a second donald trump term. editors at the atlantic magazine dedicating the next issue, what would the world look like under trump. and some are branding the former president a dictator. >> i sometimes wonder if trump knows the definition of democracy because he might be getting it confused with another d word, meaning dictator. >> one of the things we see happening today is sort of a sleep walking into dictatorship. >> what donald trump is talking about is something out of the playbook of dictatorships of europe. >> it's very much a race between a democrat and a wannabe dictator. >> john: of course the former president's rivals have a chance to make a case tonight at the next debate. alexis mcadams is live in tuscaloosa at the university of alabama with a look ahead to tonight. alexis. >> good afternoon. again this afternoon trump's team is pushing back after those comments about being a dictator, saying the true dictator is already in the white house. but here in alabama it's going to be a race for second place, according to the trump team. that's why he's skipping yet another debate saying he doesn't need to show up, he has such a commanding lead. and tells sean hannity he doesn't even think biden will be on the ticket. >> i personally don't think he will. i think he's in bad shape physically. you remember when he said i would like to take him behind the barn. if he took me behind the barn and i went like this -- i believe he would fall over. >> those are just some of the comments in that town hall. just yesterday president biden saying he's only running for re-election because trump is trying to get back in the white house, and just a short time ago, john, he renewed his claims he's going to beat trump, watch. >> do you think there is any democrat who can beat donald trump other than you? >> 50 of them. >> you do believe -- >> i'm not the only one that could beat him but i will defeat him. >> this comes as nikki haley is working to close the gap on ron desantis and the former ambassador to the u.n. is gaining steam. reed hoffman handing over $250,000 to nikki haley's super pac, writing on linkedin he's voting for biden but hopes it will help haley beat trump, and desantis saying she's not a real consecutive, and biden says trump cannot beat him and that's why democrats are funding his competitor. >> i think somebody gave them a talking point. i just found out that democrats are funding nikki haley's campaign. i hear that democrats are contributing to ron desantis or -- >> see what they say on the debate stage later. iowa caucus is six weeks away, expect to see a lot of action on the ground in the hawkeye state. trump says he will blitz and go to every county he can, knowing he's ahead but does not want to take any chances and ron desantis completed the tour, but he'll be back after alabama. >> john: did the full grassley. thanks a lot, alexis. the sandra. >> sandra: the former president also responding to special counsel jack smith claiming in a new court filing trump sent supporters to the capitol to criminally obstruct the certification of the 2020 election results. david spunt is live at the justice department. will his phrasing be admissible in court? >> we have to see what the judge says. so far she's been sympathetic with special counsel jack smith's team most of the time but ultimately see what she puts in writing. but the special counsel says on paper point blank that donald trump "sent people to the united states capitol to cause destruction," in a filing yesterday, upping the rhetoric, the ante, he sent supports including groups like the proud boys, whom he knew were angry and now calls patriots to the capitol to achieve the obstructing the certification, and lay out the parameters what his case in chief will be when he brings it before a washington, d.c. jury. the former president in the town hall with sean hannity made this curious comment about his multiple indictments, watch here. >> i often say al capone, he was one of the greatest of all time, if you like criminals, he was a mob boss, the likes of which, scar face, they call him and he got indicted once. i got indicted four times. i wonder what my father and mother would say looking down. >> sandra, last week the judge gave the trump team a blow when she ruled the presidential immunity does not protect him from charges. she wrote whatever immunity a sitting president may enjoy, the united states has only one chief executive at a time and that is not a lifelong get out of jail free pass. former presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability. may be subject to federal indictment, prosecution and punishment for criminal acts undertaken while in office. now the president, former president, trump, expecting to go to trial march 4th, one day before supertuesday. balancing the campaign calendar and the court calendar together. back to you. >> sandra: march 4th will come up fast. thank you. >> john: byron york, chief political correspondent for the washington examiner and fox news contributor. and some say it the second trump term would be the second coming of joseph stalin. hannity asked him about it last night. let's listen to this. >> you are promising america tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody. >> except for day one. >> except for -- he's going crazy. i want to close the border and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> that's not -- that's not retribution. >> oh, no, i'm going to be, you know, he keeps -- love this guy. he says you are not going to be a dictator, are you? no, no, no, other than day one, we are closing the border, and we are drilling, drilling, drilling. after that i'm not a dictator. >> john: so clearly appeared to be a joke, but i don't know if they just ignored it or they are saying it's no joke, he could be a dictator if he gets a second term. what are you saying? >> they are very, very agitated about it. this kind of reminds me what happened december in 2015, donald trump was moving toward the republican nomination and it wasn't until december with the caucuses coming up in january that a lot of people thought oh, wow, he could win, he might win. but still democrats at that time absolutely assumed that even if he did win the republican nomination, of course, hillary clinton would defeat him in the presidential election. so there was not that level of worry. now we have seen a lot of polls, we have seen for ever polls with trump leading the republican race, but then we saw a spate of polls a few weeks ago leading president biden in head to head match-ups and a freak out when the "new york times" published a poll trump would beat biden in five out of six swing states, the kind of if you win those states you win the presidency. a lot of consternation and worry. what we are hearing today is from that. >> john: trump says first day, he's going to close the border and drill drill drill. see what biden did on his first day in office, this is some of what he did. killed the keystone xl people, halt construction of a border wall, rejoined the paris climate accord, restored undocumented immigrants in the census, masks on federal property, rejoined the who, the list continues on from there. that's a lot of executive actions that he took. >> i listened to the president say that on hannity last night, and my first thought was that's executive authority. that's what the modern day presidency does. people who are kind of purists and think a lot of these things should be congressional responsibilities, they get upset about it but the fact is, the president does have a lot of authority and if he wanted to do a lot of things at the border he could, and as far as drilling, a fair amount there, too. i think what the president was talking about on hannity last night was simply exercising his executive authority on day one. >> john: 12,000 people came across the border illegally yesterday. that's a brand-new record. a lot of them were from china, a lot were from africa, it's not just the northern triangle anymore. so, that's why trump is saying look, we have to do something about the border. >> there is absolutely every reason in the world he can refer to it as a crisis, and use emergency powers to deal with it. a lot of democrats dismissed it, they poo-pooed it, didn't care about it as long as 1,000 people were coming or 2000 were coming every single day and some sectors, now we get these incredible numbers, we know that, i don't know, 7, 8, 9 million people have come in illegally into the united states, most of them have been allowed to stay, as will the people who are entering today and tomorrow and the next day. i think trump would have a lot of support for using executive authority pretty extensively on the border. >> john: 12,000 a day. katie pavlich, a math major, unlike me did the calculation said 360,000 in a month if the pace continues. >> and it could continue another 15 months. >> john: byron, thank you so much. great to have you kick us off this hour. so, dictator, that's the latest phrase associated with trump. i remember after 2016, after he won the book against trump was he was going to start world war iii and i remember sitting outside the presidential palace in hanoi, for a news conference with the president of vietnam, my phone rings, a weird number, it's trump. john, they say that i want to start a war. i don't want to start a war, i'm trying to stop a war and you know what, if that was the truth, not that he wants to start a war. >> sandra: and going back to what's happening t he border and his focus on it, this is where his party is. they are concerned about the economy, concerned about the border and love that katie is -- you don't have to be a math major to know that is a huge number, and that's a number we just learned of in the past hour, john. 12,000 yesterday alone, one day, and those numbers just keep getting bigger. >> john: that's the biggest number ever, and typically in december the numbers start to decline. but the numbers are actually going up, and it seems the southern border, we'll talk more about this with congressman tony gonzalez later this hour is a funnel for everybody in the world who wants to come to the united states. started off as the northern triangle countries and the border czar was going to attack the root causes, now en mass from africa and china, and as bill melugin found out when he talked to them yesterday, they are just looking for more money. they are not looking to escape political oppression, it's the land of opportunity. we want to be here, we wanted to be a part of it. >> sandra: indeed. for all we know she's still the border czar, we have not been told otherwise. now this. >> on wednesday, december 6th, oakland teachers are holding a palestine teach-in. >> know our outrage is noble and just. our power is building. >> sandra: ok, so, some teachers in oakland, california, they are now planning an off-book pro-palestinian teach-in. you will not believe some of the stuff that they want to teach and tell elementary students. i mean, you are talking 1, 2, 3rd grade, john. >> john: many biden administration officials have been demanding the president call for a ceasefire. now white house interns are jumping on board as a new survey shows just how much younger generations are struggling to know the basic facts about this conflict. sitting down with fox news contributor steve hilton coming up next. monthly bills are getting harder to pay is the runaway interest rates on credit cards and car loans. credit cards can be 22% near 30% if you're late. car and truck loans- 10 to 15%. call newday. pay off your high rate credit cards and car loans with the lower rate newday 100 va cash out loan. you can save $500 a month $6,000 a year. sometimes, the lows of bipolar depression feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte™. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these 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school weight. you're not gonna believe this thing is possible but it is. dear moms and dads, what you have achieved here today is going to help us and our futures. it is why we're coming up on stage to collect your diplomas. mom, love you always. vo: when you graduate, they graduate. visit finishyourdiploma.org to find free and supportive adult education centers near you. >> john: some teachers in oakland, california are planning pro-palestinian lessons for their students as part of an unauthorized teach-in. among the lesson plans, palestinian-themed alphabet book for elementary students. administrators say it does not align with the district's beliefs and are warning teachers not to take part in it. claudia cowen, what is this all about? >> well, john, it's a teach-in, a day of action. we don't officially know how many teachers are taking part nor do we know exactly what materials are taught by teachers who are participating in this event. but the district superintendent says it is not sanctioned and is blasting the suggested lesson plans as harmful and divisive. materials being posted and shared on social media defend the so-called from gaza to oakland teach-in as a way to promote critical thinking about the war. >> this teach-in about palestine is education, labor power, solidarity and resistance matched into one action. >> a small contingent of activists in the oakland teachers' union is encouraging the event, along with a controversial curriculum. it includes a palestinian-teamed alphabet book with the letter i representing intifada, arabic for rising up for what is rise, though typically used to describe armed uprisings against israel. down played the holocaust, calls israel an apartheid state, and had to evacuate when israel bombing gaza, no mention of hamas or the october 7th massacre. supporters argue it offers a counter narrative to lessons who focus slowly on israel but pro israel groups say this approach could traumatize jewish students. >> i'm worried about the jewish kids that are not going to have the safety in the classroom, the oversight to make sure the teachers are avoiding this topic or presenting it with nuance and multiple viewpoints. >> now, the superintendent has warned teachers to keep their personal beliefs out of the classroom and the head of the school board says teachers who ignore that order could be disciplined, maybe even fired. john. >> john: this after the crazy city council meeting in oakland the other day. claudia in sausalito. i remember the hot summer nights in sausalito, it looks freezing there now. thanks for joining us, appreciate it. >> sandra: john, a group of white house interns are joining the growing list of those in the biden administration demanding the president call for a permanent ceasefire between israel and hamas. the group sent a letter accusing him of ignoring the pleas of the american people, calling for an end t his support of israel's military campaign. let's bring in fox news contributor steve hilton now. steve, top line thoughts on that. >> all of this is so extreme and ridiculous. let's start with the biden staffers. i mean, this is just totally connected, by the way, to the story in oakland, story in san francisco, here in the bay area where i am. they, too, passed a resolution. in san francisco city council, you would think there are better things to focus on, the crime, the homelessness, businesses leaving by the droves, but no, what do they do? they pass a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in gaza. that's what they are focused on, what the staffers are focussed on. when it comes to the staffers, i've been a staffer inside a government back in the u.k. as you know and a simple rule. as a staffer, you are there to implement the political decisions of your bosses. and if you don't like them, you don't protest, you don't demand they change, either run for office yourself and you can be the decision maker, if you don't like what the bosses are doing, you resign. you don't try and subvert your boss's decisions like the staffers are doing. >> sandra: interns demanding the ceasefire in gaza, we are horrified by the brutal october 7th hamas attack on civilians, we are horrified by the brutal and genocidal response by the israeli government. we maintain anything other than a complete halt of israel's mass slaughter of innocent civilians in the gaza strip will simply not suffice. steve, while i have you here, ask you about the college antisemitism, the fallout from the hearing that happened yesterday. it was very revealing. first up, students describing what they have experienced on their campuses. >> multiple times a week on my way to class i walk by mobs of people chanting from the river to the sea, destruction of the state of israel. >> you are a dirty little jew, you deserve to die, words not by hamas, but from my classmates and professors. >> sandra: it's brutal to hear about what the students have been going through on their campuses, steve. >> this obscene antisemitism that we are seeing is just -- it's still going on, and in the early days after october 7th we could not quite believe it this was happening, echos of 1930s germany here in america today, and yet it's going on and on, amplified. and the story about the oakland teachers pushing it as well, it's the same piece, which is the jewish people are not the victims here, they are not the victims of october 7th, in fact, in the oakland city council meeting john referred to, someone said it was fake news israel was even attacked at all on october 7th. it is completely obscene and unless we take a stand and it's good to see people taking a strong stand, for example, chuck schumer, really aggressively taking a stand, but everyone has to be united in calling this out and the fact that the university leadership is so pathetic on all of this is an absolute disgrace. >> sandra: those college presidents, they are getting a lot of pushback on what they said in that hearing room yesterday. these were some of their responses when they were asked very clearly if calling for the genocide of jews is against student code of conduct. their responses. >> chants can be antisemitism depending on the context. when calling for the elimination of the jewish people. if the speech turns into conduct it can be harassment. it's a context dependent decision, congresswoman. it can be, depending on the context. l>> sandra: president gay of harvard there, the final respondent and she's trying to walk back or at least clarify her remarks in that hearing room yesterday. i'll get your response, because whoa, hit with a lot of responses. some have confused the right to free expression with the idea that harvard will condone calls for violence against jewish students. let me be clear. calls for violence or genocide are vile, no place at harvard and those who threaten jewish students will be held to account. why didn't she say it in the room clearly yesterday. >> exactly. and by the way, free expression, how dare she talk about free expression when conservatives are targeted and silenced censored, where were they on free expression then. nowhere. they believe in political ideology, and that's why she's been a disgrace on this from day one, continues to be, is now scrambling around to try and save her skin but it's been absolutely clear where she stands, she is a hard left, they are not interested in free expression, in open inquiry, what a university should be, they are exactly the opposite. they should all resign. >> sandra: mark green congressman joined us last hour, called a despicable display and if i was a federal taxpayer watching that hearing i would want none of my tax dollars going to these universities. good to have you on. >> thank you, sandra. >> john: a live look at lukeville, arizona, where migrants are huddled by the border wall. yes, on the u.s. side of it, by the way. alarming new numbers marking the highest single day total of migrant encounters ever, ever recorded. we'll go live to one of the entry hot spots with bill melugin to see the situation coming right up. >> sandra: plus texas congressman tony gonzalez understands the problem at the southern border and what the agents are facing. he will join us live next. ♪ i wanna hold you forever ♪ hey little bear bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you forever ♪ ♪ ♪ c'mon, bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ you don't...you don't have to worry... ♪ ♪ be by your side... i'll be there... ♪ ♪ with my arms wrapped around... ♪ coming from where i come from, i've learned that what makes a better life is having economic freedom and economic options. my name is darren, i'm the founder of justair, a green technology company. everyone deserves a liveable wage, access to clean air, access to clean water. joe biden and kamala harris are investing in our community. these policies are helping to support small businesses like mine, allowing us to really grow and create jobs. we have a president that actually just cares about the work and cares about doing stuff that helps everyday people. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. i'm sarah escherich, i'm the life enrichment director at independence village, the senior living community in waukee, iowa. everybody here really, really make you feel like family and that they love you. our goal with tiktok was to enrich the lives of our residents and just to be able to show people what senior living can be like. i think i am a tiktok grandma. my kids think i am. i mean, we're the ones that are being entertained. time goes faster when you're having fun. >> this has to be a negotiation. republicans think they can get everything they want without any bipartisan compromise. i am willing to make significant compromises on the border. we need to fix the broken border system. it is broken. and thus far i've got no response. >> sandra: that was president biden just a short time ago admitting his administration must act on the spiralling border crisis, and says he's willing to compromise but added republicans can't get everything they want. and breaking just in the last hour, this, custom and border protection sources telling fox there were over 12,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in a single day and it happened yesterday. that is the highest single day total ever recorded. bill melugin is live in lukeville, arizona on this breaking news. bill, we have never seen numbers like this before, have we. >> sandra, no, we have not. this is completely unprecedented. you got to keep in mind, we are just a few weeks away from christmas, from the holidays. this is traditionally the slowest time of the year here at the southern border. instead we have the highest single daily total ever recorded. this is the situation here in lukeville. on the other side of your screen, live in eagle pass, texas. here in lukeville, masses of predominantly single adult men coming in from countries all over the world, large majority of them from africa and this area here, some of the countries, the folks we have been talking about, guinea, liberia, chad, syria earlier. you see on the other side of the screen, border patrol sources telling me yesterday alone eagle pass, del rio sector, more than 3,300 illegal crossing. so this is happening all over the southern border. and we want to draw your attention to some previous comments made by former dhs secretary jay johnson who served under president biden. here is what he said back in 2019. he said 1,000 a day would be bad. take a listen. >> i know that 1,000 overwhelms the system, i cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like so we are truly in a crisis. >> he said 1,000 a day would overwhelm the system. 4,000 would be a crisis. well, we are at 12,000 in a single day, guys. this is video we shot right here in lukeville last night, you can get idea of what it's like when the sun goes down, it gets cold out here so they start campfires all over the place trying to stay warm. they don't know how long they have to wait here, because border patrol is so backed up, so overcapacity and at times looks like a refugee camp you would expect to see some other parts of the world with all the campfires going on all over the place and the former yuma sector border patrol chief says what is happening is not fair to the migrants, and not fair to americans. take a listen. >> i feel for the agents and their families who are supporting them. that's why look, we have to get the executive branch, legislative branch to get together and get this fixed because you know, look, americans are paying the price. >> and guys, the bottom line is there is no light on the horizon for these border patrol agents. no indication that what you see right here is going to end any time soon. everybody here believes they will be released not united states. they believe in catch and release. they possibly listened to president biden as a candidate on the campaign trail in 2019 saying on stage that if he's elected president we should "surge the border with asylum seekers if they want to come, they should come." look behind me, they're coming, they have been coming, they are going to keep coming until something changes. back to you. >> sandra: we see it happening right there live before our very eyes. bill melugin, thank you, bill. >> john: joining me now is texas congressman tony gonzalez, on the house appropriations committee. your reaction first of all congressman to 12,000 people apprehended coming across the border in a single day. in december. >> yeah, we are well past the crisis point. we are at ludicrous speed. i just spoke with the mayor of eagle pass and he told me, he goes yeah, in english means we are exhausted. over 3,000 people yesterday, the bridge is going to close, i'm hearing the railway in eagle pass is going to close, it's absolutely exhausting and then you see the president come on and deliver this speech trying to blame someone else. he is the president of the united states. the politics, no more -- now is not the time for politics. now is the time to put national security first, secure our border, stand with our allies, and let's get a package that can get over the finish line done. >> john: to further your tesla reference in terms of ludicrous speed with the live pictures up there, these are people as bill melugin pointed out, mostly from africa, senegal, liberia, egypt. remember when the problem was the northern triangle countries, honduras, el salvador, it's well beyond that and for a lot of americans where is kamala harris, supposed to have addressed the root causes of migration? >> they are nowhere to be found. and recently i met with fbi director wray and he's testified before congress and he's -- he is saying hey, look, every light is blinking red. we saw this before 9/11, now is not the time to let off the gas. now is the time to do some meaningful things. everyone is saying it. i don't want us to have an october 7th moment like israel did where they said we missed it. now is the time to do something. you saw president biden say hey, i'm ok adding more immigration judges, i think that's good. adding more border patrol, that's good. the part he's missing that's most important is this. if somebody does not qualify for asylum, they need to be deported. once he is willing to say we want more deportations, you'll see republicans jump on board. >> john: and these are did you tell males, not your typical asylum seekers. and other video from yesterday, san diego sector, chinese men predominantly, so kind of like the southwest border has become a funnel into which the world is pouring people who want to come to the united states. bill melugin talked to a couple of these african illegal migrants yesterday about why they came here. listen here. >> i love you, joe biden. thank you for everything, joe biden. i'm good person, i want to be a good person here in the united states. >> i came here because i want quality of life. america is a land of opportunity. >> john: first one is thanking joe biden for basically opening up the border. the other one is saying hey, it's the land of opportunity, i want to be a part of it. a lot of people do. but i did, but i came here legally, a lot of people come here legally. and they are not seeking asylum. they want a good living. >> that's exactly right. asylum system that they are exploiting does, they do not qualify for asylum. all those people we saw on video are not going to qualify for asylum. >> john: but yet they get to stay. how much does it cost to fly them back to africa? >> we are not doing it, not sending anyone back. it's so important to have deportation flights. i know it's easy to beat up on the administration, but house republicans have something do, and part of that starts with impeaching mayorkas. we cannot stop until we impeach mayorkas and hold the administration accountable. >> john: good to see you, we'll talk again about the fabulous trip to antarctica over thanksgiving. >> sandra: the white house and john kirby set to brief any moment after the navy shot down another houthi rebel drone in the red sea. >> john: as the biden administration warns israel to minimize civilian deaths as it pushes deeper into gaza. adam boehler weighs in on that coming up next. ter how long ago you served, you earned the powerful va benefit that lets you borrow 100 percent of your home's value with the newday 100 va cash out loan, you can pay off high-rate credit cards, and car loans, and other debt. and because newday has been granted automatic authority by the va we can say yes when banks say no. helping veterans use their va benefit. that's newday usa. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart 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(♪) >> sandra: we are awaiting to hear from the white house any moment now on reaction to the u.s. shooting down another houthi drone. all of this as israel says its forces are now in the heart of gaza's second largest city. fighting is only growing more intense by the hour as troops hunt down hamas and search for hostages. joining us now is adam boehler, abraham accords negotiator, adam, great to have you back today, thank you. first up, we are waiting this white house reaction to the navy shooting down this houthi drone. what are you curious to hear from u.s. officials on this development? >> i think the interesting question here, sandra, will be what they do next, obviously. and so i just want to remind people one of the first things that this administration did was take the houthis off of the terrorist list, unbelievable shift, and so now we are seeing some of the reaction to that. so, this all connecting because think of the houthis, they are in yemen, and it's all part of this iran proxy war, directly backed by the iranians, and so now we have to show some spine and resolve here. >> sandra: you know, the "new york times" wrote it up this way, talking about biden's strategy facing a major test here. as israeli forces push into southern gaza, we know that is happening right now as this escalates, adam. it states that while the president has backed israel's right to defend itself since the hamas terrorist attack, his team has increased the pressure to minimize civilian casualties in gaza. what is your take away from how you see the white house proceeding based on that? >> i mean, i think i would use john kirby's own terms, which is there has been no modern military force ever that has given folks a specific corridor and way out. so the israelis have gone to unprecedented extent to back up civilians here and so one needs to credit them for that. at the same time, it is an impossible task. they need to eliminate hamas, but they are doing it in a very small area. the good news, sandra, is they are making some really good progress. i saw the reports that came out a few hours ago around eliminating about half of hamas commanders. that's a pretty good shot within two days, so i'm encouraged by that progress. >> sandra: glad to hear you say that. this is from that same piece i just mentioned on the president's strategy here facing a major test. it reads administration officials insist they have meaningfully influenced israel's actions over the last few weeks, thanks to the president's approach. and continue to do so. but the nightly phone calls between washington and jerusalem have turned increasingly fraught and the public messages by some of the administration's top officials have become sharper in recent days. what is the risk, if that is indeed the case, adam? >> one thing i'll point to, sandra, the vice president's comments in her meetings with arab leaders. a lot of her focus was, and support on the egypt side of not allowing palestinians to cross into egypt and that was done under the guise of perhaps they would leave and then, you know, israel would reclaim the land, etc. that's not correct. the reason egypt does not want palestinians through the border, they don't want the problem. and this is historic, it's always been like this, which is everybody wants to complain about the palestinian problem in the arab world but don't want the problem themselves and so it's actually israel that is looked on to take care of the problem, and the analog i would make, what if the united states were to take care of a terrorist problem or enemy of ours. >> sandra: all really interesting stuff as we eight wait to see what happens next with the hostages, doctors treating the freed hostages, they are revealing what they are calling unprecedented abuse, adam. we have to rewrite the textbooks, said one doctor, who has been visiting with these freed hostages. a final thought from you as we await more information on who else may be freed. >> i think right now we need to keep those hostages in our thoughts and our prayers and not forget what happened, not forget that hamas is the reason why we are in this situation. it's the reason why the palestinians are in this situation. so let's not forget that. >> sandra: adam boehler joining us, thank you very much, adam. appreciate your time. >> of course, sandra. >> can you explain to the americans -- to americans the impeachment inquiry why you interated with so many of your son and brother's foreign business associates. >> i'm not going to comment, i did not, it's a bunch of lies. >> you didn't interact with business associates? >> i did not, they are lies. >> john: president biden again denying he played a role in his son hunter's foreign business dealings. still waiting for the white house briefing and we will see if that will be among the topics that come up. >> sandra: all right. meanwhile, americans are flocking to gun stores in record numbers this holiday season. what's the reason for the increase? we will have a live report outside of one of those gun stores and we'll ask why, next. t my money to work hard too. so, i use my freedom unlimited card. earning on my favorite soup. aaaaaah. got it. earning on that éclair. don't touch it, don't touch it yet. let me get the big one. nope. -this one? -nope. -this one? -yes. no. what? the big one. they're all the same size. wait! lemme get 'em all. i'm gonna get 'em all! earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. harry & david is small batch, gourmet, and delicious. so, of course, they run out fast. whether you want to say thank you, i love you, or just happy holidays. send something special, beautiful, and delicious. order your harry & david favorites now, before they're gone. >> john: our reporter is live outside of a gun store. is it busy there? >> reporter: it is busy. this is outside of chicago in one of the suburbs as you said. they are the largest independent retailer in the midwest, and they are seeing their demographics change a bit and people are coming out for various reasons to learn how to use them, to purchase them, the more background checks, we checked more than i were on black friday. i have nicole with me. talk about what is popular and what we have in front of us. >> we have an array of semiautomatic pistols. pistols are the most popular firearm. these are all geared towards women. firearm manufacturers are starting to see the trend. they are starting to see that they are buying and they know that women like cool stuff and so that is what we are looking at, bunch of cool guns made for women. >> reporter: why are they coming in? what is the cause of this demographic change? is there a predominant reason? >> self protection. so women want to be able to protect themselves. they don't want someone else to do it for them. >> thank you, nicole trigg we will say back to you. >> john: , lisa berry for us. thank you. >> sandra: a live look at the white house press briefing. karine jean-pierre is up at the podium. john kirby is about to breathe. the big news is the uss mason. it has shot down that road. we are looking for white house response. should get that shortly. it is not clear as of now, whether that mason was the actual target of that. we will see if john kirby will clear five in moments. we will keep an eye on the podium and we will bring it there when it begins. it should be moments from now. 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(carolers) ♪ yes, they will, in any condition. ♪ they continue to fight this counteroffensive. this package includes more artillery, and munition to help the ukraine defend their territory. it includes more air defense capabilities to protect ukrainian cities and infrastructure. as of the other day we fully expect the russians to go after the energy infrastructure. so this air defense capability is meant to help them defend against those attacks. but again, without additional funding, these weapons will be among the last that will be able to send. it is important and did those giving glamour putting exactly what he wants. that will be terrible notches for the people of ukraine but for our own national security interest and absolutely the national security interest of our allies and partners in europe. president biden participated as well today in a virtual meeting of g7 leaders in light of all the numbers significant of what is going on in the road when they felt it was important to meet before the end of the year. they discussed about the issue of supporting ukraine and how important that is for all of them and also touched on the middle east and a range of other global challenges. i want to switch gears if i, to the middle east. we office we continue to stand firmly with the israeli people as they defend themselves against hamas. assistance continues to flow. and again, we are focusing on the kinds of capabilities, weapons and systems that may -- they need most as they go after the leadership of hamas. and they are moving into operations in the south. at the same time, under the president's leadership, we are even after hamas pulled out of the idea of a pause in the house his exchanges, we are working with our partners internationally to keep the flow of assistance into gaza going up and food, water, medicine and fuel and what we have achieved with our israeli counterparts is try to help sustain the level of aid going in, even without the parts in place that at roughly the level it was when the pause was in place. so several couple hundred trucks a day. yesterday, we also conducted yet another u.s. military airlift of 36,000 pounds of food of assistance in medical supplies and i think in the coming days, you will see yet another military airlift of aid and assistance going into egypt, and then trucked into gaza. we know that there's more than a million displaced people internally in gaza. we also know that they are desperate for this help. the united states has been and we will remain single largest contributor to the u.n. relief efforts providing as we already have more than $1 billion since 2021. we also of course recognize there's been is live, number of civilian casualties from this conflict. innocent people killed, both israeli and palestinian as well as many, many thousands wounded, each one is a tragedy and we mourn wi