p.m. eastern on the fox news channel. will. alicia: our coverage of the war on i crane -- ukraine continues throughout the evening. stay with fox news for the latest developments. "the big saturday show" is next. ♪ ♪ [background sounds] [gunfire] [inaudible conversations] >> a mosque where 80 ukrainians were hiding has closed in on kyiv, i'm griff general since along with rachel campos duffy,

joe joey jones and jackie deangelis. it is midnight in kyiv, and a defiant ukrainian president zelenskyy says russia a will have to carpet bomb the capital and kill its residents if it wants to take that city. trey yingst joins us live with the latest on the ground. hey, trey. >> give, good -- griff, good afternoon. we've heard some of the loudest shelling since this war began, it's been taking place for about the past 4 hours -- 24 hours. these explosions not only coming from shelling, but also the anti-aircraft batteries firing off as ukrainians look to shoot the russian planes that are overhead out of the sky. the civilian population here still trying to flee for safety, and there are volunteers from all over the world gathered here in ukraine to end -- help them do so. we met one american this weekend, his name is dwight crowe, and he traveled to irpin just outside of the capital city limits to try to help these

people getting out of harm's way. his words give you an underline on what people willing to risk amid this conflict. take a listen. >> just doing it not even that, i'm mostly carrying stretchers helping civilian and wounded evacuation. there's a lot of really incredible ukrainian volunteers that are leading the charge and putting themself in harm's way for their countrymen, and i'm just trying to help out. >> reporter: the evacuations come as serious shelling has taken place once again in the southern cities in ukraine. mariupol, a population of nearly 400,000 people, surrounded by russian forces still at this hour. you can see in this video tanks in the street ises firing at civilian areas, apartment buildings, and many people there have been killed, more than 1600, since the invasion began so far according to the deputy mayor. now, ukrainian volodymyr zelenskyy remains in the capital, he remains defiant, and he had this to say today. >> translator: if they kill all of us, then they will enter

kyiv. if this is the goal, then let them enter, but they will end up leaving a alone this this land, certainly without us. they will not find friends among us. >> reporter: the streets of kyiv are prepared for a ground invasion. there are soldiers dug in on the sides of the roads nearly every block, they have checkpoints set up, they have moved barriers into the roadways, and they're ready, heels dug in to prepare for this possible russian advance. back to you. griff: and, trey, we've been worrying about this push into the capital. you've been doing amazing, phenomenal reporting to give us a sense of what's happening in kyiv, and it appears that from the northwest along with the northeast, russian forces really closing in, that artillery shelling getting worse. but yet the south route seems a little bit still open. talk to me about how important that southern ingress route is in really how close you're seeing things close in, if you can. >> reporter: yeah, look, this southern route is extremely

significant not only for civilians to evacuate the city, but also to keep open that critical supply line for ukrainian military equipment. it's the main line, the artery that has been allowing the ukrainian forces who are fighting both the west and east side of the city to do so and then resupply those troops on the front lines. and it will be critical in the days ahead. analysts do believe the russian troops intend to try and surround this city, but they will have trouble doing so. and remember, early on in this operation conducted by russia there was a sense that the russians were going to move forward with their invasion very quickly, in 2-3 days, to try to take the capital of kyiv. it's been almost three weeks, and they haven't been able to do so. it will be important for the ukrainians to maintain these lines and keep that southern supply line open so civilians can leave and they can continue to resupply their troops on the front lines. rachel: hi, trey, i just hope you're staying safe out there. we're so proud of all your

reporting. you did play a clip of zelenskyy sounding defiant, but "the new york post" reported in that same interview he said he wants to start, zelenskyy said, he wants to start the process of a peace settlement. i know germany and france have tried with no luck. what can you tell he about this and also about any efforts on the u.s. side to help move a peaceful settlement along? >> reporter: yeah. today president zelenskyy calls for more western involvement in a peace process. one interesting thing that we learned today is that the israelis are involved. prime minister naftali benefit trying to convince the sides to come to jerusalem and have peace talks there. it would be symbolic, but the problem is getting both sides to the table and having them agree on even the framework of a peace if conversation. at this point it doesn't appear we are there yet. both sides are continuing their process, the ukrainians defending their sovereign country and the russians pushing forward with their invasion. the conversations do continue, but a war of this scale is

extremely messy, it's extremely complicated, and it makes it very difficult to even start formal conversations that could lead to some sort of peace settlement. joey: trey, this is joey. we've heard all the talk about providing fighter jets, migs from, perhaps, poland, our own government's gone back and forth on this, and the ukrainian president keeps saying they need help to, as they say, close the sky. but what type of -- do you see any ukrainian air force in the air in kyiv protecting the city now? one thing that's been reported our government said that it's mostly a ground war and that's why they didn't support it. another report showed that -yard line has a lot of jets still of their own. it just seems to not match up, what they're asking for, as opposed to what our government is saying they have. >> reporter: yeah, look, the ukrainian air force is still very much in play here. early on in the war we saw a lot more ukrainian planes in the sky, but they are still operating, they're still able to land at bases in the western part of the country. we don't know exactly the

numbers based on the bases because the ukrainians, they want to keep that information private. but what we do know is they are calling for more jets. they want fighter jets delivered to this country. we've seen the political back and forth. but they do have something extremely important that the russians say they don't have, and we've seen it in action, and that's air defense systems. they have a number of batteries around this city. we saw them firing off tonight as they're trying to shoot those russian gent out of the sky -- jets out of the sky, and i think that's where we're going to see most of the aid focus on because there is that debate of nato and not wanting to drag in other countries into this conflict, and it's a very fine line here. the russians today, even the deputy foreign minister, said they would start targeting the convoy's weapons even if they're delivered by nato countries. you imagine if there are fighter jets delivered, it raises that question about whether or not the russians would directly target foreign planes that are brought here to this country. jackie: trey, it's jackie, good evening to you.

you have mentioned that the anticipation on the ground with the russian forces would make their offensive on kyiv quicker, and it's taken roughly three weeks to try to encroach upon that area. what do you think changed? is it what we're seeing on the ground with respect to ukrainians fighting, being willing to stay in their country and trying to protect it? do you think that is strategically what's here because if it is, it almost sounds like it's become a game of chick when you hear zelenskyy talking about the fact they'll just have to bomb it and have tremendous blood on their hands. >> reporter: yeah, look, i think it's a two-part issue. one has to do with the ukrainians, one has to do with the russians. on the ukrainian side, there's fierce resistance. the russians are not walking into ukraine as early reports indicated they might. and as moscow really tried to push to their people that a they would. so they've faced very serious resistance not only around kyiv, but kharkiv, a number of the

northeastern cities. the ukrainians are fighting back and trying to push back this russian offensive. when we look at these force, a lot of them are young 18, 19-year-olds who are conscripts, they're here fighting their first war, and the videos that we've seen of these troops -- and, joey, you probably can speak more to this, but they're not organized in a lot of cases. they get hit once, and you see them getting out of their apcs and tanks and running in different directions. i think the one thing you'll look at in the coming weeks and analysts will really observe is that the russians have these special units that have been operating. they send them to take over a air bases just outside of the city, but when it comes to just the regular fighting force, the combat troops on the ground, many of them do not have combat experience. this is the first time they are seeing war, and it's showing in z many parts of this war. griff: trey, i can't say enough complimentary things about your coverage. you've been doing this now for three week, and i think that

aspiring journalists who want to cover armed conflicts should study the way you have been able to capture the images of the scorched earth tactics of the russian forces, to capture the humanity of the civilians fleeing, running for their lives with nothing. but i to want to ask you just because -- i do want to ask you just because out of everything you've seen, is there one moment , is there one image, one exchange so far in your mind that really encapps lates, really captures the story for the world to see? >> reporter: thank you, and it's a great question. dwight crowe, the guy that you heard there are there in our original piece. there was a moment where he was helping these elderly women across a bridge that had been targeted by the ukrainians so they could stop the russian advance on the city. and this location, a number of people have died around there. there have been significant shellings taking place there. even reports of snipers. and it's a volatile situation,

but there was this one elderly woman, and she could barely make it across the bridge. but dwight helped her, and he was helping her the whole way across. and then when she got across the bridge, he kind of went on to help other people as they were crossing, and she started to cry. and it was this moment where he recognized that that there was another human that felt safe with him nearby, and and they put her into a wheel barer row because she wouldn't walk with up this embankment. as they're taking her up, dwight reaches his hand out, and he walks up with her holding her hand. and then she gets to the ambulance and smiles at him and waves good-bye, and that was a moment that stands out in my mind amid this very dark and destructive time for ukraine, a moment of life. griff: we were just showing that video of dwight with that woman. trey, thank you so much for your coverage. we will check back with be with you -- with you. trey yingst in kyiv. up next, president biden pointing a finger at vladimir putin for rising prices here at

home, but has you are -- has our president forgotten inflation was a problem well before the war in ukraine? we'll discuss it when "the big saturday show" returns. ♪ meet three moms who each like to bank their own way. luckily they've all got chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. out here, you're a landowner, one gram of sugar, a gardener, a landscaper and a hunter.

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- when i was flying, i used to love sitting on the ramp. it's that wind in your face experience and being on the recumbent kind of brought that back. an rpg came through the belly of the aircraft. i'm not sure i would still be here if i didn't find the friends in wounded warrior project that i did. we don't talk about the female combat wounded. these are our daughters and our sisters and our mothers. i got on the bike and i tried it out. it felt a lot like flight and i felt like i got a piece of me back. in that moment, i was like, this is it. i'm unstoppable. i can do, i can do anything. the truth is i think we all have this strength inside of us, but until you're tested, you just don't know it's there.

joey: we're back with a fox news alert. the war in ukraine impacting americans with rising inflation, hitting another 40-year high this week at 7.9%. president biden says blame putin. even though prices have been surging for the whole year. >> from the moment he put his over 150,000 troops on the ukrainian border, the price of gasoline in january went up 75 cents. putin began aa massing troops along the border and, make no mistake, it's largely the fault of putin. joey: ukraine is putting a stop to exportses of wheat, operates and other staples. the move could create a global food shortage. all right, guys, jackie, i want to go to you first on this. we have a montage of the biden administration saying that inflation was all these other

reasons long before putin was, i guess, the cause. let's check this out. >> economic analysts believe it will have a temporary, transitory impact where people go to the grocery store and they're trying to beltway a -- buy a pound of meat, the prices are higher. that is, in his view and the view of our secretary of agriculture, because of you could call it corporate greed, sure. >> i think it's, it's important to realize that the cause of this inflation is the pandemic. joey: all right, jackie, so i've got a list here. i've got it's transitory, it's not going to last a long time, i've got it's the mean meatpackers, it's their fault, oil and gas, it's their fault, and now it's putin's fault. i feel like we've had inflation for a while, and maybe that almost $2 trillion we spent last year would have something to do with it. jackie: i would think so. it started in march of 2021 when he passed the american rescue

package, $1.9 trillion. guys, america didn't need to be rescued then. we were working our way through the pandemic. we had vaccines that were being distributed, we wanted to reopen the economy. but they didn't want to do that. now, i'm going to go just with gas prices for a moment here, and i'm going to be very generous to this biden administration and to jen psaki9 and the president himself. [laughter] i'm going to give putin 85 cents of the blame. that's how much prices are up in the last month or so. but since biden was inaugurated, prices are up $1.94. when you subtract the putin 85 cents, you've got $1.09, okay? that goes on the biden administration, and you have to ask them why prices went up $1.09 on their watch if we take putin out of this, and they'll point fingers in every direction. they'll say it's corporate greed, they'll say it's big oil. it wasn't. it was the policies. the minute this administration came into office, it said we don't support the energy

industry, we want to basically, eventually put a ban on tracking without wall -- fracking without calling it that, we want to shut down our pipelines, and we want to push this green energy agenda. and that is why oil and gas companies in this country, no matter how many leases they were approved to drill on, they stopped drilling, stopped investing. and they're subject to the same problems every ore industry is subject to as well. the labor shortage, the supply chain issue. they have parts coming from china that they needs for those wells to be able to function and operate. so this at its core started with the administration, not the pandemic or anything else. joey: no, you're absolutely right. and just talking about those drilling permits, there's a difference between a federal lease and a permit to drill, and there are 4600 permits to drill on those leases that are a waiting to be approved, just to add that note there. but, griff, if we move on from energy, we have ukraine which is one-half of the bread bass breadbasket of the world -- bred basket of the world, feels like

this is to put pressure on europe to say, hey, this is going to hit home for us. but what could biden's role be in this? if what could our government be, i guess, to make ukraine feel okay about continuing to supply food for the rest of europe? if. griff: look, joey, apparently you didn't get the memo -- [laughter] it's hashtag putin's price hike. [laughter] you know, in all of this -- i don't know, to answer your question specifically with the fact that, you know, the ukrainian supplier of wheat in the world is 40 percent. i'm sure jackie can straighten me out with exact numbers. but i think the largest thing is as the administration has tried to shift the blame for inflation and, by the way, you mentioned the 40-year high in the intro, it's been that for three months. that's why you're seeing not just republicans like mitch mcconnell trying to rebrand it and spin it, but you're also a seeing even democrats, obama's

former economic adviser steven rattner on twitter calling out the spin from this white house saying this isn't putin's inflation in rising prices, this is biden's. [laughter] joey: quite the saint. -- statement. it's putin's war, but we're paying for it, and our president might have something to do with that. rachel, there's a comedian out there, his name's bill maher. he's not only friend friendly with republicans, but he had a bold statement. take a look. >> if putin thought trump was really that supportive of him, why didn't he invade when trump was in office? it's at least worth asking that question if you're not locked into one intransigent thought. joey: rachel, we can talk about why didn't he invade while trump was in office, i really think that leads into how strong this collusion narrative was that putin was afraid to invade under trump. but what do you think president trump could have done had this started under his watch, maybe a

month ago, maybe before the invasion started? do you think president trump would have taken military action? how would he have prevented us from getting here? rachel: well, if you look at the trump years, one of the things i really liked about donald trump is he didn't get us into wars. i was waiting during those two weeks when our government kept saying, you know, they're going to invade, they're lining up their troops, they're getting -- so i was waiting for the u.s. government, our state department, our diplomats to get together and find a peace accord, a way out of this because the best war is the one that didn't start. so that's what i wonder. i give kudos to bill maher because i think he asked a very intellectually honest question. there's a reason that putin didn't do it in four years, and it could be people think, you know, we don't know what trump will do, but i think the real reason is we exuded economic and military strength during that period of time. just this week, joey, congressman biggs from arizona wrote a really great op-ed, it

was called it was a wonderful life under trump. and i think it was interesting because he laid out all the things, all the prosperity, all the good times, and that would be the challenge for the biden administration, because if we don't have to think back 15 or 20 years to the good times of the bush -- of the trump years when we were in this record-breaking economy. it was just a couple years ago. he put our country first, he put our oil and energy first and, guess what? other countries didn't think about doing things the way russia did like invading ukraine. which is destabilizing the world right now and putting us in danger of nuclear war. joey: well, you know, if we make it through this okay, president trump's leading the straw poll. i think this is an important conversation to have. all right. the biden administration facing scrutiny over kamala harris' performance on the world stage. was she the choice to send overseas? that's next. ♪

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jackie: while russia attacks ukraine, the biden administration if's blunders on the world stage are under the microscope as vice president kamala harris stumbles repeatedly during her visit overseas. >> how long should we be bracing for this really sort of historic inflation and some unprecedented gas prices? >> sure. we are in constant communication with the president, with his administration here. >> is the united states willing to make a specific allocation for ukrainian refugees. >> okay. [laughter] a friend in need is a friend indeed. [laughter] jackie: rachel, i want to go ahead and start with you because you brought up this issue of prevention when it comes to the war in ukraine, and it comes

back to kamala harris because this administration talks about how it was going to use diplomacy to try to prevent a war. and then you see her there. whenever she's uncomfortable or doesn't know the answer to a question, you get that cackle. she has a history of doing it, or she can't answer the questions on inflation. these are the leaders that are in charge of this when we are potentially on the verge of world war iii. rachel: yeah. very troubling. i mean, this is the most dangerous period of time i remember really? my lifetime. these are scary, scary times, and we have someone like her being sent into this very precarious situation, practically a tinder box, and that's how she performs for us. and what's interesting to me especially as a minority woman is that anyone who criticizes this obviously lackluster performance on her part will say a lot of her, you know, a lot of liberals will say, well, it's racism if you criticize here. her: and i think about

condoleezza rice who was, you know, somebody -- you didn't have to agree with her politics, but we never questioned her intelligence, we never questioned e how well she represented this country, her class, her race. she never had moments like this. and so i think what -- i don't know what they're saying, that democrat minority women should be held to a different standard? is i don't think so. this is a very dangerous time. we need to put our best foot forward. they promised us then going to be the adults in the room. they just had a summit this week with a bunch of tiktok influencers to talk about situation in ukraine. it's dedepressing. jackie: and speaking of the racism card or in other cards, sexism, because "the view" host, this was their take on how the public is treating kamala harris. >> i personally my this she was a guy, they would never say it. >> this is based in racism, in misogyny, and we're talking about a woman that has extensive

experience abroad, ebbs tensive experience as an attorney, extensive experience as the chief legal officer of one of our largest states in the country, and i think this is just much ado about nothing. >> absolutely, there's a racial aspect to it. jackie: joey, i want to get your take on that. your reaction to that. they were trying to list her credentials but yet we see in the sound why notes we have how she acts, so the mix is being criticized for its criticism of her. joey: they think that we're too tough on kamala harris, just wait until they hear the criticisms we have of joe biden, sitting in the oval office and he can't get through a speech without saying something that leave us puzzled. he can't get through a message to putin without saying you can have a minor incursion. he can't get through his democratic conference without trying to convince people that know better that inflation is

putin's fault over the last month. listen, we're going. to criticize leaders who don't lead and who make us look a bad on the world stage. that's what kamala harris has done regardless of her gender, race, orientation or my of those things. jackie: and, griff, real quick as we're watching this play out, this is an administration that continues to act on its heels, right? i think back to the withdrawal from afghanistan, and i think prevention, again, could have been a useful tool there. and so we're watching this play out in realtime in a different situation, and so many people are wondering, you know, is the administration incompetent? is it an unwillingness to accept what's happening in the world and step up? because there is the argument to be pealed that if president trump was in the white house, this wouldn't be happening because he was feared in some ways by some of these vicious leaders. griff: jackie, i'll leave the history books to answer that question, but this was by no means a mr. gorbachev, tear down

that wall statement. laughing, standing next to that president when the stakes were high, as rachel pointed out, this is a very, very serious moment. you do not need a u.s. leader laughing at a time like this. jackie: all right -- rachel: we could use reagan right now, by the way. [laughter] jackie: coming up, russia ramps up the savagery in ukraine, reportedly abducting and torturing a mayor. we've got a live report on the ground in ukraine when "the big saturday show" returns. ♪ ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i've breathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel i've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪

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rachel: we're back with a fox news aall right. a ukrainian mayor is abducted and reportly tortured as russia steps up their attacks on civilians. dozens of protesters gathering to demand the release of their kidnapped mayor. meanwhile, russian troops are holding more than 200 people hostage at the chernobyl nuclear

plant, and ukraine claims putin has,s quote, ordered the preparation of a terror attack. let's go live to mike tobin in lviv. mike, let's talk about that nuclear plant because the daughter of one of the engineers there says that the people who are holding these workers hostage know nothing about how to run that plant, and there's a real concern that there could be an emergency or an accident there. >> reporter: well, because they know nothing about running the nuclear plant, that's exactly why they're holding these employees hostage. you have the tech nears, the scientists -- engineers, the scientists who are being held at that facility because the invading forces don't know how to handle nuclear science. initially when they took over the chernobyl exclusion zone, of course for all the obvious reasons people were very afraid, but it really seems now that you've seen the forces come down from the belarus border the reason they took over the exclusive zone -- exclusion zone is because they needed that

reality for their forces to advance. so it's not necessarily that they were looking to make a dirty bomb or hold that area hostage, if you will. but they simply needed the real estate for their military means. you saw that recently the generators went out, and they went off the grid, and there was a lot of concern that that could cause a meltdown. i've been talking with some nuclear scientists who say those facilities haven't been active for some 20 years. you could leave those spent rods laying in the open air, and it would not cause a meltdown. so other than the obvious fact that you have all these engineers and employees held against their will, the risk of a nuclear meltdown there chernobyl right now is not much worse than it was prior to this. rachel: that's good to hear. by: mike, this is joey. i know you're in lviv and out further west, and the majority of access to that city are people coming in and leaving the country. but we get reports this week or in the last 24 hours of cities in the west being hit by what

russians say was long-range missiles. is there a heightened level of alert or fear in lviv that perhaps it could be a target soon? if. >> reporter: well, they certainly are on a war footing here all over lviv. they're taking this very seriously. most of what you see here are people who are cribbing to the war effort -- contributing to the war effort further east. the mayor has banned all alcohol sales, the town is under curfew if, and you do hear the air raid sirens from time to time. keep in mind the targets that were hit were a couple of military airstrip ises, and it really seems they were hit around the time you had all this talk with poland about sending fighters into the action here on the ukrainian side, and it really seemed to be a message from the if russians don't send the fighters, we'll just blow them up. jackie: mike if, it's jackie. if i may ask you about the ukrainian mayor that was kidnapped. it seems that the russians are being very strategic, and in some ways they're trying to send a message, in my view, to kyiv

saying look what we're doing in the surrounding cities. this is the kind of stuff that could happen, you know, to you as well to almost intimidate people to get more people to leave, to get less people to fight, for example. your take on that particular situation. >> reporter: well, i can tell you that president zelenskyy just had a conversation with israel's prime minister, naftali bennett, and they discussed the abduction, and he tweeted -- i should be able to pull that up right now, the end of that tweet he said ask for assist in the release of captive mayor and local public figures. zelenskyy has called this ab abduction a new phase of terror. >> translator: ed today in melitopol, they kidnapped the mayor who has defended ukraine. the russian forces switched to a new state of terror where they

are trying to physically eliminate representatives. >> reporter: now, the deputy head of zelenskyy's office released a video he says shows the abduction of mayor federer complete with ten russian soldiers and a bag over his head. thousands of people out on the streets, and you should note that the russian argument in all of this is they say that federer raised money for terrorist activities, that he was financing the nationalist militant sector. and it's important to note we're getting deep into the bitter, divided politics of this separatist region as we start talking about this. that's where melitopol is, in the donbas region, essentially where the backbone of vladimir putin's reasoning for why he stated publicly that he wanted to invade ukraine in the first place. he says that the russian loyalists in the separatist region were being oppressed by

the ukrainianens and, ultimately, by the west. and you should also note that russia has propped up a russian-friendly mayor in that town, a guy who has stated publicly that he doesn't want the people out there to make any waves, don't destabilize, accept the new reality. guys? jackie: mike tobin, thanks for that really great report. rachel: appreciate it. >> reporter: you got it. rachel: all right. stay safe. still ahead on "the big saturday show," a house party on spring break takes a disturing -- disturbing and dark turn when several college students overdose on cocaine laced with drugs that came from china or mexico. an update that every parent needs to hear, next. ♪ ♪

jackie: welcome back to "the the big saturday show. " police making arrests after spring breakers overdose on what's believed to be vain cane laced with fentanyl. two of the cadets involved were army football players. joey, i want to go to you first on this. what we know about fentanyl is that it's 50-100 times more potent than morphine. we also know that a drug

traffickers lace cocaine with this drug because it's cheaper and will get you more of a high without putting significantly more cocaine into this concoction. you've got these kids partying and using drugs not knowing what they're taking, essentially, and dying from it. this was one of the reasons that president trump went after china, because that's where a lot of the fentanyl comes from. he also wanted to police the southern border because it's coming from mexico also, to prevent situations like this. joey: listen, i'm going to take a line here, and i hope people understand where i'm coming from. fentanyl is a serious problem, a huge problem, and this is not to victim blame. i want every single person from this to recover and live a happy life. but my first reaction is as a united states marine who spent eight years in the marine corps in places like california, hawaii, places where drugs exist, it blows my mind to think that a west point cadet would be doing this, much less two of them. i really would not believe i

could find two cadets that would have this lapse many judgment. so, obviously, the fentanyl's the big issue here. the second issue is where is our military culture. you're talking about two sets of code of conduct, two things in their life that says i'm a part of something bigger than myself. and what it makes me worry is do we have the right leadership, ma wake -- makes, what put these cadets in a place where they had the character lapse to want to, and that makes me worry as someone who served this country. these will be our leaders, and that makes me worry. i know how hard it is to get into west point, and to go through all that and jeopardize your life and career, it makes me worry about the leadership at these service academies. jackie: that is a really good point. griff, i want to come to you, i mentioned mexico, china, the sources of the fentanyl in the united states. when it comes to seizures, the southwest border of our country in fiscal year 2021, a total of more than 10,000 pounds or

roughly 11,000 pounds was seized by border patrol if, and that, obviously, doesn't account for what got across the border. one can only imagine. griff: jackie, that's right. ask is let me just respond to joey a little bit because the fact that a west point cadet would be tempted to try cocaine just tells everything about the concern for parents. i have two daughters, 16 and 20, that are currently on spring break right now. to get into west point, you have to be the best of the best, and yet they're succumbing to the peer pressure of temptation. we'll learn more perhaps about their story, but the reason why the temptation is being flooded in our streets is because of the mexican cartels that i cover, over 11,200 as you pointed out in fiscal year '21. that's more than enough the kill the entire population of the united states five times over. it's up two times from the previous year which is only 4700 or so pounds and it's four times 2019 which is just over 2800.

this in the paris if four months of fiscal year 2022 our border patrol agents have seized 3,569 pounds. they're flooding the streets. it is an absolute crisis. not a problem, not a concern, it is a crisis in our streets from coast to coast in the sheer fact that the cadets would be tempted to do it, it should frighten every parent in the country. jackie: rachel, you're a parent too, more than 74,000 deaths from opioids in this country, more than 64,000 deaths from these synthetic opioids, we're talking about fentanyl here. your thoughts. rachel: listen, i hear what joey's saying, personal responsibility, of course. but young people make mistakes, young people do things. unfortunately, if you smoke weed or you get drunk, this is not the same thing. if your pot is laced with fentanyl, you can die, and you see what happened to these young guys. they almost died. this is dangerous stuff. we interviewed a former dea agent on "fox & friends," he

said that a not only is this stuff coming over the border for economic reasons, he believes that china is actually doing this as a way to weaken our country. it's working. and so there is a role for parents, there is a role for education, but there is a role for our government. our president needs to our southern border. and not only is it killing our kids, it is absolutely destabilizing mexico. i was just there last week. that country is more unsafe than i have ever seen it because more and more people want to get in on drugs, on the sex trafficking and all the money to be made at our southern border. it's dangerous stuff, and our government has a role in this. jackie: excellent points, guys. coming up next, as the war in ukraine rages on, a star women's basketball player is still behind bars in russia. why isn't the biden administration doing more to get brittney griner out of there? that's next. ♪ ♪ be ready for every moment, with glucerna.

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durable kubota equipment. more goes into it. so you get more out of it. griff: welcome back to "the big saturday show." the biden administration seems to be doing little to bring wnba star brittney griner home as russia attacks ukraine. now republicans are calling for biden to get her released as fears intensify that she could face physical harm. joey, let me quickly start with you because there are also two u.s. marines being held in russia, trevor reed and paul wheel land. is the administration doing enough? joey: well, it's a difficult

situation. the more we excommunicate russia from the free world, the less opportunity we have to communicate and get these kinds of -- these americans home from there. and that's one of the riskss we have because of what's happening in ukraine. it hate it for all of them. i think their fate is on pause at least while this is going on in ukraine. griff: and, jackie, let me ask you, i mean, the obvious concern is that this wnba star, and she is, by all means, one of the biggest -- stars, that vladimir putin may be trying to use her as a pawn, as a political object. jackie: oh, absolutely, and my heart goes out to her. i lived in china in 1996, my parents told me to really thinking about the country i was going to, to not get in trouble and not even by accident because they can lock you up and throw away the key. so i watch this right now, and my heart breaks for her and her family as well. you know, we need to really be careful with how we, how we

conduct ourselves and where we go, and it's just a very troubling circumstance that that we're dealing with. and this whole war in ukraine as well, because it really speaks to the kinds of regimes that are in charge here. terrorist griff it's really concerning, and we don't know a lot of facts about the case, and we don't even know where she's being held. her congressman saying just in the last 24 hours they don't even know if she's even gotten consular access. rachel, what do you make of the situation? rachel: well, jackie, i lived in turkey when i was in middle school, and i watched midnight express, i can't believe my parents let me watch that in mid billion -- middle school, but it scared the heck out of me, and i would never do anything illegal in a foreign country. that said, let's just remind our viewers that donald trump was responsible for the rescue of over 50 americans when he was in office, that's thest number of any presidency -- the largest number of any presidency.

this, again with, it's something about the strength of your presidency, how people view you as a country. i think that she would have done far better urn a trump administration than a biden administration, same for those two soldiers that are in russia right now. griff: you know, there was an interesting op-ed in "the washington post" from someone who was held hostage himself, thankful that the administration, that the president got him out. you can see here the u.s. government needs a more robust response to these cases. i think, joey, i'll give you the last word, about 30 seconds, i think it's clear that the administration has yet another challenge this front of it that they can't fail. joey: absolutely. just real short, we hope she gets home, we hope those marines get home, and i hope pride -- i pray president biden's able to do it. rachel: absolutely. griff: fantastic discussion, jackie deangelis, josie by -- joey jones, rachel campos duffy,

and stay tuned to fox news for the latest in the war in ukraine with our amazing correspondents and analysis. we'll see you back here tomorrow at 5 p.m. for "the big sunday show." you'll have the same four of us, you don't want to miss it. check your schedule. "the fox report" with gillian turner starts right now. ♪ ♪ [gunfire] [background sounds] [inaudible conversations] [background sounds] [speaking in native tongue] >> i'm sorry for