hanukkah for those celebrating tonight. follow my daily columns and check out my podcast, media buzz meter, subscribe at apple itunes, google podcast and amazon device. we'll keep an eye on the omicron variant. we'll be back here next sunday with the latest buzz. arthel: governments across the globe are scrambling to close borders as cases of the new omicron covid variant increase, the u.k., germany, italy, the netherlands and use a trail ya -- australia all confirming cases of the new strain, which was first detected in southern africa. israel plans to close its borders to all foreign nationals you amid fear that's the omicron variant could set back global progress on covid-19. hello, everyone. welcome to "fox news live." i'm arthel neville. hi, mollie. molly: hello, great to be with

you. i'm in for eric shawn. travel restrictions on eight african countries are set to take effect in the u.s. tomorrow, president biden announcing the move in an effort to prevent the variant from reaching our showers. the cdc says they haven't received confirmed reports of omicron cases in the u.s. but this morning the director of the national institutes of health saying this is about the president's move. >> given the current circumstance out of an abundance of caution, seeing this is the most serious new variant we've seen in several months it made sense for us at least for a temporary measure. arthel: we have fox team coverage on this. correspondent jacqui heinrich is traveling with president biden in mass chew at the time. we're going to -- massachusetts. we're going to go to jonathan first. >> reporter: germany and the u.k. are reporting cases of the omicron variant. israel has approved a plan to bar entry to foreign nationals

and require its own citizens to quarantine after traveling abroad. israeli health officials have also authorized the use of controversial cell phone tracking technology to do contact tracing. here in the u.s., new york has announced plans to postpone elective surgeries at vowedded hospitals. some physicians warn similar efforts early in the pandemic created their own threats to public health. >> i talked to cancer specialists all over the country who have said colonoscopies were put off, detections were put off, we're diagnosing things later in the game because people were afraid to come for care. >> reporter: the south african doctor who alerted the world to the omicron variant says symptoms in healthy patients have been unusual but mild. the british newspaper reports the physician is still concerned about the effect the variant could have on the elderly and unvaccinated. a concern echoed by u.s. health

officials. >> i think the initial cases were mostly young people who tend to have mild infections anyway. we need more data there before we could say confidently that this is not a severe version of the virus. but we should find that out in the next couple of weeks. >> reporter: so while researchers are still trying to determine the severity of disease, the fact that this variant is spreading so rapidly throughout cay suggests -- africa suggests it may be highly contagious. so the bottom line is health experts are saying you shouldn't panic over this variant but you should take precautions. you should be concerned. arthel. arthel: all right, jonathan live in atlanta. thanks, jonathan. mollie. molly: president biden is heading back to the white house today after spending his thanksgiving on nantucket in massachusetts and we're getting new reaction to his response to the emergence of the omicron covid strain. jacqui heinrich has been there in nantucket with more.

jacqui. >> reporter: hey, mollie. there's quick reaction from the white house in announcing new travel restrictions but seemingly a lot less urgency in imposing them, leaving an entire weekend until they take effect. the president said that was the advice of his medical team. top white house doctor, anthony fauci, explains that a travel ban will never completely prevent the virus from reaching the country. the hope is that it might delay the process so the country may be better prepared with resources to handle it. >> the mutations strongly suggest it would be more transmissible and might evade some of the protection of monoclonal antibodies and convalescent plasma. >> reporter: reaction to the travel restrictions has been mixed. markets are showing concern over another vair a want and whether -- variant and whether it might hit businesses hard, questioning whether travel and dining out could be impacted. there is concern it could cause more inflation and more supply chain issues.

republicans pointed out former president trump was criticized for imposing similar travel bans. congresswoman nancy mace says trump and president biden made the right decision. >> when president trump did this it was labeled racist. when president biden did it, it seems perfectly okay. that's the problem with coverage today, they don't treat republicans and democrats equally. i would like to see more data. i think that would be more in making policy decisions related to travel but it is the right decision right now. >> reporter: vice president kamala harris said no more travel bans are expected at this time and that right now the administration feels that it has done what was necessary but dr. fauci said all of this is evolving in he real-time and as we've seen over the last 24 hours, countries are imposing stricter measures to try contain this virus. the u.k. ramping up testing and israel shutting down borders to foreigners entirely after a single case of omicron was he detected in that country.

mollie. molly: very swift worldwide effort underway. jacqui heinrich live for us from nantucket. thank you. we'll have more on the medical side of the new omicron strain with dr. peter hotese later this our. arthel: thank you, mollie. law enforcement across california mourning the death of retired police sergeant kevin nashida. he was shot while working security for a news crew in oakland as would-be robbers tried to steal their camera gear. they were covering the spike in smash and grab robberies at high end stores across the bay area. it's a disturbing crime wave that is also hitting southern california. let's go to christina coleman live in los angeles with the latest. christina. >> reporter: arthel, we're learning new details about kevin nashida who died yesterday from gunshot injuries he suffered during the attempted robbery. he is survived by a wife, two

children and three grandchildren. he was a san jose police officer for 11 years. the police chief released a statement on his tragic death had. he said we must work together and stay committed to stop senseless violence and loss of precious life and hold those committing these acts accountable. he said his contagious smile, passion to serve others and unmatched work ethic embody the best of all of us. his death comes after a violent week of ram a pant smash and grab robberies in the bay and los angeles areas resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. law enforcement believes the flash mob thefts are coordinated group efforts. they're investigating who is organizing the crimes and beefing up patrols at shopping centers. it's not stopping thieves this holiday season. on black friday, a group of about eight suspects stormed a home depot store in lakewood and stole crowbars, mallets and sledge ma'amers before jumping in a bunch of get-away vehicles. take a listen to this employees

terrifying account of how this went down. >> when we closed the front entrance and they put their sledgehammers up like whoever got in the way they were going to hurt them and they threatened a customer and he got away and they ran out and the cops got here shortly. >> reporter: police arrested four people in connection to the robbery. dozens of smash and grab robbery suspects are on the loose. arthel: the sergeant's family remains in our prayers. thank you, christina. molly: the sex trafficking trial of jeffrey epstein's alleged accomplice starts tomorrow in new york. prosecutors say maxwell helped supply epstein with dozens of underage girls who he then allegedly you abused. one big question, will maxwell take the stand in her own defense? brian llenas has been covering this all along. he's in new york city, watching this for us now. brian. >> reporter: mollie, look, jill

lane maxwell has been sitting in a brooklyn federal jail cell for 17 months, awaiting the start of her trial after epstein's suicide in a new york jail cell in 2019, his sexual abuse accusers see this trial against maxwell as an opportunity to get some kind of justice. maxwell is accused of being epstein's madam, recruiting and grooming minor as young as 14 years old for epstein to abuse. the 59-year-old faces six federal sex trafficking charges which carry a maximum of 70 years in prison. prosecutors say maxwell would befriend these girls before handing them over for epstein to abuse in any one of his mansions from palm beach to new york to new mexico, in some cases max a well allegedly took part in the abuse herself. she is the youngest of nine children of disgraced tycoon and british publisher robert maxwell. she graduated from oxford and

met epstein in the early '90s. people are fascinated how a wealthy british woman could find herself being accused of these heinous crimes. maxwell's lawyers have tried to get her free on bail numerous times, complaining about inhumane jail cell conditions. this is a photo of her with a black eye from jail. maxwell's brother says she is scapegoated by u.s. prosecutors, hell-bent on holding someone responsible for epstein's crimes. >> the authorities lost epstein on their watch in federal custody, theoretically under 24/7 guard and they're taking it out on my sister. >> reporter: maxwell pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, mollie, the six-week trial begins tomorrow. molly: it's marred to believe that it's -- hard to believe that it's finally come, the trial is underway. we thank you. we look forward to the week ahead and your work. thank you. arthel: the omicron variant is reigniting fears around the

world, though very little is known about the latest version of the covid-19 virus. meantime, dr. anthony fauci says he would not be surprised if it's already here in the u.s. ♪i want to break free♪ (vo) ready to break free? let's get away to a place where we can finally be free. ♪i've got to break free♪ (vo) plan your getaway with norwegian. sail safe, feel free. [uplifting music playing]

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>> should we expect to be seeing more lockdowns again, new lockdowns, more mandates? >> it's really too early to say, people talking about lockdowns, people talking about that. let's see what the information that we are getting in real-time tells us and we'll make decisions based on the science and the evidence the way we always do. arthel: there's still a lot we don't know about the new omicron covid strain. early reports suggest those infected with the variant suffer only slight victims. some doctors warn the strain is very contagious and could even spread to those who are double vaccinated. dr. peter hotese joins us now, he is dean of the national school of tropical medicine and baylor college of medicine. doctor, it's really good to have you here. with so many unknowns about omicron, i want to ask you what questions will scientists try to answer in short order and how long do you think it will take

to collect the data. >> you're absolutely right, arthel, there's a lot we don't know. we will learn a lot more even by the end of this week, i think we'll know a lot more. here are the questions that i'm asking. number one, is this -- does this produce more severe disease than the variants that we've been experiencing, predominantly alpha and delta in the united states. i don't think so. it looks like it may be about the same. we're hearing some reports of mild disease, other reports out of south africa, saying they are seeing some severe disease. i think it will even out in the wash and look like more or less the same as what we've seen with alpha and del the take. -- delta. the other questions are what's the ability of this virus to escape vaccine induced immunity. there are a lot of mutations in the spike protein including the receptor binding domain which is the target of the vaccines. we've seen other ones with some similarities, if you remember the b1351 out of south africa last year, the beta or lambda

variant. those variants were partially resistant to the vaccines, by no means completely. with individuals that have toledoses of mrna i'm sayses, i'm -- immunizations, i'm hopeful the vaccines will work well. we'll know that by the end of this coming week and after that we're looking at the vaccines the way you do it is you actually measure the antibody to the vaccine, either an experimental animal or in people who have been immunized and you see how well it neutralizes the virus or a pseudo virus version of it and we can know that pretty quickly. so we're hoping they that we'll know the answer on our vaccines, the same which pfizer and moderna and i think there's a good probability you'll have some escape properties but not be completely resistant. the other thing to keep in mind is those two other variants that we've seen that are partially resistant, the beta and lambda,

they never really took off. we don't know that this is going to take off like alpha or delta, just because it's in multiple countries now, in europe and australia and the u.k., doesn't mean a whole lot because that's been true of every variant that we've had. so a lot we don't know and hopefully -- and we'll see how it accelerates. arthel: tomorrow as you well know, this travel ban will start from several countries in southern africa. does this help? here at home, should those traveling for christmas change their plans? >> yeah, i've been asked that a lot. i've not been a big fan of travel bans because this virus tends to spread so quickly and seed different countries. if you remember, when we were worried about the travel bans from china, the virus entered from southern europe and caused a terrible epidemic in new york city last year. so i haven't been a big fan of travel bans. i understand for now until we know what we're dealing with,

put it in place for a few days. let's see. we'll learn a lot more in the coming week. in terms of travel, again, if you can hold off making that decision, even a few days or by next week, i think you may be able to make a much more informed decision and that's what i've been advising colleagues because i've been getting a lot of those questions, especially for travel over the christmas holidays. arthel: how concerned are you? how concerned should we be, the global community. >> first of all, here in the united states i actually say this is not my biggest concern right now. my biggest concern is i'm worried about another big delta wave hitting the country as we head towards into december, just like we saw last year. we still have too many unvaccinated americans. so people say hey, we've already vaccinated 59% of the country and i say yeah, you've only vaccinated 59% of the country, that means 41% is not. and even those who are

vaccinated are often under-vaccinated. i think it's going to be really important that everyone follow through, get your booster if you're eligible and if you've been infected and recovered the level of protective immunity is highly variable and you can smooth had that out and ensure protection by getting vaccinated on top of being infected and recovered. this delta variant that i'm worried about, that really hammered our state of texas over the summer and then across the south, i'm worried we're starting to see the beginning of that winter wave in the upper midwest. we have a lot to worry about from the existing delta variant. arthel: 30 seconds before we go, doctor. you've got a lot of people who he remain vaccine hesitant or they're simply saying i'm not going the to get it, so what if i get covid, i'm going to survive it. what do you say to those people? >> what i say is we're about to reach 800,000 americans who have lost their lives and i'm really glad you asked the question because here is the real numbers. since june 1, arthel, 150,000

unvaccinated americans have needlessly of lost their lives. since june 1 of this year, 150,000 unvaccinated americans have needlessly lost their lives. none of those individuals had to loose their life. if you -- lose their life. if you care about your life and your loved ones, get your vaccine. arthel: doctor, appreciate your knowledge. thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. arthel: molly. molly: customs and border protection catching a stow-away who somesomehow survived a journey of 1,000 miles in landing gear department. officials waited for the american airlines flight. paramedics ran a quick medical check on the man while on the tarmac. he was brought to a local hospital for treatment and taken into custody. officials say he was trying to sneak into the u.s. arthel: a new migrant caravan is heading towards the u.s. border, raising major health

concerns as more nations impose travel restrictions due the omicron variant we were talking to dr. peter hotese about. new reaction from texas congressman tony gone less, there he is on -- gonzales, there he is on deck, he's up next. knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ow bizarre by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. the worst genocide in human history also destroyed the lives of thousands of jewish survivors still suffering today. god calls on people who believe in him

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thank you, congressman, for taking you few minutes for us on a sunday. we really appreciate your time. this is your backyard, your front yard, the front yard of the country here, yet another caravan headed this way and we are in the midst of watching this new variant. health officials have been a little cryptic, saying we have to watch and wait and see how serious it is. we have seen countries restricting travel and we see unrestricted travel to the southern border in some cases. your thoughts on this new variant. >> another migrant caravan, another deadly variant of the covid virus, it's groundhog day on the southern border and where is joe biden? i mean, joe biden is -- the biden administration isn't even trying to solve this border crisis that has turned deadly. where is the house democrats? where is their outrage for everything that's happening? over 550 migrants have died

during this crisis. you've got unaccompanied children that have allegations of sexual abuse under the biden administration and house democrats are nowhere to be found. sadly, border patrol agents are under attack for being forced to have this vaccine mandate, yet here we have this new variant. there's no testing that's occurring. all of this lies at the feet of the biden administration. molly: when we talk about the size of this caravan, it's estimate todd be about 1,000 people. according to u.s. customs and border protection, in october alone there were 164,000 apprehensions. that doesn't include all of the run rers and folks that -- runners and folks that managed to slip across without having interaction with our american law enforcement and here we're seeing the biden administration restricting essential travel to only vaccinated folks starting in january. as far as the mandate applying to noncitizens, truck drivers, government workers, that sort of thing. your thoughts on -- do you see an irony there?

>> oh, yeah. there's no doubt an irony. look, the biden administration is preventing flights from south america due to this variant. what they need to do is they need to secure our southern border and they need to secure it from all illegal immigrants coming through. we're in the middle of a global pandemic and this is putting people's lives at risk. sadly, this administration doesn't want to do anything because if they did, they would. and instead, they're attacking our men and women in green that are trying to protect ourselves and protect our country from this and i go back to it, where are the house democrats? i've got a bill that would do a couple different things. one, it would label cartel as terrorist organizations. another thing it would do is it would ensure that our border patrol gets the pay that they deserve. these are the type of things that people are looking for, leadership in congress needs to change and when the republicans have the house, we're going to make sure to secure the southern border. molly: there are reports that

the biden administration that dhs is looking to restart the remain in mexico policy, that of course a trump era initial program that had been so controversial at the time among democrats and critics that it argued it was cruel and even racist. but now it looks like potentially this may be happening under the biden administration which of course would require asylum seekers to stay on the other side of the border while their clairim claie being heard. your thought on that potential and what that could look like. >> myself and many house republican colleagues have called to reinstate the trump rema mexico policy. what this administration has done is not being transparent. while on the surface it has said it's going to reimplement this policy, it has yet to do that. and there are talks -- it isn't just the administration alone. the they have to work with mexico and there's talks that that is getting stalled as well. so i keep a close eye to ensure that this administration follows through with their goal of reinstating the remain in mexico

policy. that is only one of many things that need to occur. what we have to do, we have to get our border patrol agents out of the processing business and get them back into the field. that way they can keep us safe not only from these variants that are coming through but from terrorist acts that may occur as well. molly: great point. when they're doing paperwork or monitoring family units coming across the border, taking away from other business like trying to stop the fentanyl that's streaming a across, that sort of thing. many of the people in the latest caravan have left their area there, sort of been referred to in one reuters article by folks living down there as a prison city that they've been trapped down there, awaiting paperwork. they have given up, jumped in the caravan and they're heading north, kids and family units. what should the biden administration do to address the issue. should it occur closer to where it's occurring in the, quote,

prison city. >> one thing the biden administration should do is get engaged and listen to people that live and work along the border every day. they've gone it alone, they haven't listened to democrats or republicans. we've seen where it's gotten us. the american public should ask one thing. are they better off than they were 11 months ago and the answer is -- the southern border is as open as it's ever been and it's solely due to the failed policies. some of the things that this administration can do is they can have these areas in southern mexico or guatemala and if somebody wants to come over and seek asylum, they can -- that can be the first stop, not wait until they get to del-rio or eagle pass or el paso or anywhere along the border. where is the testing? we see the variant coming through, this deadly variant that fauci and others are talking about. where is the testing for these millions of illegal aliens coming through? these are some things the administration could do today. molly: texas congressman tony

gonzales, thank you so much. we really appreciate your insight and taking a little time for us. thank you. >> thank you. molly: arthel. arthel: well, european officials holding an emergency meeting on their own migrant crisis after dozens of people drowned trying to cross the english channel. it is believed to be the deadliest migrant crossing incident of on record. let's go to trey yingst, he's live in jerusalem. trey, what more can you tell us. >> reporter: good afternoon. france held talks today with european ministers over their own developing migrant crisis. the aim of this meeting we understand was to get on the same page about operational coordination to stop human smuggling and the trans pour trf people. french president emanuel macron is calling on the united kingdom to get serious over the developing situation as the british were not included in the conversation. last wednesday 27 people died as they attempted to cross the english channel. five people were arrested

following the tragedy. one had a car that was registered in germany. french authorities have set up a patrol group, thermal cameras and barbed wire to try to stop the flow of people crossing near the entrance of the channel. despite the attempts at curbing the flow of people toward the u.k., thousands are expected to continue trying to make the journey. the refugee council is calling on european governments to find a solution under the idea of shared humanitarian values. >> people recognize and understand and see a common sense of humanity with those that experienced trauma, war and persecution and they want to offer a hand of help and support but at the same time understandably they are worried and they're anxious when they see images of people coming across the channel. >> reporter: humanitarian organizations have noted that the strategies of deterrence similarly aren't working right now, people are fleeing such desperate situations in their home country that they're willing to risk it all simply to

get to a better life. arthel. arthel: it's a global issue. trey yingst in jerusalem. thank you, trey. molly. molly: high prices, low supplies, staffing shortages, it's adding up to a critical holiday season crunch at food banks across the country. lauren green has this story. >> reporter: this time of year the lack of food or warmth or family is much more keenly felt. but the pandemic has created an economic chain reaction, bringing even more hardship. here in new york, hundreds of people have received their thanksgiving supplies. last year this food bank purchased turkeys for $12 he each. 12 each. this year it cost them nearly 20. food banks are struggling to provide food as people are feeling the economic pinch. supply chain disruptions, transportation shortages, lower inventories at manufacturers,

labor shortages have resulted in increased costs, decreased stock and delayed deliveries for charitable food organizations. >> the increase in food crisis is a real challenge for meeting the needs of people who are struggling to put food on the table across the country. our food banks are seeing prices that are two to three times what they were just nine months ago. >> reporter: according to feeding america, there was a 44% increase to meals to people in need in 2020 and 58% increase in the amount of supplies food banks had to purchase. one food bank in new jersey said before the pandemic they distributed 50,000 you meals. >> people pay their rent first, they pay their medicine, they pay their car, heating bill. everything is going up exponentially. salaries aren't going up to head off the costs. if you had had problems before the pandemic and you had problems during the pandemic

you're still continuing to have problems. >> reporter: this year they're on pace to distribute nearly twice that, 95 million meals because the need is that great. the best way to help is to send money. every dollar goes to buy meals. if you can't send cash donate your time. volunteers are needed as well. lauren green, fox news. arthel: really good point. got to support our local food banks there. so the one, two punch of high prices and low supplies is hitting practically everyone across the country as we enter the holiday season, president biden says progress is being made but when will we start seeing relief? president obama's former economic advisor robert wolf will weigh in on that. he's up next.

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molly: a powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit peru earlier today. the epicenter stuck a northern coastal province. three people reportedly suffering minor injuries and part of a 16th century church collapsed. the tremor was felt nearly 500 miles away in the capital city of lima. >> i don't think we have an issue with demand. i think incomes are strong. retail sales are strong.

companies have lots of money. the problem is the supply side and that unless we fix the supply side, it will contaminate the demand side. that's why it's really important to focus on the two big issues we have, supply disruption and inflation. arthel: high gas and food prices marking the beginning of what might be a financially tight holiday season for many, which has been made worse by the backlog of container ships off the coast of california, some logistics experts saying any noticeable relief will still be a long ways away. meanwhile, president biden he says he is working to bring immediate relief at california's ports, tweeting, quote, because of the actions we've taken in the past three weeks, the number of containers sitting on docks is down 33% and shipping prices are down 25%. goods are moving quicker out of our ports and onto doorsteps and store shelves. joining us now, fox news

contributor and a former economic advisor to president obama, robert wolf. president biden touting his actions to ease the clogged supply chain. however, the supply chain is driven -- well, you tell me, is it driven by the president or the pandemic? >> well, there's no question that in this post-pandemic environment the supply chain crisis and the logistics issues we have have been highly proliferated and isn't something we want in the holiday season. that being said, arthel, it has definitely eased up a bit. the public/private partnerships that started about a month ago with ceos from walmart and target and costco have come out and said that their supplies are going to be stocked. so all these tweets that went on of empty shelves, that doesn't exist anymore. you're not seeing that. on the price pressure part, it's still higher than where we need to be, no question.

but on the opposite side, wages are going up, jobs are going up, unemployment's going down, so we have a lot of things going well. but, you know, we're in a situation that we haven't been before in 100 plus years with this type of post-pandemic environment and it's going to take time. arthel: because now there's this new variant. more than likely they will be future variants. will this further some the delayed shipments? i know you just highlighted how some things -- cost he co-andand wall -- costco and walmart, their shelves are supplied. you can go there and get what you need. we keep seeing this kind of knee jerk because of the pandemic. it's still here. so is that going to still -- should we be patient and understand that there will be some supply chain issues as a result? >> there is absolutely no question that the correlation between the pandemic and the

economy is 100%. if we have to close down the economy, it's going to suffer. when we opened up, the economy flew high. consumer demand was up exponentially greater than during the pandemic. i don't think we're in a situation like we were in april, may of 2020. i think we're in a situation where we know that there are things we need to do, like getting vaccinated. we know that in certain places we need to maybe have a mask mandate. i think the more people get vaccinated and the more people take their boosters, the more we can feel comfortable as a country that we're going to continue to open up and hopefully come back to some sort of normalcy. but inflation is not going to be driven down overnight. gas prices unfortunately have stayed high. partly because people are

traveling again, like they did in their pre-pandemic environment. but recall, arthel, oil's right no where we were in 2018. but gas prices are higher than that. so i think actually we have to look at why that correlation has kind of gone out of whack as well. arthel: also we have to look at what he opec is doing. you can't have, because demand is up, people are travelinging like you said, you can't have companies gouging the price of petro. >> i've always been a supporter of what i call an all-in energy you approach. we have to look at everything from oil and coal and clean energy and renewables, obviously i think climate action's important but the transition to renewables is not going to take place overnight. it's still a small portion of the number of our energy progress and the more we get it to a clean energy environment,

the better off we'll be. that being said as we go into winter, we need to use all the type of energy we can to keep the prices down. i should also add that there's a lot of private leases and there's a lot of drilling that could get done and right now the private sector isn't comfortable with the volatility of the oil prices and the cost to actually open new leases. so that -- arthel: how do you stabilize that? how do you stabilize that to get them more confident? >> you know, i think that there's no question that the biden administration looks at climate as an incredible, important part of the future of our economy. unlike the trump administration. so there's no question that some of these private sector energy companies are nervous from a regulatory environment and you look at something like the xl pipeline, which by the way i could argue that it started with republican governor not being

supportive of it going under its basin. as we look the machinations between clean energy and the need for us to be energy independent, there's a lot of things we need to do and the best thing we can do is actually start working more together, these public/private partnerships, that will be a big part of the new infrastructure bill. there's going to be a good thing for our economy and our country but these things don't happen overnight. arthel: public/private partnerships and also democratic/republican. it doesn't matter which governments are in favor of this or that and who opposes it. we have to get together. listen, you mentioned something, robert, i want to wrap with this. you mentioned how it would be so much better if people would get vaccinated and follow the mask rules and everything to control this pandemic. it's so ironic because the very people who are complaining about inflation and gas prices, all of the stuff, the supply chain, you name it, you know, they're the ones who don't want to comply

with the rules and the suggestions that this will help. so it's kind of like the fireman stirring the fire and they don't want to put it out. i don't know, do you see my point here? >> my message would be get vaccinated now. i think it's safer for yourself as an individual and it's also safer for the people you're around and it will get us back to work more quickly in a normal environment. that's obviously something that is keeping people out of the workforce. they're nervous about the covid, nervous about the pandemic and therefore we're going to have to really change the way we look at healthcare benefits, child care, elder care, which is why i'm supportive of many parts of the build back better plan. arthel: i know you're a former economic advisor, not doctor. just wanted to point out how the pandemic and the prices are correlated. so fox news contributor robert wolf, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. happy holidays. arthel: to you as well. molly. molly: speaking of holidays,

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now online shoppers are turning their attention to cyber monday. foot traffic was down in stores on back friday compared with 2019, a possible indication that tomorrow's cyber monday could be one of the busiest ever. alexandria hoff is watching that for us. >> reporter: black friday isn't the king it used to be for retailers. while black friday foot traffic was down compared to pre-pandemic levels it was up from last year. online sales fell for the first time in a decade. he retailers racked up $8.9 billion in cyber sales last year, compared with $9 billion on the same day if 2020. >> people were worried about supplies in the last two months and we saw a big jump in retail sales earlier than a lot of people expected. >> reporter: a major test comes tomorrow, in order to set the record set in 2019, consumers will have to spend over $9.4 billion. the national retail federation

expects holiday sales from november to december to rise 8 and-a-half to 10 and-a-half percent, that too would set a record for year over year growth but fox news contributor jonathan hoenig has some doubts. >> people are feeling it. inflation is going up faster. >> reporter: consumers may also be eyeing up some markdowns aren't as steep as they used to be, when factoring sales prices are falling on top of items that are already more expensive. molly: lots of folks will be watching those holiday sales. alexandria, thank you. arthel: i've got my eye on a couple of little websites for tomorrow. anyway, we're back, molly and i will be back at 4:00 eastern. please join us then. in the meantime, stick around with more news from washington. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust.

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