stocks in this uncertain environment. maria: well, we're all waiting for some new policy out of this this administration. will joe biden hit putin where it hurts and put sanctions on the oil revenue? why is the u.s. continuing to buy oil from this madman. thank you, dagen mcdowell, james freeman, stephanie pomboy, john john lonski. "varney & company" begins right now. stu, take it away. stuart: we live in hope. good morning, everyone. talk about escalation, overnight russian troops attacked europe's largest nuclear reactor. they now occupy it. the international atomic energy administration says there was, quote, no release of radiation, but it's another major scare all across europe and another escalation. here's another dramatic headline for you. gas prices absolutely surging. we've got a shot when we

drive -- shock when we drive past your local gas station. the average price of a gallon of regular went up 10 cents overnight. $3.84 is the national average. diesel up 14 cents to an average of $4.25 a gallon. we are clearly in an energy price spiral with serious implications for inflation for the rest of the year. and we do have that jobs report. here's the numbers. payrolls increased by a strong 678,000. the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%. hourly earnings doesn't go up much, and over the last year earnings went up just 5.1%. here's my analysis: employment gains and wage gains are being wiped out by inflation. to the markets. the price of oil backing off a little from yesterday's highs even though there's been a bipartisan move to ban russian oil. senator manchin says ban it. america has to stand tall. if we do, there could be an announcement that would take

supply off the market, holding prices higher. as for stocks, well, they're down across the board. the war and inflation upsetting investors especially before a weekend when anything might happen. the dow industrials down about 30, the s&p 37, nasdaq down 115. and bitcoin following stocks, down a little, $41,300 on bitcoin right now. let's see if the flight to safety continues. yes, it does. the yield on the 10-year treasury well below $1.8% -- 1.8%, 1.77 right now. so the search for safe havens continues. you know, there are plenty of negatives today. war and inflation. but we will bring you a true hero. ukraine's president, 44-year-old volodymyr zelenskyy. we'll tell you all about him. friday, march 4th, 2022. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪

stuart: i'm going to start right here with this: we're in a serious inflationary spiral. gas up nearly 11 cents overnight to $3.84 on average. now, that's a strike. good morning, lauren. what else do we have on this? lauren: so californians are officially paying $5 right now. $5.07 to fill up in the state of california. stuart: regular. lauren: that's regular gas leap. you were just talking about the -- gasoline lean. for diesel, up 14 cents overnight to 4.26 today. other commodities, nickel's at a seven is-year high, aluminum is at an all-time high. ukraine is also the world's breadbasket, and wheat prices are up 40% this week. corn is at a decade high. investors are reacting to supply fears and sanctions, and consumers are reacting to how much this costs us. stuart: that's inflation, and you just saw it right there on the screen. lauren, thanks very much, indeed. matt schlapp, obvious question, is president biden handing you,

republicans, an inflation gift for the midterms? >> absolutely, stuart. i think the -- if you just look at whether or not the american people believe that our country is on the right track or the wrong track, overwhelming majorities -- higher than i've seen in a very long time -- are saying we're on the wrong track. the bad news, stuart, is as good as it is for republicans going into november, we're going to have in this for a long time. once that inflation devil is out, it's hard to put it back in. and i think there's a real feeling amongst a lot of americans that the kinds of problems we have are self-inflicted and going to get worse because they want things on gas prices and diesel prices, remember, the green new deal and the u.n. as part of their plan wants americans the pay even higher prices than we're seeing today to get us off fossil fuels. this is just a preview to what they really want to do through policy. stuart: you're right. now, how do you feel about president biden reopening the iran nuke deal hoping to get

iranian oil back on the market to lower prices? you know, there could be an announcement on that today. >> this is treachery. we know that when we're worried about putin having profits from his oil and gas sales, imagine the fuel, the money line going back to all the radical islamist terrorists through iran, the number one sponsor of terrorism around the globe. we should not be begging opec to drill more, we should not be begging iran to try to give us the oil that the world needs. we should be drilling here in america and in the western hemisphere between mexico and canada and america. we can take care of so much of our own needs and the world's needs. but the democrats, now run by socialists, are turning off the american spigot. stuart: do you think they can do that forever though? i mean, i saw that senator manchin stood up the other day saying we've got to drill for our own oil. there's a couple of democrats

behind him as well saying the same thing. the pressure is mounting. why can't we go get our own oil? i think that at some point the president has to cave, don't you think? >> i hope so, but the problem with a lot of these big infrastructure deals is once they're stopped, it takes years to do the engineering to get them back on. and also just the regulatory, legal morass to get these approved takes years ask years and years. joe biden has set this country back more than a decade on our ability to be energy independent. i agree we should start tomorrow to get it back, but it's going to be a long haul. with the damage joe biden and his administration has done to the forgotten men and women, to working men and women, it's not easy to ever get out of this for the rest of his term. stuart: great to have you with us on a friday morning. see you again real soon. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: back to that jobs report. 678,000 jobs added in the month of february. break it down, please. lauren: this is what the fed

needed to raise rates. the labor force participation rate rose to 62.3, so there are more workers. and they're not making as much money. so wages on the year went up 5.1%. that was less than expected and well under the rate of inflation which is 7.5%. and that's the bad news. so we get one more cpi report, that's on thursday, then the federal reserve will meet six days after that. that next inflation report is going to better capture this recent energy and commodities spike, because we've seen it at the end of the month with the russian news. and the last point i want to make here is i think omicron and covid might be behind us. leisure and hospitality added 179,000 last month. and then just 13% of worker teleworked last month -- workers teleworked. so i think we can comfortably say omicron is behind us. stuart: i think you can say that because i believe it is behind us. the way people act in streets and in bars -- lauren: we're done.

stuart: okay. it -- let's get to the markets. formerly bullish brian belski is with us this morning. i don't know. first of all, look, these jobs numbers fairly strong today. and the market is down sharply. doesn't that imply that, you know, we've got a major league inflation problem here which is not going away and which makes it a bad time to buy stocks. what do you say? >> good morning, stuart. i think the market has nothing to do with what's happening with the jobs, this is all about the ukraine. and i think we could have a very volatile session the last hour or so as people kind of close up their positions and not want to be too long over the weekend. you do not want to be short bonds right now, stuart, no way, especially with some of the uncertainties with respect to the weekend. but, you know, our mantra is this: the employment report actually from a longer term perspective is strong. what nobody's talking about is

that the more workers that come back, the more workers that can actually help displace some of the supply of goods and services. so as supply starts to build to meet demand the second half of the year, i think inflation could fall over. but the longer, the longer that oil prices remain high, the more likelihood that this turndown in inflation is going to be lag, stuart. so that's the biggest problem. right now this is all about ukraine and all about what's going on in europe. so today's going to be a volatile day, so control what you can control. from an equity perspective, you want to own dividend growth in a market like this. stuart: sure. okay. war, inflation, higher interest rates, those are three big negatives, but are you toning down just a little your bullish outlook? not too long ago you were looking at 5,000 on the s&p 500 for the end of the year. i don't think you're there now, are you in. >> no, we have not changed our

forecast, 53030, and i think we're going to get a face-melting rally when this is over in europe, and it will be over at some point. and we do think earnings the second half of the year are going to be stronger than everybody thinks. analysts have brought out their numbers, and earnings are set up to underpromise and overdeliver again. you know, the path to normalization is a couple of years, not just in 2022. and given the fact that mr. powell came out and gave some certainty to the market in 25 basis points later on this month, the market actually liked that. so we're on a path of normalization. it's going the take a while. and right now on a very near term basis this is all about the war. stuart: i'm just waiting for that face-melting rally that you're talking about. i don't think i've ever experienced a face-melting rally, but i'm eager to join one if you're right. brian, you have a good weekend and see you next week. >> thanks. stuart: i've got to show you futures again because we're 19 and a half minutes away from the

opening bell this friday morning, and we are going to see some serious red ink when that bell rings. we'll take you there shortly. speaker pelosi making it very clear where she stands when it comes to banning imports of russian oil. watch this. >> where do you stand? >> i'm all for that. ban it. >> ban the oil -- >> ban the oil coming from russia, yeah. stuart: she's joined by a lot of other democrats as well. after talking to putin, france's president now says he fears the worst is yet to come in ukraine. how much worse could it get and what can we do about it? retired army colonel if douglas mcgregor next. ♪ ♪ when traders tell us how to make thinkorswim® even better, we listen. like jack. he wanted a streamlined version he could access anywhere, no download necessary.

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♪ ♪ stuart: russian forces have now occupied that ukrainian nuclear power plant which is the largest nuclear plant in europe, by the way. benjamin hall is with us. attacking a nuclear power plant? that looks to me like an escalation, right, benjamin? >> reporter: yeah, very much so, stuart. and what we know is that the russians targeted it yesterday, they wanted to get their hands on it. they went in with tanks, shelling, and they fought for it. they now have control of it. and when they went in, shells were dropping and one of them hit the facility causing a major fire. we now know it wasn't one of the reactors, but a training facility nearby. nevertheless, after that was extinguished, we now see that they control it, and the worry now is what they might do with it. russia controls europe's largest nuclear power station, and there are reports also that chechnyan

fighters are laying mines. international rules forbid attacks on nuclear facilities, and russia has signed up to these rules. and president zelenskyy yesterday though warned of the effects of any attack saying this could dwarf chernobyl. >> translator: to all people who know the word chernobyl, who knows how much grief and victims the explosion at the nuclear power plant brought, it was a global catastrophe. russia wants to repeat this and is already repeating it but six times more. >> reporter: the head of the iaea said that no radioactive material had been released, but it is grave concern that putin is in control of this plant not just because of the nuclear element, but because he can use it to punish the people here in ukraine. turning it off would create a humanitarian disaster, and weaponizing energy is something he has done before. it is another way for him to beat ukrainians into submission. we've been seeing him do that again and again. elsewhere in the country, another school was with shelled

by russian forces. the mayor of the city said it's unclear how many were wounded or cleared there, but half of that school has been destroyed, and rescue work is underway. we talk about shelling indiscriminately, we see schools hit, hospitals hit and, frankly, it's the people who are bearing the brunt of this attack. time and time again putin has surrounded towns and villages and just bombed them. it is a way of beating them into submission. having control of the country's power supply can help him do that. stuart? stuart: got it. benjamin hall, thanks very much, indeed. straight to retired colonel douglas mcgregor joins us now. sir, what's the strategy? putin attacks a nuclear power plant. what's the strategy behind that in is it -- that? is it just to intimidate civiliansesome. >> the strategy was not to attack any power plants or the power grid. the russians have very carefully avoided interrupting any power. no damage to communications, no

damage to any of the things that are essential like the water supply. what you're seeing is that the russians have now driven what is left of the ukrainian forces who are taking refuge in population centers, cities because they have no mobility, no air defense, no air cover, no logistical infrastructure. they are now mingling with the population much as we've seen in the middle east whenever we drove the islamists out of business, they ran into cities, used people as shields, the civilian population, and tried to avoid being annihilated. and i think that's essentially what's happening today with the population being used by the ukrainian forces to avoid destruction. stuart: do you think putin will pull what i would call a grossny? the capital of a breakaway republic. he flattened out when -- it when the civilians resisted. is he going to flatten ukraine? >> no, absolutely not.

in fact, he's worked hard to capture most of it intact. surprisingly little damage, frankly, stuart. much less damage than we inflicted on iraq when we went into it in '91 and again in 2003. no, i think they're just surrounding the ukrainian forces, and they are annihilating them. and this is inevitable. and mr. zelenskyy, i think, is postponing the inevitable if the going to rescue him, and we are not coming. president biden has made that very clear. stuart: do you think the end is in sight? >> well, the end -- the end of this phase is still a few days away. the first five days russian forces, i think, frankly, were too gentle. they've now corrected that. so i would say9 another ten days this should be completely over. but the question is, what is it that zelenskyy is going to do. the russians have made it very

clear what they want is a neutral ukraine. this could have ended days ago if he accepted that, and then they could adjust the borders. but the eastern part of ukraine is firmly in russian hands. again, the russians are not seizing territory, they're destroying ukrainian forces. that's their focus. stuart: colonel, it sounds like you don't approve of zelenskyy's stand. >> oh, i think zelenskyy is a puppet, and he is putting huge numbers of his own population at unnecessary risk. and, quite frankly, most of what comes out of ukraine is debunked as lies within 24-48 hours. the notions of taking and retaking airfields, all of this is nonsense. it hasn't happened. stuart: he's not a hero? standing up for himself and his own people, you don't think he's a hero? >> no, i do not. i don't see anything heroic about the man. and i think the most heroic thing he can do right now is to come to terms with reality. neutralize ukraine. this is not a bad thing.

a neutral ukraine would be good for us as well as for russia. it would create the buffer that, frankly, both sides want. but he's, i think, being told to hang on and try to drag this out, which is tragic for the people that have to live through this. stuart: i am inclined to disagree with you, colonel, but, you know, we'll see how this works out. colonel douglas mac greg gore, tough guy. thanks for being with us, see you again soon. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: lots of different opinions on this show. there's a growing bipartisan agreement that america should ban the importation of russian oil. speaker pelosi, lauren, really surprised me by being so much in favor of a ban that russian oil. lauren: surprised me too. let's get right to the sound bite. >> there's been a push by some democrats to ban the import of russian oil. where do you stand? >> i'm all for that. ban it. >> ban the oil -- >> ban the oil coming from russia, yeah. lauren: she's not alone. elizabeth warren and joe manchin also say it is time to stop

funding putin's war. but here's the missing link, who is calling u.s. companies to tell them to start drilling? that hasn't happened. i'm making the argument that it might happen soon if not today, because the attack on that nuclear plant in ukraine whether it was intentional or not, that's an escalation of the war, and it raises the question of needing additional sanctions. you've sanctioned so many oligarchs, that's not stopping putin. what's the next thing that could stop him. stuart: the next thing would be to stop all exports of oil and gas out of russia. that would be the next thing, and that would be an even bigger step than we've seen so far. lauren, thank you. quick check of the futures, down, down, down. 300 down for the dow, 100 down for the nasdaq. back after this. ♪ ♪ (fisher investments) it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same,

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stuart: microsoft is suspending the sale of products and services in russia. they're also helping ukrainian security, cybersecurity officials defend against russian attacks. google says they are suspending all advertising in russia. how about that? mark mahaney is with us. he follows big tech. what else, mark, can big tech do? >> i think the most count thing they've done across the board, this is facebook, google, twitter, microsoft and apple, is

no longer allow russian media outlets giving them any advertising revenue or allowing them to broadcast across europe and the rest of the world. so you cut off the official government media outlets. and then there's some really interesting, specific steps some of these companies have done that i think are actually town on the ground useful. uber has offer ad free rides to anybody trying to get out of ukraine into poland. airbnb has offered housing for up to 10,000 refugees. so there's some concrete steps that most of these companies have taken. st it's actually one of of the most concentrated, consistent, i don't know, whatever, coordinate may noted move by big tech that i think i've ever seen. stuart: is it a good idea to jump on this bandwagon from a public relations point of view? is that why they're doing it? >> well, that's a good cynical interpretation of why they're doing it. i think they're doing it partly -- i think for the most part as responsible global

citizens. one company in particular i find interesting, google. google lived through in this 2010. they cut their profits, took themselves out of china because they refused to be censor ised by the chinese government. this is a company that's been willing to put principle over profits. now, you had an unusual situation. you had a founder of a company who had specifically escaped totalitarian countries, so he felt strongly about china. google's doing the same thing again here. now, these media assets want to keep open because although they're being somewhat blocked, this is a way for individual russians and ukrainians to express their sentiments and provide information to other people. so facebook is still open for ukrainians and so is twitter to the extent that they can get access to them. it's a good thing for those people. stuart: got it. mark mahaney on a friday morning right before a weekend. who knows what happens this weekend. mark, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: yes, sir. left-hand side of the screen, we're building up, 30 seconds to go before we open the market, and there's going fob a lot of

red rink -- going to be a lot of red ink. the russian attack on that nuclear power plant in ukraine, that really set ises off alarm bells about escalation and the possibility of radiation leak. we're told there was no such thing, but the civilian population nearby is obviously worried about that. you've also got intense inflation. look at the price of gasoline, up 10 cents overnight. that's what the market has to deal with this morning, and we're expecting some selling right from the start, and that's exactly what we've got. we are just a second into the trading day, and is we're down over 1%, 350 points down. the dow 30, there's only one stock that's actually going up. i can't read it -- susan: salesforce. stuart: thank you very much. the other 29 are down. the s&p 500 also opening down about .8%. nasdaq down just other a half percent. we're also going to show you big tech, why not? they're off and running, and they're all on the downside

except meta platforms which is up all of 59 cents. all right. good morning again, susan. susan: good morning. stuart: tell me about the energy sector. susan: 14 is-year high, $116 a barrel, and you mentioned it, that nuclear power plant, largest in europe, and the firing on that power plant which is four times bigger than chernobyl is really, really concerning investors, as a you can imagine, and that's why we've seen the treasury yield come down. people are rushing into the safety of buying u.s. treasuries. and, by the way, there is no supply cushion in this country. we know that. the lowest supply in the spr since 2002, lowest oil supplies in the midwest in years, at least three years, and that means that there is no extra supply out here to buffer the fact that you're cutting off russian gas and oil. stuart: the backdrop to the trading session today is very negative. the war going on, the nuclear attack. 10% inflation looks to me likest it's just around the corner. gas skyrocketing overnight.

interest rates certainly going up this month, maybe more than we think. susan: well, okay. i guess so. you could take away some positives maybe from the jobs report that we got for february which was higher than expected. i mean, we saw over 600,000 new jobs. and the fact that that report card has already been largely priced in, we heard from jay powell, the federal reserve chairman, they're only going to go 25 basis points in a few weeks' time -- stuart: you can't change his mind, can you? susan: no, he's said that on capitol hill. there are a lot of unknowns. did you see the bank reaction over in europe last night? there was some heavy selling taking place for the pact that you had european banks are -- with surprisingly large exposure to russia. $20 billion in exposure, one of the largest french banks. we look at citi which had doubled the amount of russian exposure that they had announced in september. stuart: okay.

show me the cryptos, please. as a i understand it, susan, and you you know more about this, coinbase, which is the exchange, they say that they're not going to ban russian accounts. >> well, you heard that from brian armstrong who's the founder and ceo of coinbase, the largest u.s.-based crypto exchange, because they say if you do that, that's going to hurt the innocent russian citizens who aren't always onboard, by the way, with putin's actions, and they need to keep their capital. if you do that, what does that mean for cryptocurrencies, which is supposed to be decentralized, it's supposed to be apolitical. if you do that, that means also a you're with taking away the mantra and really the morale of cryptocurrencies, according to them. it's not just coinbase. binance, which is the largest in the world, not listed, also in asia, they're not going to ban russian accounts. they will comply with sanctions, but they are not banning russian accounts. stuart: okay. will they allow oligarchs to buy into the anonymous crypto

market. susan: yes. we heard that yesterday. let me tell you this, people always say it's a way to sidestep sanctions. these wallets are traceable. it's not like it's not traceable according to elizabeth warren. you can figure out where they're putting it and keeping the cryptocurrency. stuart: okay. let's move on to costco. susan: shall we? [laughter] stuart: i thought they had a very strong report. susan: i thought so too. we know they were a pandemic winner with customers buying in bulk, and that's where you meet and greet your fans as well. but investors wanted more. it was a better sales quarter, better profit quarter, but when you're doing so well, you want something especially extra from costco. you remember last year when they had that $10 special dividend? a shock and awe type of payment, that's what investors want. stuart: tell me about smith is and wesson -- smith and wesson, the gunmaker. susan: sales were down 30%

during the holiday period, which is surprising given the fact that we've seen crime rates really skyrocket over the past year. stuart: yeah, indeed. next case is disney. they've announced, let me get this straight, advertiser-supported tier to disney plus. is this a cheaper -- susan: yes. it's a cheaper version, and they're trying to get to that goal of 260 million disney plus subscribers by 2024. right now we're paying, what, on average around $8 or so $10? it's a little bit cheaper than that, and it's pretty much in line with hbo max. this is it is how you get subscribers onboard. when they pay less per month but, you know, you sell ads, it makes up for the difference. stuart: okay. sweet dream -- susan: i like this. stuart: i know they are the salad people. look at, 21% up. susan: yes. it's the first report card since their november ipo. i thought it was pretty good, right? [laughter] but the stock is down 50% from the peak. is this might be, you know, some

catch-up and are recovery play. growth was strong, guidance was strong, but they don't expect to make a profit this year and losses are expected to widen for the rest of 2022. spending more to get the foot traffic in, and sales are strong, and they've been able to weather higher prices. so they've been able to raise prices and, as you know, wall street has rewarded those that have been able to protect or their margins. stuart: do you happen to know if sweetgreen is a sit-down restaurant style? susan: you can do both. i thought you said you've had a sweetgreen salad. how did you order that, on the app? [laughter] okay. stuart: salesforce leads the list of dow winners, they're up only $1.14, so not many big winners on the dow. as for the s&p 500, what have we got, the gap -- no, it's not the gap, it's gap. they're leading -- susan: fantastic earningsing, which we didn't go through, but

they had -- their loss was above what, four times less than what wall street had anticipated. stuart: i bought a couple pairs of jeans from them. susan: of course you did. you look great. stuart: thank you very much. the nasdaq, zoom at the so much the list and okta. i don't understand that. netflix is on the list, up $5 at 373. got that. back to the big board, in business now for exactly 7 minutes, and we're up -- i'm sorry, we are down 373. draw your attention to this: the yield on the 10-year treasury down to 1.74. as susan's been telling us, so have i, that's the flight to safety. you're safe in treasury bonds so get in them now. checking the price of gold, up again, 1957. not that far short of two grand. bitcoin down, 41,300. oil up, $112.90. nat gas up 4.86, and look at gasoline, please. the average price for a gallon of regular went up 31 cents --

11 cents overnight, $3.84. and look at california, it is now officially over $5 a gallon for regular stuff, okay? i was going to say medium grade. no, it's regular stuff. $5.07 on average in california. the country's largest school district now says masks are optional except for children under 5 years of age, the least susceptible, the least vulnerable still being forced to mask up. that's new york for you. cheers, the death of the stock market on live tv. [laughter] we'll show you more of that. from the if gas store to the grocery store, inflation is punishing everybody, especially working families. what are the democrats going to do about that? i'll ask labor secretary marty walsh. he's next. ♪ ♪

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stuart: all right. big number, 678,000 jobs added in february. edward lawrence has our report. break it down, edward. >> reporter: that blew away expectations and the unploilt rate going down to 3.8% because more people got jobs and fewer people went on unemployment. some became -- came in who were not in the labor force. leisure and hospitality added 179,000 jobs. that sector still down though 1.5 million from february of 2020. construction adding back 60,000 job, very close to those 3020 -- 2020 levels. health care adding back 64,000. 36,000 in manufacturing. that's still about 180,000 jobs away from february of 2020 levels. now, the president tweeting about this ten minutes ago saying this is what building a better america looks like. now, he's right when he talks about wage gains, but i want to show you the average hourly wages. those are up 5.1% over the past

12 months, and you see the gap there. that's the issue. cpi inflation at 7.5%, so wage gains not close to keeping up. ask now i want you to look at this, gas prices, as you've been talking about, in the last two days gas prices rose 18 cents for regular unleaded across the country. so increases like this push inflation even more, and that further widens the gap between wage increases and inflation. this was a very strong jobs report, stu, but americans may still be looking at their bank accounts and saying, hey, i'm not as well off as i was pre-pandemic. stuart: thanks, edward. labor secretary marty walsh joins us. mr. speaker, good to have you back again, sir. >> thanks for having me today. stuart: it's a strong jobs report, i got it. but inflation is killing the wage gains of american workers. american workers at this point are actually getting worse off. what's your plan for that? >> i wouldn't necessarily say

they're getting worse off. there's definitely a problem. the wage gains that we've seen since president biden's taken office has helped american workers as we continue down this year of 2022, and the president's plans to bring down inflation -- stuart: what -- the president's plan to bring down inflation doesn't kick in for some time to come. it doesn't kick in tomorrow, does it? >> no, it's not. we also have to be realistic about the times that we're living in. still living in a global pandemic. much of the inflation is caused by supply chains, manufacturing, lack of getting goods and services to our country. now we're dealing with, might be dealing with -- stuart: it's energy. >> -- the sad situation in ukraine, what should's happening there. stuart: mr. secretary, it's also energy. we're not producing as much energy as we used to. there's an energy shortfall which we cannot make up unless we drill for our own oil and nat gas. will the president acknowledge that we've got a shortfall in

domestic production so we should make it up? will he drill? >> listen, i can't answer the question for the president, but i can tell you that we're looking at all avenues on how do we deal with energy in the united states of america -- stuart: i'm sorry to keep interrupting you, sir, but is that on the table? more domestic drilling? is that on the table in the white house? >> well, it hasn't been to this point, and certainly looking at what's happening in the world right now, that will have to be a conversation. stuart: do you think we should be drilling more of our own oil and gas? >> again, i'm not in a position to answer that question at this point. but certainly, we have to watch and see what happens with russia, we have to see what the world's doing with russia, and yesterday we heard the speaker of the house, we heard senator manchin, senator mikulski asking us to shut off buying gas from russia, and if we did something like that, we'd have to figure a way to fill that. stuart: absolutely. there could be an announcement today that we're going to shut off oil coming to us from russia. that could be that announcement.

>> i doubt that. stuart: okay. in the next come of days, it could -- couple of days it could happen. the other side of the coin has to be that we drill for our own oil to make up for the shortfall. >> certainly, we have to continue to work on our energy plan, is what we have to do, and we have to work on clean energy, platforms of clean energy. the president certainly -- it's not going to happen overnight, but in the infrastructure bill we put in there about creating opportunities for electric charging stations. we're working to increase our productivity in charging in electric vehicles moving in this country, moving in that a direction. yeah, it's not going to happen tomorrow, but we are definitely heading in that direction, and at some point we have to transition, and that's what we're in the process of doing right now. it can be painful in some sectors and fields, but we have to transition into clean energy. stuart got it. mr. secretary, thank you very much for joining us. we do appreciate it always. >> thank you. stuart: yes, sir, thank you. now, i've got a new report, and it shows a lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck. lauren's got this report. you've been through it. people making,s say, $100,000 a

year, are people like that living paycheck to paycheck? lauren: almost half of them. 48 percent of those making $100,000 plus say they're living paycheck to paycheck. it's up 6% in just two months' time because inflation is biting. now, they probably are able to make all their bills and still live relatively comfortably with not much left. also, it overturns the narrative that inflation only hurts lower income demographics. it's hurting everybody. two-thirds of all americans say they're living paycheck to paycheck. wages are running almost 2.5 behind inflation. 2.5%. stuart: if you make $100,000 a year, inflation, you feel it. lauren: you feel it. stuart: if you're making $50,000 a year -- lauren: you're dead. stuart: it hurts. lauren: can i make a comment on oil in we import 670,000 gallons a day from russia,lystone would have produced 830,000 --

keystone would have produced 830,000 each day. that's what we're looking at right now. we had keystone, and we shut it off. stuart: exasperation written all over your face. hugh. lauren: that that's most of the inflation story because we use oil in everything. stuart: all right. thanks, lauren. one far-left leader getting heat for comparing democrats' voting fight to what ukraine's facing. watch this. >> president zelenskyy says, i'm going to paraphase him probably poorly, this isn't a war on ukraine, this is a war on democracy in ukraine. stuart: stacey abrams, america's certificate hen sky. ray wong says companies like apple and amazon face a dilemma in responding to the ukraine crisis. can they stand up to putin without seriously harming the russian people? i'll ask ray, ray wong, after this. ♪

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stuart: well, big tech down all across the board. the dow is down about 400 points. if nasdaq composite is down 1.25%, and that's the result. microsoft is down $6, apple 1 is

64, they're all -- 164, they're all coming down. that's big tech. ray wong is with us. now, let's talk about the ukraine crisis here. we want big tech to take action against putin, but we don't want big tech to harm ordinary russians. can they pull that off? >> you know, you're exactly right. i think they can do that, but as peter parker says, with great power comes great responsibility. and so they're walking a very thin tight rope going on here because they've already taken out rt, they've taken out sputnik, they've turned off location sales in ukraine, they're limiting ad a sales in russia. but if you shut it completely down, the russian people are going to fine them -- find them, there's beginning to be sanctions. if you leave it open, there could be misinformation, but you need it open because people are looking for help, they're looking for loved ones, they're going to use social media networks to organize aid and relief. so it's a very, very tight rope

that the big tech companies are walking. stuart: are they doing the right thing at the moment? >> well, at this moment the u.s. government hasn't sanctioned any services. these are private companies acting in their interests, so what they're trying to do is do the right thing by limiting the amount of disinformation and fake news that's going on out there. that's the most important part that they can do. but it also reminds us of how much power they have in the environment, and that's the scary part of that concentration of power. stuart: ray, i'm looking at meta platforms on the left-hand side of the screen. it's at $201 per share. i remember it as a high, i think it was, like, 380, 384, something like that. in other words, meta's been cut in half. what's the basic, bigtime problem here? >> it's a little bit different. what we're seeing is most of the tech companies are barely at 52-week lows, and in meta's case, there's no subscriber growth, and because there isn't, a lot of investment going future

into the metaa verse, and they haven't shown what they've done in the metaverse yet. they're seeing declining growth, and that's what's driving it. meta, netflix both have declining subscription numbers whereas the other companies in the group that we talk about, microsoft, apple, tesla, amazon, nvidia and alphabet, they're still showing 20%, 30% year-over-year growth. and as susan was mentioning, you were mentioning saleforce has been doing really well on subscriber growth. stuart: i just wonder if it's worth buying meta at the $200 a share. ray wang, thanks for joining us. still ahead, leen, bill hemmer, steve hilton, tammy bruce. the 10:00 hour of "varney" is next. of wow, we're crunching tons of polygons here! what's going on? where's regina? hi, i'm ladonna. ..

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stuart: got to check the market. good morning. disregard. check the market. we are down 307 points for the down industrials, 125 on the nasdaq. moment ago we were at 113, now we are at 11295. the 10 year treasury yield is down to 1.73%. extreme anxiety around the world, people flock to the safety of american treasury, you will get the money and

interest, flight to safety. bit coin down $41,225 a coin. now this. vladimir putin's war began on february 24th just eight days ago. so many things have changed. eight days ago vladimir putin was considered a chess player keeping the world you think are now just a thug, a pariah, a madman rattling his nukes. eight days ago china had a deal with russia. eternal friendship, maximum cooperation. xi jinping is recalculating. if vladimir putin runs into so much trouble china should think twice before hitting taiwan. germany was a pacifist nation embarrassed by its past and run by the greens. now it is changing its constitution to rearm and who would have thought that switzerland would freeze the assets of vladimir putin's billionaire oligarchs.

swiss banks have been accepting all gotten gains for years but with russia they changed course, eight days ago america had predicted the invasion but taken no action, president biden kept telling russians what he would not do, now we are waking up to the consequences. the price of gas up $.11 a gallon, diesel up $.14 was we are in an inflationary spiral. the brutality of vladimir putin's law shows true heroism. civilian soldiers holding off the tank, they had been written off, they stood in force because of their patriotism and the leadership of president zelenskyy. against all the odds zelenskyy stood and thought, eight days ago he was a comedian turned president, out of his depth said the toronto star. now he's an inspiration, the real hero of ukraine. second hour of varney just getting started.

the white house is sending vice president harris to warsaw, poland and bucharest, romania in the coming days. they want the united states to show solidarity with ukraine. tammy bruce is with us. >> it is hard sometimes. it is friday. stuart: vice president harris to europe. >> fascinating because every place she's gone she is not been successful. every place she's gone there has been more of a problem. the impression she makes is not good. we saw it when she went to guatemala, she went to the munich security conference in an effort to show solidarity and strength. that did not work. our concern is is at the opposite of what we anticipate and what we want?

do other leaders look who the americans are sending and think this is not serious, this is not a serious administration, does it make problems worse? the problem in the press conferences, in every state come in every country, the same kind of word salad where there is no real definition. we can't imagine she's a different person personally in private with these people, we can't send president biden, he seems not able to compete in that framework. the white house says he would too large a footprint but this is where you want that footprint when dealing with other leaders. stuart: it is possible the vice president's team will say we only get the most difficult tasks to perform, the border and now europe in the middle of a war, giving the vice president difficult tasks and she will look bad.

>> she should look to zelenskyy. we know what can happen, you can elect an actor as president and might do well but circumstances bring forth heroes or failures. it is the circumstances and anyone who is competitive who knows what they are doing when the chips are down you find out what you are made of. the chips have been down multiple times for miss harris and she has not delivered and that means she's not ever going to deliver. she should recognize and admit her limitations because it is becoming embarrassing. she can say and decline, maybe this is a trial balloon to see what would happen but if she was worth her salt she would say this is not for me to do or it would be very low key and there would be less media when it comes to that. stuart: i can't see her

refusing to go to europe and a level more. >> she complained about never going to europe, now she will have gone to europe and the border. she has been to both and nothing has survived her presence. stuart: thank you very much indeed. president biden -- the commerce department announcing this is coming at me right here, the commerce department announcing new sanctions. lauren: these sanctions will target oil refining sectors with export controls. it also says there are new regulations that identify 91 entities, this is an increase in how we are going after russia but i don't see direct thank.

stuart: we have already imposed sanctions was what does president biden say about the sanctions? he said they are working and he said this before the attack on the nuclear plant last night. let's listen. >> president biden: the severe economic sanctions on vladimir putin and all the folks around him choking off access to technology in the global financial system had a profound impact. our interest is to maintain the strongest economic impact campaign on vladimir putin and all history. lauren: the sanctions are not stopping vladimir putin. i'm not sure anything can stop vladimir putin but the sanctions we have seen have gone after his rich friends but so much dark money around the world, real estate, if you put a quarter trillion dollars in

dark money stashed outside russia it's hard to get all of it and it is not good stuff. convey stop vladimir putin? stuart: jpmorgan have done in outlook for russia's economy and it is a grim outlook. lauren: the stock market hasn't opened a. it closed on monday. the russian stock market will be closed until wednesday at the earliest, what happens when it opens? to see gdp contract 35% in the second quarter. stuart: a third less growth. nicole: those russian oil companies and banks are penny stocks for all of this year. jpmorgan says the russian economy will slow 7% and isolation will lead to lower growth in the long run and they

don't define long run. stuart: vlad doesn't care. check the markets please come adding further south down 436 on a dow jones average down 134 nasdaq, down 56 on the s&p. jim lowell, market watcher in a difficult position this friday morning because all hell is breaking loose. regular folks, where if they have fresh cash right now to invest, where should they invest it? >> keep the pattern derived, it's good for defense but sooner it will improve reporting on the offense, we think as long as your portfolio is tilted toward blue chip multinationals on the growth and value side we will ride through the storm not without

significant trust but you will get through to the other side once vladimir putin begins to de-escalate what is taking place not just on the market but the economy but internal to russia itself. stuart: what about inflation? it is taking off, almost 10% inflation that the producer level. the economy is slowing a little bit despite what job numbers tell you. that's not a good environment to put your money into anything. >> not if you are trying to take your money out in the next two month, quarter or two but for long-term investors this leads to opportunity is if you can be patient and disciplined. the reality is inflation has been running amok for a year

and all the fed has done is pull firetrucks around the source of the flames but when the ides of march strikes in mid-march the fed will take at least an initial rate hike action but it is awfully little and could come too late for the foreseeable future. we will be fighting inflation not just for weeks and months but years to come as it moves from its current peak levels hopefully towards the 2% target rate which feels like a pipe dream. stuart: your advice is keep your powder dry, keep your extra money in cash. >> that the smart money move at this juncture but don't forget as soon as vladimir putin, the war begins to be de-escalating these markets will rebound in a hurry. don't do that. stuart: just wait, if vladimir putin relaxes and settles down.

thanks for joining us, see you again soon. i am looking at tesla. that is interesting. tesla is the only tech stock that is up today. lauren: they receive final approval for their german plants. it is going to produce 500,000, it has been delayed and this is key for musk's ambitions to conquer the european market and take electric vehicle shares from volkswagen. stuart: i see chipmakers going up 2.5%. >> they are seeing big demand from enterprise clients, nice in the sharply down market. stuart: i bought some jeans the other month. it is not done much good. lauren: is betting on strong

demands. they did report a loss over the holidays, smaller than expected loss. they had tie ups with my walmart and home goods and kanye west, is down today. it is there margin. they've got to get the inventory. many retailers -- that might be what investors are getting into. gap was a winner down 3%. stuart: the cost of airfreight takes out of your profit margin and the dow is down 500 points. it is a red ink day. stacy abrams is comparing herself to president zelenskyy. russian troops have control of ukraine's largest nuclear plants, ukrainian workers say russians are putting explosives

around it to blackmail europe, got that story and russian troops are closing in on major ukrainian cities was we will take you there for a live report after this. at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner.

stuart: the price of oil, i've got it at 113.31. the commerce department announces new sanctions, 91 entities support russian military activities. oil took off on other leg up. as for the rest of the markets

you are close to session lows, the dow is down 450 and the nasdaq keeps going further south. you have a selloff. maybe people don't want to hold stocks over the weekends because you never know what happens. let's go to mike tobin, right there please. >> just got back from a briefing get with the ukrainian delegation and made an interesting points. the russians are breaking all the rules on the ground but as for counterparts they believe the russians are bargaining in good faith and cited the example of an agreement toward humanitarian core doors. and that is creation of a safe zone, and nuclear facilities.

>> to create this zone. and the nuclear object. >> in the west of the country we see examples of people going all in, abandoning their jobs and pitching in for the resistance. >> when it is all hands on deck, and they are making roadblocks. >> we are making this work and spark our army. these can stop tanks and heavy

army diesels. vladimir putin thinks he is fighting their military but he is fighting of the ukrainian nation. >> the hedgehog antitank roadblock, not sophisticated at all. railroad ties get the job done. these have been around since world war i, they can stop trucks and if nothing else slow down advancing armies. one of the points the negotiators made, and what you saw there. stuart: we will see you later on the show. this is an op-ed in a magazine, spectator and it reads what the right gets wrong about vladimir putin. douglas murray wrote it. why do some people on the right

in america like vladimir putin? >> this country, absolutely incapable of talking about russia in recent years but probably the claims democrats made about the 2016 election and biden family involvement in ukraine. nobody talks about russia. it became impossible to discuss issue, the trump family, the biden family and his other issue which is our own society has gone mad in recent years, vladimir putin doesn't get into any of that and steve bannon's radio show said the russians still know what bathroom to use was not the be all end all and not the basis of foreign policy but there's something in it, those guys aren't getting into

this nonsense and they are strong, we are weak, there's a form of self-pity and self-criticism, but there is an element in which in america and europe it goes into actionable admiration for vladimir putin. stuart: there are americans who admire vladimir putin? >> you got to remember people like marjorie taylor green, the crowd was shouting putin putin putin. it is a fringe movement and that movement exists in europe. politicians always praising of his statute toward migration was the former head of the italian government, the figure who tips into this form of vladimir putin admiration for being tough, decisive where we are weak and indecisive. stuart: would you say the republican party is divided in its approach to putin?

or in lockstep? >> the amazing thing is he has united almost all his opponents, and of the only man who could unite nato. the swedes thought world war ii was one where you didn't want to call a side. when united the republicans become clearer on the issue of russia and there is a divide, people feel it is not our fight and also don't forget, there's something in this, the bigger long-term strategic threat is china. stuart: we admire your clarity. after russia captured europe's largest nuclear plant, staff sent a warning to ukrainian government officials. what was the warning?

>> reporter: they warned russian troops the to cover the plant trying to lay down explosives in order to blackmail the whole of europe. ukraine authorities say an explosion at the nuclear facility could cause a disaster ten times larger than chernobyl. the fire has been put out and no critical infrastructure has been compromised and no changes in the radiation level have been recorded but in response ukrainian president zelenskyy said this. >> translator: for the first time in our history coming in the history of humankind, the terrorist country has reverted to nuclear terror. ashley: that is a fact. zelenskyy said musk -- must be stopped by european action. stuart: coming up, more asylum seekers at the european union

than of 2015. that was the year for a huge invasion. it seems to me vladimir putin wants it also what should we and our allies be doing now? germany's ambassador to america joins me after this. dad, we got this. we got this. we got this. we got this. we got this. yay! we got this. we got this! life is for living.

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stuart: this just coming at us lose the supreme court has reinstated the death sentence for djokhar tsarnaev. the dow is down 400 points. the nasdaq is down 200 points. it is a selloff. we are talking freighter types, hedge fund managers, not prepared to hold stocks over the weekend, no idea what will happen in ukraine. there are significant movers. warner: this is a smart tv maker reported a loss and weaker sales was a lot of

promotions and they even have a deal with amazon music. it is not helping stock. stuart: coin base. lauren: they are not going to ban russian because they don't want to hurt innocent russians. the eu should quickly pass a regulatory framework for crypto so than on innocent russians, the oligarchs can't use crypto's to engage think was the crypto currencies and related stocks like micro strategy and coin base are struggling under the weight of potential regulations and the russia situation giving them a real worldview scenario. stuart: i will bet the energy sector, oil companies in particular are doing well. lauren: a new high, the only gainer on the s&p, energy the only winning sector as oil

prices jump. stuart: the war dominates training with inflation at higher interest rates coming. un refugee officials estimate 2% of ukraine's population has fled the country. connell mcshane is in poland. of the refugees you've met and talked to, are they leaving for good? >> reporter: they don't think that was what one of them think that the case. i've asked that question. every time i ask they say we will be back. it is usually to the effect after we win. that national pride when you speak to the ukrainian people after they fled their nation was where outside the train station in poland, the largest city close to the border and a line of people waiting to go back into their country, some are getting back in the fight. others want to be reunited with

someone they left behind him. i met this woman earlier working on a cruise ship. when the ship got back to port she quit her job and she got in line to go back into ukraine. she is telling her story. >> i have my son there. now i don't have any connection with my family. so i hope my husband takes my son out. on the western part of ukraine. >> she is heading back into ukraine. i was speaking to some people in a terminal. they said it took three days to get from the capital city of kyiv to hear in poland was one young girl told me bombs were going off near the train

station when she arrived and she's thankful to make it to poland. stuart: thanks very much, great report. joining me, germany's ambassador to the united states, are you prepared to stop taking any oil and gas from russia? >> we stopped several thank packets in the packages in the context of european decision-making. the first ones are financial sanctions hitting russia very hard. the world is in freefall, cut off the central bank from the european markets. we made sure they cannot do that anymore.

cannot allow sanctions, we cut off russian companies and russian banks from the european financial markets. we cut off the banks, and made sure russian investors cannot be financed any more on the european finance market and doesn't lose assets in europe like the second set of sanctions, covers export controls and bands on export financing which would be a huge disruption for the russian economy. the first set of sanctions target individuals, a large number of them over 500 which are responsible for this invasion and the war of aggression.

setting that aside, the airspace for russian owned and russian registered aircraft and stopped the operations of russia today and of sputnik. we've not targeted directly the energy market, because as of now our intention is to target russia, those that are responsible and to make sure we are not hit by unintended consequences. that would have a huge impact on the global economy. stuart: overnight the russians attacked the nuclear power plant in ukraine. they occupy it. they are attacking other cities in ukraine and some would say they will advance beyond ukraine. is there any point at which you, germany, would stop the import of all oil and gas coming to you from russia. will you ever get to that point?

>> not only germany or european countries heavily dependent energy mix on coal or oil and sometimes gas. the oil prices worldwide have spiked 30%. and the prices are extremely volatile. they spiked by 70% so if we target the energy markets, something american consumers would see a gathering stations. stuart: i take that as a no, you will not stop the import of oil and gas into germany from russia. >> take that as a candid statement that we are going to

hit those responsible hard and tailor the sanctions the way it is carried by russia and the unintended consequences on the rest of the global economy are limited. my country, germany is going to bear the brunt of the sanctions adopted by the european union and the us. stuart: thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. thank you. look at this. gas prices up more than $.11 overnight. that story just ahead.

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crude oil at $113 a barrel. new york congressman and you new york state gubernatorial candidate lee seldon. you want to stop all russian oil coming to america. it is happening already. i don't know if you saw this but moment ago germany's ambassador told me they are not going to stop russian oil and gas going to germany. they are not going to do it. what is your response to that? >> that's the wrong answer. we saw with their push for nordstream, the biden administration when coming to office a year ago helping to greenlight, fast-track nordstream 2. it was the nordstream 2 shutdown, germany needs to increase the pressure more on russia. we should be ramping optimistic energy production. safely extracting natural

resources under the ground and becoming energy independent. it's not what is in the best interest of germany and say that with regards to what is in the best interests of the united states as we see what is going on in ukraine. stuart: you can stop oil and gas from coming here but we should produce more from our own territory. there is enough natural gas under new york state to heat and light the whole world. >> here in new york state, many regions desperate to have the permission from albany to safely extracting resources, producing, developing this energy in new york or generate revenue, cut taxes, allows our state to be less reliant not just on other states or countries. we have pipelines we need to get approvals for to transport energy across multiple state

lines. you have 1-party rule, now announce agreements, what we have, the public service commission, we are allowing national grid to increase electric prices and exchange for national grid agreeing on a new pipeline. that the opposite of what we need government doing. stuart: that is ridiculous. and the republican nominee, part of the gubernatorial election. and are they ready to change course. >> people don't feel safe, regardless of affiliation,

where crime continues on the rise. and the dollar not going as far, and in texas, tennessee or north carolina. and people are hitting their breaking points saying we are heading to new york. we lead the nation in population loss. that is in washington, we need it in albany too. stuart: i didn't know where you are going with that. i don't see them coming up here. the snowbirds in florida for the season. thank you for joining us, see us again soon.

we are session lows, dow down 4500, nasdaq is down 285 points. stacy abrams market online after recent comments when she compared herself to president zelenskyy. take me through this. ashley: it would be funny if it wasn't true. the georgia democrat running for governor compared herself and progressive democrats to ukrainian president zelenskyy and his people fighting off a russian invasion. >> we are a stronger nation when we allow people to participate. if we ever doubted that, the more vladimir putin is waging against ukraine, president zelenskyy said, i will paraphrase him orally, this is a war and democracy in ukraine. when we allow democracy to be overtaken by those who want to choose who can be heard and those choices are not based on

anything but animus or inconvenience, that is wrong. ashley: abrams made the comparison while speaking with trevor noah. the only response was immediately with many pointing out this comments were made on comedy central. others called her comments laughable and stupid. one person noted that ukraine requires motor id along with a link to the ukrainian legislation. stuart: voter id. check this out. and analyst on russian tv began drinking to the end of the stock market. we've got the full tape. ukrainians are asking nato for a no-fly zone. they probably won't get it. tell you about it after this.

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stuart: the dow is close to with low of the day. it is down 500. the nasdaq is down 250 points. the price of oil in the news,

up to $112.72 a barrel. interest rates, there is still a flight to safety. the yield on the 10 year treasury all the way down to 1.71%. that's a sign of high anxiety on the world's financial markets would ukraine urging nato to impose a no-fly zone. they are probably not going to get it. there are fears if you have a no-fly zone you have a direct conflict between american troops, pilots and russians. retired marine helicopter pilot pete phillips joined me now. do you think we should take the risk and enforce a no-fly zone? >> that is a big risk. i don't want to armchair quarterback the generals and senior electeds in washington dc responsible for that. there is a risk they need to be willing to take and by enforcing a no-fly zone we are injecting ourselves directly into the conflicts. stuart: so you wouldn't do it?

>> no, sir. stuart: it would be a serious risk of real confrontation. can you tell me about 810 warthogs? i think of them as a helicopter gunship? thanks for pointing that out. what is this about taking a few a 10s out of mothballs, getting them to ukraine so ukrainian pilots can fly and attack the 40 mile convoy? >> again, what i read is we are not giving the ukrainians a 10. it takes a significant amount of time to fly a new platform so hopefully the conflict will be over in due time so that will not be an option.

i don't foresee us -- stuart: what is your assessment of the military situation on the ground following last night's attack on a nuclear power plant. >> it is fluid as always the case in a conflict, getting conflicting reports out of ukraine. the accuracy is in question, and the fog of war, the ukrainians are dedicated to protecting their homeland and underestimated by the russian leadership, these patriots fighting for the homeland and -- stuart: it makes all the difference when fighting for your own country, stick with it. pete phillips, helicopter

pilot, thanks for joining us. steve hilton, jonathan koenig, we are in an inflationary spiral, the democrats woke up to it. now this. ♪♪ ♪ ♪ wow, we're crunching tons of polygons here! what's going on? where's regina? hi, i'm ladonna. i invest in invesco qqq, a fund that gives me access to the nasdaq-100 innovations, like real time cgi. okay... yeah... oh. don't worry i got it!

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♪ >> we're going to have this for a long time. once that inflation devil is out, it's hard to put it back. just remember the green new deal and the u.n., as part of their plan, wants americans to pay even higher prices than we're seeing today. stuart: more domestic drilling, is that on the table in the white house? >> it hasn't been to this point, and certainly looking at situation in the world right now, that will have to be a conversation. >> i think the market has nothing to do with what's happening with jobs, i think this is all about the ukraine. we're going to get a face-melting rally, face-melting rally, when this is over in europe. >> we can't send joe biden. the white house says he would have too harm of a footprint, but, my goodness, this is where

you want that footprint. stuart: here we go. good morning, everyone. 11:00 eastern time, friday, march 4th. the market showing a great deal of red ink. the dow's down 500, the nasdaq is down 268, that's almost a 2% loss. the price of oil currently at $112.61 per barrel. it's on pace for its highest price close in 11 years. here's a sign of anxiety gone crazy. we're down to 1.70 on the yield on the 10-year treasury. money piling into that treasury, raising the price, lowering the yield. it's a sure sign of a flight to safety and high anxiety. and now this. i got a real shock this morning. i stopped to buy gas. it was almost $4 a gallon. a week ago it was under $3.50. i drive a tractor on weekends. it runs on diesel which is close

to $5 a gallon. i haven't been to the grocery store yet today, but basic food stuffs -- wheat, corn, soybeans -- all going to the moon. when you're in an inflationary spiral, it really hits you. you can see your buying power supplieding -- sliding away every day. if you're making, say, $100 crowrkz a year, inflation doesn't hurt that much. but if you're making 50,000 like most people, inflation really hurts. time the democrats woke up to this. in america today it's wealthy people who vote democrat. they don't feel inflation the way working people do. paul krugman in "the new york times" today writes about america's very peculiar economic funk. the economy is booming, he says, but economic sentiment is mucking. that is accurate, but professor krugman doesn't understand why. finish let me lay it out for you. working people buy basics -- gas, food, electricity -- and when prices skyrocket, they feel it directly every day.

and they're not happy. that's your constituency, not happy. eight months til the elections, and i don't think you know what to do about it. third hour of "varney" starts now. ♪ stuart: steve hilton, california guy, with us now. i believe the price of regular gas in california now averages $5.07, and our viewers are sending in pictures of gas where they live, the price. okay, that's from -- what have we got there, can't see that. that's $5.09 in san jose. it's $4.29 in phoenix. i know that that's not california. it's $3.99 in jersey, right by me, so i know that's not in california. but, steve, what do californians think about $5 a gallon gasoline? [laughter] >> well, i can tell you what this californian -- [laughter] feels about out, because i

filled up yesterday. we're very in sync, stu. $5.69, that's what i paid. it's unbelievable. and the thing about all of this when you look at the start of -- the sort of total picture of the economy, i see people the kind of biden propagandists talking about the biden boom and all the rest of it based on those jobs numbers. but actually even if you look behind the job numbers, first of all, as we can all see, it's just a rebound from the pandemic lockdowns that should never have happened in the first place, mainly imposed in democratic states by democratic governors and legislatures. even then i haven't looked at the numbers today, but last month when you had another set of pretty good numbers in terms of jobs added, the actual labor participation rate, the proportion of adults who are working, was at its lowest level since 1977. because the numbers of people who are out of the work force, they haven't come back. it's not a boom. and when you add in the inflation, again, self-created, they're going to be trying to

blame it on the ukraine situation, so on. it was all created by their policies and exactly as you say, this is a tax on working people. they pay price for the economic incompetence we've seen from this administration. stuart: according to "the new york times," china asked russia to delay their invasion until after the olympics. that's according to "the new york times." do you think china is maybe partly to blame for the war? >> absolutely. for two reasons. first of all, just imagine that conversation. people talk about putin as a monster, and of course he is when we see what's happening right now and fear for the worst in terms of what might come down the line. but xi jinping, they had a conversation about this. and xi jinping, who has a lot of power in that relationship -- why? because he tells putin he's going to bail him out on the energy front, on the grain front, helping him sanctions-proof his economy and withstand the pressure from the west, that's what shi xi jinping

promised him. he didn't ask him not to do this, he said, oh, can you wait until after the olympics and not ruin my parade? he's a monster just the same as putin is. stuart: californians used to have a strong and positive relationship with china for all kinds of reasons. has that relationship soured? >> no, i don't think people see the truth. for example, you see the governor of california, i noticed this week, trying to use what power he has in terms of state investment funds to sanction russia. my response to that was, well, now do china. but they have a complete blind spot because you see this all the a time. so in bed with china, they want access to the chinese market, chinese firms are all over silicon valley setting up their research, stanford university and so on. the chinese state-owned enterprises are completely.com dominant -- dominant in california. california's businesses suck up to china, so i'm afraid it's the

same situation. they're not waking up to the fact that we now face two regimes with brutal authoritarian dictators that are out to shake the world in ways that will be incredibly harmful to america and american values. stuart: while we have you, can you just give me a status report on the pan dem snick when i walk outside -- pandemic? when i walk outside in new york, new jersey and certainly florida, it looks like the pandemic's behind us, very much so. very few masks. what's it like in california? [laughter] >> if only. so finally they're lifting some of the regulations, the mask mandates. not for children who should have never had it in the first place, the school mask mandates are still in place, unbelievably are, including outdoors. but the most insane thing, stuart, to your point, i was shopping yesterday at a grocery store. they've taken down the signs, no requirement to wear a mask. i would say 9 out of 10 people were wearing a mask. worse than that, there's an outdoor shopping center near where i live.

outdoor shopping center. [laughter] there, i don't know, 8 out of 10 people wearing a mask outdoors. no requirement to do it, they're just brainwashed into doing it. it's now a symbol of i don't know what, but it's got nothing to do with science. stuart: planes leave for naples, florida, every single day from san francisco, you know? [laughter] you should get on one sooner or later. we'll be watching you, steve, on "the next revolution," 9 p.m. eastern on sunday, only on fox. thank you, steve. check those markets. we're at -- this is the session low for the dow, and i think for the nasdaq too. 524 down on the dow, 292 down on the nasdaq composite. it's a selloff. jonathan hoenig joins us. what's this about a russian default? does that mean the government can't pay the people who have lent it money, they can't pay the money back? if that happened, what happens to us? >> well, i mean, look, it could be a financial catastrophe, stuart. the war is already a human catastrophe, a terrible human

catastrophe, but it's also a financial catastrophe. you've seen billions of dollars of wealth around the world evaporate not only for those rich oligarchs, but for everyday russians. i mean, their quality of life is going down dramatically, and it could impact us here at home, as you said. we know the russian stock market and ruble have tanked, but keep an eye on those european banks, a lot of them whether it be credit suisse have all dropped somewhere between 15-30% in just the last two weeks. what does that mean? if russia defaults, i think that could have reverberations that could impact our own market more than it's impacting it today. and go back to when russia defaulted, the dow had its biggest one month drop since the '87 crash. so we could see a tremendous amount of default if russia not only continues this war, but if they default on their debt as theysome to be the poised to do. stuart in this inflationary environment following last week's conversation, you see commodities, basic commodities, as an asset class. get into that class now.

that's your message, right? >> well, i mean, look, the big moves take time. and as you said, stuart, because of inflation caused by our own government, these commodities had already been on fire almost writ large. not like it's just oil. it's in grains, base metals, they've been strong across the board. so this incourse in the ukraine, this war in the ukraine only adds fuel to that fire. supply chain disruptions, but war is always inflationary. i'm looking at wide commodity index funds, basically like owning the dow jones of commodities, but for more let's say advanced or particular investors, take a look at platinum. i owned it at capitalist pig.com. this is the type of asset that can do very well, even palladium prices, wheat prices. anything attached to russia is skyrocketing in terms of commodities right now. that's what i'm looking at in terms of putting new money to work. stuart: okay, pplt is what -- >> that is an etf that tracks the price of platinum. stuart: platinum. >> everything at risk.

you always want to do your own due diligence, but this war in ukraine is sucking the energy out of financials assets and putting it into commodities. that's where i'm looking right now. stuart: jonathan hoenig, thank you very much. hope you have a great weekend despite what's going on. lauren, you've got some movers. start with robinhood. lauren: yeah. users were mad today. they were experiencing an issue impacting when they were trying to buy options. robinhood is aware of it, they say they have implemented a fix, and they're monitoring the results. stuart: okay. what about apple? i'm looking at the price now, it is down 2.3%? lauren: right. there are reports that corporate workers will return to the office april 11th, but i'm taking a look at other stocks making news, not moving because of the news. apple would be one of them. airbnb, they're halting operations in both russia and belarus, and the ceo said people are actually booking air airbnbs in ukraine right now, they just want to support the

ukrainian host. fedex is also halting operations in russia and belarus. stuart: what else you got? >> yields lore as investors buy treasuries for the safety and lower yields squeezes banks' profitability. stuart: it's a selloff across the board apart from energy. all right. there you go. an investment expert drinks to the end of the moscow stock market live on russian tv. now he says he's rethinking his entire career. [laughter] we've got the story, it's a good one. the white house is considering serving the vice president to poland. they want the united states to show solidarity with ukraine. bill hemmer joins us later. preparing to fight as ukraine's defense ministry says russian forces are focused on encircling the city. we've got a live report from kyiv next. ♪ ♪

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>> we have seen the use of cluster bombs, we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which will be in the violation of international law. >> the days to to come are likely to be worse. with more death, more suffering and more destruction. stuart: well, that was a grim warning from nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg, and it comes as russian troops work to encircle kyiv, ukraine's capital. trey trey yingst is there. how close are the russians right

now? >> reporter: they're about 15 miles outside of the city right now, but most concerning overnight, a nuclear power plant came under attack amid fighting in inner you vain -- ukraine, a city in the southern part of the country. while officials say no radioactive material was released during this attack, there was shelling that hit the facility and also small arms fire. russian forces have since seized the plant known as being the largest in europe, and the international community was left worried over concerns that clashes were taking place so close to radioactive material. the russians will be able to weapon nice and leverage the facility that supplies ukraine with 25% of its energy. president zelenskyy had this to say about the attack. >> translator: russian people, i want to appeal to you. how is it possible after all we fought together in 1983 against the chernobyl catastrophe consequences, you must tell your authorities, go to the streets and say that you want to leave,

you want to live on earth without radioactive contamination. >> reporter: the attack on a nuclear power plant comes as russian forces move closer to the ukrainian capital. the russian defense minister released new video overnight showing tanks and soldiers crossing into the kyiv region. there have been intense campaigns against areas outside of kyiv with schools and residential buildings hit in the past 24 hours. the shelling is often indiscriminate. i would underscore that the images we are seeing off the ukraine just give you a taste of what's really taking place in some southern cities like mare pole, the city -- mariupol, the city is nearly surrounded. stuart? stuart: trey jinx till -- trey yingst still hanging in there, thanks a lot, sir. with us now, a ukrainian member of parliament. she is with us. you are in kyiv. can you describe what's going on around you, and are you prepared to fight to the end?

>> well, we are prepared. this is the only, the only way, the only, i don't know, scenario we have because this is our country, and we are nighting -- fighting for our country, for our cities and for our families: the situation in ukraine is intense p, and in some cities the russian shellings are intensifying. and that is why today as the secretary of national investment council, i decided to address to all international companies to ask them to stop doing business in russia. because by doing business in russia, they access and they fund this war, this bloody, this bloody nightmare that we experience in ukraine. stuart: can i just ask is you this, we've got video on the screen of just dreadful shelling, real suffering for the civilian population. the destruction of some of

these, of the city. would you accept a ceasefire if the russians agreed not to demolish ukrainian cities? >> excuse me? stuart: okay. i'm just trying to figure out if there's a deal that's possible. would you accept a ceasefire, you, the ukrainians, if the russians said, okay, we'll back off and we won't demolish your cities? >> well, the thing is that any negotiation starts with ceding arms and weapons, but the russians are not leaving. they keep shelling with missiles, with aviation innocent citizens, thousands of them. actually, what russians are doing in ukraine in another country because ukraine is sovereign, democratic and european country, and we didn't ask russians to come here. we didn't call russians with their weapons, with their tanks, with their aviation, with their

missiles. we didn't invite them to kill our people massively, so we -- stuart: what do you want from america? >> and this is not ukrainians who shoot these, the weapons. these are russians who would cede the weapons and stop killing innocent civilians. stuart: what do you want -- >> what they are doing is a genocide. stuart: can you answer this? what do you want from america? >> yes, the main thing, the main thing what we ask, what we are pleading for i don't know how many days already is no-fly zone. because russians are hitting ukraine from air. the houses on fire. these are residential neighborhoods. these all are fired from air. so we need no-fly zone or at least we need more anti-missile defense. stuart: okay. >> the kind of defense that america is sending, but we need much more of in this kind of

defense. stuart: halyna, we understand you, we feel for you, we pray for your situation. and we pray for you, we do. thanks very much for joining us. see you later. completely different story now, different subject. almost funny p actually. an economist on a russian tv station is, quote, drinking to the end of the stock market. i saw a little bit of this video, ashley. take us through the whole thing. ashley: a all right. russian analyst and trader was asked by a tv host about investing strategies and his personal outlook at which point he grabbed a bottle of what he claimed was soda and made a toast to another trader who had drunk a coffee mug of vodka when the markets crashed during the financial crisis. just watch this. >> translator: i say hello to sergei who drank 12-13 months ago for the death of the stock market. dear stock market, you are close to us, you were interesting. rest in peace, dear friend.

ashley: rest in peace, dear friend. russia's stock market, as we know, has taken a massive hit, and the ruble has hit an all-time low as western countries ramp up sanctions. he plans to pivot to a career as a dress-up santa claus, something he did 25 years ago, apparently. also wanted to mention this, russia's last remaining tv channel has been shut down but not without a symbolic protest. the staff of tv rain, that's a youth-focused tv station, gathered around the news desk after the final news cast. the anchors were overheard saying no war as everyone walked off together, leaving a picture of an empty studio until the telecast cut to old footage of the ballet, "swan lake." all very poignant, stu. stuart: indeed, it was. let's check those markets, please. still no retreat for the red ink. you're down 300 on the nasdaq almost. you're down nearly 5 -- 459 on the dow jones average.

that's a selloff. blackrock is the world's largest asset manager, they will halt purchases of all russian securities in its active and index funds. adding to that, a consulting firm, they have announced they will also be withdrawing from russia. the isolation is intensifying. coinbase, the crypto guys, say that ordinary russians are using bitcoin after the ruble collapsed. but russians could soon be banned from crypto platforms. got the full story for you coming up. russia took control of the largest nuclear power plant in europe overnight. they also seized a port city in ukraine. bill hemmer tracking it all, and he's next. ♪ ♪

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stuart: i'll call this a selloff. dow down 450, nasdaq down 270. we've got an inflation problem, and we've got a war problem. the markets are down. let me show you -- let me see tesla, because it may be the exception. no, it's not. it's the only down a fraction. what's the story, susan? susan: big news, actually. it was up in a down market, and the fact that it's less than 1% lower, i think that's performance in the selloff.

the tesla just got production approval from the german government to start making cars in berlin. the condition alliance, there will be a one month period for people to submit their objections, and there's a $5.5 billion gigaberlin factory where they're going to make cars, batteries. it's been delayed for six months, and tesla says it's going to produce 500,000 cars a year. stuart: you got any outperformers in this selloff? susan: broad come. it's an -- broadcom. it's an apple supplier. better sales, better profits. look at that, up 4% in this down market. i'd say that's pretty good. also guiding for an even better business quarter to start off this year. marvel, which is the other chipmakerrings, i thought they had -- chipmaker, i thought they had a good report as well. they're in cloud, 5g and auto. stuart: we've got this war situation, i would think that's going to interrupt travel. susan: i think so tooment look

at the performance, means that not only is travel going to be disrupted with borders, but look at the sharp rise in oil prices. up to 14-year highs, so less profit for airlines because they have to spend more to fuel those planes and less money in the pocket of americans to spend to travel. stuart: american airlines there at $14 a share? susan: yes. is that -- stuart: decimated. it's low. [laughter] stuart: ask bill hemmer, he's the big trader here. stuart: later. he's been taking notes. let's get to ash because i've got coinbase and bipharynx i think that's the pronunciation, they will not ban russians from using their crypto platforms for now. why not? ashley: yes, for now, because they say ordinary russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed. coinbase ceo brian armstrong says the crypto exchange will block transaction as from ip addresses that might belong to sanctioned individuals or entities, but they're not going to preemptively ban all russians

from using coinbase. ukraine recently asked the major crypto exchanges to block addresses of russian users. armstrong said he doesn't see a high risk of russian oligarchs using crypto to avoid sanctions because, he says, the open ledger makes movement of money more traceable, he says, than using other assets like cash or gold. but he does say coinbase will ban all russian users if the u.s. government decides to impose such a restriction but not as it stands. stu. stuart: bitcoin's getting awfully close to dropping below 40 grand. it's right there at the moment. ashley: right. stuart: thanks, ash. russian forces continue to advance on big cities in ukraine. bill hemmer is with me. where are the troops -- you're the map guy. so tell us the military configuration right now. >> i think there are two stories if you want to look at the russian army. one's in the south and one's in the north, frankly.

and in the south you have seen a russian base that's been well established going back eight years in crimea, since 2014, stuart. and thaw basically came into the southern part of ukraine unimpeded. and the reason for that on the screen here you see the russian army, everything in red. the area we think they've gone into and been able to hold. whiled you be able to come out of a small little peninsula at the bottom? the ukrainian army, for the most part, has been dug in getting ready for this land war in south eastern ukraine. they're trying to hold that territory and keep it away from the russian army that invaded that spot as well eight years ago. stuart: forgive me for interrupting. can you just put that big map on again -- >> back it up a few? stuart: the big picture of ukraine. >> go. stuart: the red part are where the russian troops are. they haven't made much headway what. >> great point. day nine is today, and i describe this as slow, steady

and deliberate. and this is what i mean by that. they have been largely successful moving in the south. in the north it's a very different story, and there is some great reporting now, stuart, that can confirm how the ukrainian military fought back and also can confirm how the amount of munitions on behalf of western countries including the united states, the amount of equipment that we have given them has been used effectively to stop the russian army where it is at the moment. here's the problem. at some point they're going to move forward. at some point they're going to bring in reserves. at some point they're going to be finished with bombing every town in that area marked in red on the map you see that they've already conquered. and this video is absolutely devastating. they're going to try and cut off the possibility that the ukrainian army could come in from behind and attack them once they go in and surround kyiv. and that's the believed strategy at the moment.

you look at kharkiv in the northeast, stuart, it's largely russian-speaking, 1.5 million people. that town has been surrounded for a week, and they're getting, they're getting knocked every single day, 4/7. 24/7. there is very little left, but there are people still there as well. this is the capital city, kyiv, to the northwest there. you see that air base? that's the main airport. and now it looks as if nine days ago the ukrainian military knew the russians were coming, they met them at the airport. terrific reporting in the "wall street journal" about how this battle was met, and the russians saw that resistance, and they pulled back. and that is helping us understand why this convoy would be stuck at the moment where it is and why that red area of the screen that you saw has not advanced. that's a refugee map from a moment ago, a million people leaving. stuart: the white house says they're actively discussing sending vice president harris to poland to show solidarity with

ukraine. your opinion on that? >> i think the poles would appreciate any help they can get whether it's kamala harris or joe biden. i'm sure -- stuart: why has she been given that job? it's a very difficult job. >> i would agree. listen, i saw the sound bite she had the other day. i thought it was somewhat unfair. the interviewer explained in a very simple way what was going on, and she said, well, ukraine's a small country, russia's a big country. it's much more complicated than that, and it should have been given a different tone because how she described it that russia went into ukraine, and that's wrong. well, it's not only wrong, but we're starting to see war crimes, stuart, play out in ukraine. and i -- there's no denying this. when you go after a nuclear power plant, when you go, when you bomb indiscriminately these neighborhoods i'm describing to you in that that red area in the northern part of the country, and you can see the video, stuart. the missile falls, the camera's out there in the street, there's destruction everywhere, and there's a handful of women

walking down the street in tears and the camera pans to the ground, and there are several civilians. these are not soldiers, these are civilians, and they're dead, and they're dismembered. that's only one piece of it that the international criminal court would be looking at at the hague. stuart: who' -- who knows what's to happen this weekend. we're going to watch you9-11 eastern on fox news. thanks for being with us. >> you got it. stuart: russia's football clubs fighting back, they're going to court. we've got the story. new york city just dropped its mask mandate for children under the age of 5. no, they dropped the maas mask mandate, but children under the age of 5 still have to mask up. i'm going to try to explain that with great difficulty after this. ♪ ♪

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stuart: stock market's selling off. not quite as bad as a few minutes ago, we're still down 400 for the dow, 260 on the nasdaq. look at interest rates. last time we checked we were at 1.70% on the 10-year treasury. we're sill there. didn't quite dip to 1.69. 1.70 is where we are on that. sign of high anxiety, case closed. currently 32 states have some sort of school choice program. several other states could soon adopt those policies. erica donalds is a former school board member. erica, how can you keep this increase in school choice going? when i say school choice, i mean charter schools, i mean voucher systems, private schools. there seems to be a bug increase in that. how -- a big increase in that. how do you keep it going? >> we have to continue the pressure we've seen from parents on school boards and legislators across the country especially after the pandemic and the horrible experiences people had with their online schooling or lack of schooling whatsoever.

the other hinge the pandemic did, stuart, was pull back the curtain on curriculum, on what's being taught in our schools and even more importantly what is not being taught in some of our schools. and parents are demanding the option to go to private schools or charter schools and other options in their communities, and that's what brought this to bear with and is really putting pressure on legislaturetures across the country -- legislatures across the country. stuart: one of the great things i've done is pulling back the curtain on the acttivities of the teach's union. i'm particularly incensed about this. i think they really wrecked public education in the united states during the pandemic and before. am i going too strong here? >> absolutely not. i have said that for many years. as you said, i served on a public school board. the teachers unions are the enemy of our children when it comes to their education in america. i experienced it for myself, and now many parents across the country have seen it for themselves that the unions are looking out for the adults, not

for the children. and parents are the ones who are going to be fighting the most for their children, for the quality of education they deserve, for them to be in school. as we've seen, we couldn't imagine that the rest of us would go to work and the teachers would say that they could not go to work, but they could go to the grows arely store and go on vacation -- grocery store and go on vacation. that actually was a great thing to come out of the pandemic is that parents across the country are seeing the unions for what they are, and they're no longer sympathetic to their pleas about things that they deserve versus what our students truly deserve. stuart: you're in naples, florida. i'm in new york. the mayor of new york, eric adams, says that masks will no longer be required in schools, period. however, children under 5 still have to wear masks. what on earth is going on? >> that's the big question, stuart. what on earth is going to be -- going on. we have been asking that in

florida for years now. i run several schools, and all of them have been mask-optional from day one. and we have never had more cases than the surrounding communities that are requiring masks. it is a charade, it is ridiculous, it is harmful for children. and just like when it comes to school choice, what is required is pressure from parents who are looking out for their children, and the reckless politicians that are putting these in place need to hear from those parents and need to take these mask mandates away immediately and for good. stuart: let me just bring you up to speed on this one too. the school children which have been allowed to go back to school without a mask, it's optional, half of them are still wearing masks. this is new york city. i mean, i'm sorry, i just don't understand it. what's going on? i've asked this question before, what on earth is going on, i don't understand it. last word to you, erica. >> the harmful rhetoric that these children have been told over the last two years, that if they don't wear a mask, then

they don't care about their fellow classmates, if they don't wear a mask, they don't care about keeping other people safe, it is harmful and damaging to them. and that's why a lot of these students continue to wear masks because they're thinking to themselves all of these adults told me if i don't wear a mask, i don't care about other people's safety. and that's what we've been telling politicians all along. stop lying about these masks and how effective they are, and we though that they are not. allow them to be free. now the politicians need to tell the truth and free these children from these harmful policies. stuart: please come back soon and give my best wishes to congressman byron donalds, who i think owe know quite well. >> i'd love to come back. stuart: see you soon. some car factories dropping mask mandates. ash ally, is this just for vaccinated workers? >> no. face masks will be optional regardless of vaccination status for u.s. union autoworkers if

their factories are in counties that do not have a high risk for the virus. now, a task force including officials from gm, ford, stellantis and the uaw agreed to drop the mask mandate at a meeting yesterday. union workers began wearing masks at work in may of 2020, pretty much the whole time except for about a month last summer before the delta variant arrived in the u.s. the automakers say, well, they're going to follow cdc guidelines and will continue to obey local and state mask requirements if they are in effect. so, yes, it's optional, but unless if local authorities say no. it seems to me almost, you know, many, many local authorities are now doing away with the mandate, we'll see. stuart: yeah. complications -- complicated, isn't it? to me it's simple, get the masks out. a sense of the market, oh, i see a lot of red. there is a lot of selling.

more than 2% of ukraine's population have fled the country, half a million have gone to poland. connell mcshane is in poland. he's got a live report for us next. ♪ ♪♪ care. it has the power to change the way we see things. ♪♪ it inspires us to go further. ♪♪ it has our back. and goes out of its way to help. ♪♪ when you start with care, you get a different kind of bank. truist. born to care.

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stuart: the russian football union will appeal their ban from international competitions. tell me more, ashley. ashley: we are headed for a showdown at the court of arbitration for sport. yes, there is such a thing n. 20 days the russian men's national team is scheduled to play poland in a qualifying playoff semifinal. the playoff finals are five days later with spots at the world cup in qatar at stake. russia will file an appeal, and three judges will then consider if maintaining a ban would do irreparable harm to players who want a chance to advance to the world cup. this week both fifa and uefa, the world and governing european bodies of football. pledged solidarity with the people of ukraine. but even if the judges overturn the suspension, several countries are already refusing to play any games against the

russian team, and that includes, by the way, poland, sweden and the czech republic who are in russia's world cup playoff bracket. what could happen, stu, is if the court overturns the ban with, russia could go through to the world kupp and russia wins my forfeit. not sure going to get to that point, but it's interesting. stuart: it sure is. thanks, ash. more than a million refugees have left ukraine since the start of the war, half of them to poland. connell mcshane, are they staying there or going elsewhere? >> reporter: both. they're going to germany, to the czech czech republic, to denmark, all kinds of countries across europe and, of course, many are staying here. a new train just arrived a short time ago, so these people you're looking at have just come in from ukraine. the to polish government said the number of total refugees just in poland right now is 700,000.

there's actually a pretty long line forming outside the station, and many of the people on line here, some are waiting to pick someone up, but many are heading back into ukraine. all kinds of stories surrounding that part of the story, stuart. including one that may surprise you. these gentlemen you're about to meet are from belarus, of all places, on their way back to fight for ukraine. listen to this man tell his story. >> the guys are going to fight. >> reporter: where are you from originally? >> from belarus. >> reporter: and you're going to defend ukraine? >> yeah. i'm going to defend you ukraine people because i know how russian -- [inaudible] >> reporter: he's going to defend the ukrainian people against the russian outs. so that's a man from the minsk area of belarus. one more development, the polish police have just confirmed today

that a spanish national, a man from spain, was arrested and is charged with spying for russia. now, what was he doing? according to the police, he was here where we are in this city around the areas where we are pretending to be a journalist. they caught him, he was arrested, accused of spying for russia, could spend up to ten years in a polish prison. stuart. stuart: ouch. all right, connell, thanks very much, indeed. it's friday, and it's time for the friday trivia question. how many babies are born each day around the world? here's your choices, 298,000, 321,000, 385,000, 412,000. i'd be inclined to go with the 412,000, but you'll get the real answer after this. ♪

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stuart: i thought this was a question. how many babies are born each day around the world. take a guess. ashley: i was going to go with for 12. i will go 385. stuart: you got it all right. 385. that means -- well done. that is 140 million a year. the birth rate is declining in europe, parts of asia and north america and is still up in

terms of numbers would i will be watching premier league soccer. i want to give you this. the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline, $3.84. in california it is $5.07. an extraordinary surge in gas prices. neil: you and i are the more senior or more seasoned workers here at fbn. a lot of young people come to me and say how bad was inflation in the 70s? of mortgage hit 4% we didn't panic because that is what a lot of us were paying her day and when you talk about