>> john: brand-new at 2:00, for decades making dolls of every race and faith from every period of american history. but for many parents, the american doll of 2022 is from an america they don't even recognize. >> sandra: the company accused of pushing radical gender changes on children and some critics say it is even encouraging those children to go behind their parents' backs. that could mean kids hoping for the classic toy under the christmas tree wind up one expected controversy instead.

>> john: we have your attention yet? welcome back as "america reports" rolls into a second hour. i'm john roberts in washington. good to be with you this wednesday. >> sandra: and the store in new york opened and we grabbed one, john. that story coming up. we have a copy of that controversial book to see what is inside of it. let's say if you are one of the millions of girls who grew up with one of those dolls of your own, this is not, or probably not the american girl you remember. >> we are going to give you all of that new four this hour. but we begin new at 2:00, with a fox news alert. fox news alert on capitol hill, the senate getting a closed door briefing on vladimir putin's war on ukraine as he warns the threat of nuclear war is rising. >> sandra: congress has spent billions of dollars helping to defend ukraine and there are warnings the u.s. stockpile of weapons is running low, that we

have burned through more than a decades worth of weapons production in months. that story in just a moment. >> john: also america's top adversary china cozying up to saudi arabia. chinese president xi jinping greeted with fly overs and fanfares in riyadh. >> sandra: slash oil production and lingering resentment over the murder of jamal khashoggi. >> sandra: and jennifer griffin reporting on the strain of weapons stockpiles. >> john: jeff paul is live in kyiv. how is the country handling the winter season. looks cold there. >> john, as the temperatures continue to sit below freezing and the snow is still coming down, you have a lot of people, especially here in kyiv, who are

increasingly grateful today to find out that their power is slowly coming back on and that has a big part to do with the crews working around the clock to restore basic utilities after this latest massive strike by russian forces. what we have not seen yet is how russia is going to respond after they claimed ukraine attacked them again within their own border. it was just yesterday that russia reported yet another drone attack, this time at an air field. it happened in the russia southern region. and when asked about the strikes in russia, secretary of state anthony blinken had this to say. >> we have neither encouraged nor enabled the ukrainians to strike inside of russia, but the important thing is to understand what ukrainians are living through every day with the ongoing russia aggression against their country. >> fighting is still continuing in the east.

russia is trying to capture the small yet somewhat strategic town, and thought is if russia could capture this small town it will help them launch toward some of the biggest cities just to the north. however, u.s. intelligence agencies, as well as nato now saying they believe we could see a slowdown in the fighting, especially as the winter gets worse and worse as we get deeper into that season. thinking that both sides are going to resupply and get ready for a major counter offensive in the spring. john. >> john: jeff, thank you. >> sandra: team coverage continues with chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin live at the pentagon for us. how concerned is the pentagon the new republican-led house will try to curtail support for ukraine? >> pretty concerned, sandra. that classified briefing just began moments ago on capitol hill. defense secretary austin and general mark milley are joined

by others to explain how u.s. must continue, how the weapons are used, and sustainable without decimating stockpiles. some have sounded the alarm. >> the problem is we have consumed so much supply in the first ten months of the war we have essentially used up 13 years' worth of stinger production and five years worth of javelin production. the question is, how are we going to resupply, re-stock the inventories. >> high end precision weapons like the rocket launch system have been a game changing system, forcing russia to retreat in some areas, it's shortening the missile's long range capabilities so they cannot hit deep inside russia. they did so to avoid having the

conflict spread, drawing nato in further. the u.s. has sent 20 himars in, the remaining 18 could take years to be delivered. the backlog of promised weapons is more common as putin's war drags on. >> if we think we can just buy the best arsenal, we are going to have half the equation met. you are probably not going to be successful in modern warfare unless you have weaponry. >> likely helped ukraine shoot down 60 out of 70 incoming russian missiles on monday but take two years for ratheon to make. in selecting specific systems over others, the department takes into consideration what the readiness impacts are of

drawing down the equipment of u.s. stocks to make sure we do not go below our readiness requirements. to get more air defense systems for ukraine, the u.s. has had to ask allies with iou they will replace them in two years once the contractor can produce more. >> sandra: jennifer, thank you very much. >> john: bring in robert o'brien, former trump national security adviser and former representative to the u.n. general assembly. hope things are well with you. we heard from vladimir putin earlier today who said the risk of a nuclear war is rising, though he insisted russia's arsenal is purely a defensive deterrent. sounds like russia is responding to ukraine attacking deep inside its territory. >> russia attacked ukraine deep inside ukrainian's territory, good for the goose is good for the gander. make sure the u.s. does not get involved in a shooting match

with russia, and we cannot submit to nuclear blackmail. let russia or china or iran when they get nuclear weapons, will happen soon if we don't take action, can't let them dictate what our foreign policy will be because they have nukes. that's the reason we have a nuclear arsenal. we need to modernize the nuclear forces and will keep us safe. i would not read too much into what putin is saying, i think he's rattling the sabers to get advantage against ukraine. not too much to worry about at this time. >> john: and xi jinping is strengthening his ties with saudi arabia, touched down in riyadh to great fanfare. china counts as saudi arabia's biggest trading partner. what's the risk to the united states of xi jinping cozying up to the saudi leadership? >> opportunistic. the summit was scheduled some time ago, so it's not a recent

development. i think it was scheduled two years ago. the reason saudi trades so much with china is because china buys a lot of saudi oil. 72% of china's oil is imported, a lot from saudi arabia. we hopefully soon will not have to buy as much oil, but the relationship between the u.s. and saudi arabia is strong. saudis know if they are invaded by iran or iraq, it's only the united states that will come to the rescue. they know that china is an unreliable ally and is never going to do anything against iran to help the saudis, so we have some bumps in the relationship but fundamentally strong and fine with that. what we need to do, john, is pass the nda and get the defense department authorized another year, make sure we are building our chips with advanced and less advanced chips here in america.

we need to stop the jcpa that would give the chinese a loophole. >> john: i wanted to -- actually wanted to ask you about that. let's get into the ndaa and chips in a second, in the couple minutes we have left. journalism and competition preservation act apparently will not be in the ndaa. on the other front, you wrote a letter to members of congress taking up the national defense authorization act to warn them we need to diversify the supply of microchips, united states cannot be buying technology that has chinese components in it because of supply chain issues and national security. what do you say to them about making sure there is something in the ndaa that prohibits u.s. institutions from buying chinese chips? >> think about it, john and sandra, it's ridiculous, we have

f-35, we have destroyers, our nuclear platforms, and advanced ships, made in taiwan, and bring some home with the chips act, and also less advanced throughout the systems. the chinese can plant as retired admiral montgomery said they are implant malware in every chip and we should not buy it from china, it's absurd. but do you want to drive your ev, tesla or whatever car you are driving or internal combustion chip, and they disrupt civilian life, bring manufacturing home to america, the advanced chips covered by the chips act, and also from section 889. we need to manufacture those products here in america or a

minimum, with our trusted partners. >> john: national security adviser, robert o'brien, great to catch up with you. hope you and your family have a very merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you and sandra. thanks, john. >> sandra: thank you, robert. >> john: he's right when he says, and we talked about this when we went to china with president bush and president trump, took in burner phones and laptops, and you get something on your phone and who is to say all it does is pushes a button or enters a few lines of code and everything shuts down. >> and think where we are today where we are, robert o'brien's point, it's an obvious one, but one that still needs to be identified and fixed, right, john? >> and it's just -- it's crazy to national security experts for the united states to be buying military equipment from another country, and when you are buying

a piece of equipment that has a chip in it, you are buying something with a chip in it. >> sandra: and we are monitoring the white house briefing, a lot of hot topics off the georgia victory for democrats, we will dip in on the other side of the break. and also talking about a couple days ago seemed like kevin mccarthy had locked up the vote for house speaker. but now no sure thing. what does that mean for what the republicans made about what happens if they made power on the campaign trail. >> john: and ronna mcdaniel seems poised to stay on as chair even though some republicans say they are tired of losing and when you keep losing you fire the coach. lee zeldin had a potential run but saying he's going to lay low for now. outwithout firing some shots here. >> andy is a good friend of

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>> john: house republican leader kevin mccarthy's road is more complicated after andy biggs said he will run against mccarthy for the top job. claiming that many will not support mccarthy in the election. lee zeldin moments away, first, chad pergram live on capitol hill and chad, what is biggs saying about his bid? >> john, good afternoon. gop arizona representative andy biggs is not ending his bid to become speaker.

he contends 20 republicans will not vote for mccarthy. >> i'm not going to tell you who they are, i don't want them to take the beating i'm taking. so, i'll just tell you that i think that we look at it and you see how does an establishment become an establishment, and if we continue to elect the same leadership we do the same things we do, and make the change, and people would like to see us make a change. >> biggs says he will stay in the race, he wants to block mccarthy from becoming speaker. casting ballots by name, you don't know the magic number until the end of the vote. mccarthy opponents could vote present or for someone else. the speaker does not need to be a member of the house. >> you are really listening if they are saying the name of, for example, mccarthy or jeffries,

so you want to definitely listen for what they are saying, but sometimes they'll throw out a different name. colin powell would often get thrown out. >> the democratic clerk of the house, cheryl johnson, presides until members ee lebts a speaker. there is an internal battle. mccarthy loyalists are sharpening their knives for members who oppose him. >> even if you don't believe in santa claus, know there is a naughty and nice list. a speaker and people have been disruptive and all of a sudden they may get a prime committee assignment or whatever the perk may be. >> the house must keep voting until it elects a speaker. they cannot do anything else until the speaker's race is

settled. democrats say republicans cannot govern with their tiny majority. >> john: there could be some republican members of congress who get a lum of coal, we'll see. chad as always, thank you. >> sandra: new york republican congressman and former gubernatorial candidate lee zeldin. thank you for joining us. there is word, i have heard, that your name is being thrown around potentially for house speaker. would you be up for it? >> well, i heard your name was being thrown around, i don't know if john roberts is willing. >> sandra: i heard on capitol hill that your name is thrown around, have you considered that? >> no, and being in the same company of other people like colin powell and others. >> sandra: you don't have to be a member. >> both sides of the aisle, this is true.

i think it's important as the house republican conference is working through the next few weeks to make sure they are figuring out how we are going to improve, how the house functions, to challenge the status quo, make sure that we are putting up the fight, whether it's the oversight functions of the house of representatives or the legislative standpoint where you have a democrat controlled senate and democrat white house, so i think it's important to work through these differences over the course of the next few weeks to make sure you have a strong united functioning majority and kevin mccarthy was nominated as the next speaker of the house and he's speaking to some hold-outs to try to work it out. see how that goes. but kevin has the strong support of an overwhelming number of the conference. >> sandra: andy biggs is saying at least 20 will not back mccarthy. i don't know if i surprised you with the question or you are

avoiding to answer it. are you actively discussing with anyone? >> i'm not going to meddle with the process at all, and kevin is somebody who, you know, one of the bright spots of this particular election is that the house did flip, so that's a good thing. i certainly think he in many respects also has momentum with the effort while also some resistance. >> sandra: sounds like you are throwing your full support behind kevin mccarthy, that you believe he is the guy for the job. ronna mcdaniel is also being challenged. obviously there are growing challenges after democrats seized their victory in georgia last night and she was on the show yesterday, congressman, and she defended her role as chair woman of the rnc. listen. >> the rnc builds the road and the cars drive on it. we don't pick the cars, voters do. but you need both to get to the destination. strong campaign and consultants

but i think the rnc has built an incredible road. how do you explain 4 million more voters on the election and we also did take back the house. >> sandra: seeking a fourth two-year term steering the gop. do you believe she is the right person for the job? >> no, it's time to step aside using the words how do you explain continuing to cross that logic when the chair woman came into this position, we had the white house, the house and the senate. between 2018 and 2020, that was all lost. the house barely recovered in 2022 with what should have been a national red wave. now is not the time to say ok, we should just continue, the status co should not be acceptable. the party needs to retool, transform, a lot we need to be doing better from messaging, fundraising and expenditure side, and do election tactics and electioneering, a lot of

feedback there is a desire for fresh flood, for new leadership. and as you look to 2024, some really important races between the white house and the control of the house and the senate so i think our party needs to look to the future in many respects, and that includes the future of the rnc and the republican party to be better and stronger. >> sandra: it sounds like you did your homework, we know you did, you were mulling a bid to run for the chair about a month, you announced yesterday you would not run up against ronna mcdaniel. any chance you are going to reconsider that? and i believe the statement said not now. is there a chance to do that later? >> well, no, the chair woman has said she is going to run again and the way this works is it's a process of 168 rnc members. three people from 50 states and six territories. all have a state chair, a

committee man and a committee woman. over the last few weeks i've been calling and speaking to these people and i can tell through the calls this thing is prebaked. if she wants to run again, i believe she's going to, by design, be getting re-elected to an historic fourth term and that i don't believe is the best path forward for the party, and the question shouldn't be whether or not ronna mcdaniel can put together the votes to get re-elected, i believe the question the party needs to have is whether or not she should be running for a fourth term and i believe the answer is no. with all due respect, i've gotten along with her just fine. it's not about that or personalities, i believe the party is ready to retool with new leadership. >> sandra: fair to say you are issuing a warning what her leadership would be in 2024? >> i believe it's an opportunity for us here, as a party, to be able to grow. and talk about in the just what we are against, joe biden bad,

democratic party bad, we can talk about what's wrong in the opposition but beyond that, to get people to buy in and believe and have hope and faith and trust, you have to tell people what you stand for and our party for messaging and far more has an opportunity to be able to earn back the support from ticket splitters and also people who have also voted democrat willing to give us a shot but we have to find them, work hard to earn their support and win the races coming up in 2024. >> sandra: we saw your big fight against kathy hochul here in new york for the governorship and that was certainly a race so many folks -- you made it close and people are watching for your leadership. >> speaker smith, speaker roberts, we'll see what happens january 3rd. >> sandra: you never rule anything out, right? great to have you on today, congressman. appreciate it. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> john: you see, sandra, here is the problem with that. because i was not born in this country, i can't be in the line of succession to become

president, so it would be a waste of folks to elect me. >> sandra: and the initial question, you do not have to be a member as chad will inform everyone to be up for the position. >> john: it would help be a natural born citizen, though. >> sandra: that would help, john. >> john: and insight into congressman zeldin's decision not to run, when ronna mcdaniel locked up 107 votes yesterday, there was really no point in him running. >> sandra: he put out that statement on twitter. >> john: smart enough to not run a losing race. pot use among kids is up. plus, a new book from american girl dolls is telling kids they don't have to be an american girl at all. we have our own copy of the controversial book and we'll tell you what it says about gender that has so many parents fired up.

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>> mental health crisis that american children have been facing is getting worse. cases of teenage depression and anxiety at crisis levels before the pandemic are surging. more than 75% of schools saying their staff have voiced their own concerns about students' mental health and the centers for disease control reports a spike in emergency room visits for children ages 12 to 17 who attempted to take their own lives. >> sandra: fox news alert, the press briefing is taking place. >> i can't speak to dod and what they are going to do. >> the president called it jim crow in the 21st century. >> i'm not going to talk to the department of justice legal actions, what i can say and not going to get into specifics of

your question, but you reported this that there was suppression, that we saw that throughout, through -- throughout the georgia election. so that is something that was reported on. i leave it to those reports. but look, even with that the american people came out, they came out in historic fashion to make their voices loud and clear. when it comes to democracy, when it comes to protecting our democracy, problem ekt ting social security and medicare, this is something the american people spoke very loud and clear and they did that because of the success of this president has had on his legislative agenda, because of what the president has been able to deliver, because of what democrats have been able to do, and making sure we had a sharp message for the american people to see the contrast, right. republicans wanted to put social

security and medicare on the chopping block, that was their plan and you know, people have said, i've heard some of your colleagues say earlier this morning that stunning -- it was a stunningly bad cycle for republican senators, and a lot of that is because of their agenda, because they embodied the ultra maga ideas, and even with all of that the american public came out and they put a lot of that to rest, a lot of what the republican officials were putting forth, their plan to rest and they said it very loud and clear. we want the special interest to pay their fair share, social security and medicare protected and women's routes as well. >> karine, twitter files have released the company typically required an official or law enforcement finding that materials were hacked in order to exercise their company policy to restrict certain stories and

the journalist who released the material noted in this case around the hunter biden laptop story there was no official or law enforcement finding that appeared in the material he was given. did anyone from the biden team communicate to twitter that this material was from, or this reporting was done from hacked materials? >> are you talking about the campaign? >> it would have been the campaign or anyone around the family, just wondering, because in the twitter files released and what matt taibbi said he said the company would require law enforcement or official finding that something was hacked in order to exercise the hacked materials clause and he did not see that in what had been given to him. wondering if it was communicated even informally by someone around the president or the president's family or the campaign that this was hacked material or could come from

hacked material given that there was so much concern, especially after the 2018 foreign interference situation that that could be something that we would see in that election, so i'm wondering if there was that communication surrounding the hunter biden laptop story. >> i can't speak to decisions made by the campaign from here, that is not -- it is a political campaign so i can't speak to that from here. i'm covered by the hatch act and i'm not going to comment on the question that you are asking me, but what i can say more broadly is of course it's up to these companies to make their own decision about the content on their platforms and to ensure content follows their own standards and policies, but i'm just not going to comment on a decision that was made during the campaign. >> i have two questions for you. following the explosion near the border with ukraine -- >> sandra: jacqui heinrich getting in a couple questions live at the white house press

briefing, obviously some questions on twitter and the georgia election that happened last night. >> john: and again, karine jean-pierre falling back on the hatch act to say she can't talk about things campaign-related, even if they were in the past. so, good try by jacqui, though. a school district that was at the center of so many controversies is making a change. loudoun county school board has fired the superintendent after they did not handle two sexual assaults committed by the same student. >> sandra: the report concluded the district failed at every juncture and looking out for its own interest rather than students. no criminal indictments were issued. >> john: we talked about this with the book earlier, you have it there in new york. popular american girl brand known for dolls is under fire after releasing a book promoting

body image, which in context sounds innocent until you read what's inside. readers find advice on changing genders, puberty blockers, and go around their parents if they are unhappy with their gender. again, on the surface what you believe about the book, talks about the traditional issues associated with body image and oh, by the way, if you are not comfortable with your gender there are ways to change that and advice how to do it without informing their parents. >> put the transgender issue aside, what world does a book about body image made for young girls sell the idea that young girls need to change their bodies in order to accept themselves and love themselves. there is something fundamentally wrong with that. but worse, what american girl is doing in this case is actually

encouraging opening the door for young girls to pursue this path of puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and irreversible surgeries, which is not harmless. listen to the many stories of detransitioners and understand the lifelong medical and mental health complications that these individuals face. so it is really sad, it's a shame to see a classic american company like american girl betray american parents and american girls. >> john: we talked a couple weeks ago about a study that was done at northwestern, i believe, in the journal of the american medical association pediatrics, in which a girl as young as 13 years old got a double mastectomy because of gender disforeya. and smart girls guide and body image. if you have not gone through

puberty yet, the doctor may offer medicine to delay changes, giving you more time to think about your gender identity, and a list of organizations the child can reach out to if they don't have an adult they can trust. when you look at this paragraph, if you have not gone through puberty yet, the doctor might offer medicine to delay your body's changes. this is suggesting to prepuberty girls maybe they should hold off on their gender affirmation through,s you know, natural process here. >> i can tell you -- >> john: how many girls that age can make a decision like this? >> as a mom of a 3-year-old, i can tell you this book is marketed to girls 3-12, this is a very dangerous message, and for those who think it's harmless to pursue this gender affirmation model, they really do need to consider the fact that none of these drugs or treatments are actually fda approved for these gender

affirming solutions. and as you stated, the vast majority of children outgrow their gender confusion. they are just naturally exploring different identities. who didn't do that as a young child. and so to have these messages inserted into all these books, all these publications, all this content our children is consuming, it makes parenting extremely difficult. it's not about politics, it's about protecting children from a path that leads directly to medicalization and lifelong medical complications. >> john: puberty blockers, sweden has limited use, the u.k. is looking at limited, and it can have a lifelong impact on the physiology of the person who took them, a life to osteoporosis that begins as a teenager. american girl is a pretty traditional american company. they have obviously included

gender, different races, not gender, but races, ethnic backgrounds in the dolls. mattel recently came out, parent company, with the transgender barbie that was modeled after a very famous transgender actress. but this is a step in a different direction for this company. >> absolutely. i think what the companies, mattel and disney need to recognize, there is a difference between representation, representing diversity in their products and indoctrination, political indoctrination and that's what we are seeing happening again and again where these woke companies are forcing their ideas, their very, in some cases dangerous ideas on to young children, and conservatives often get blamed for being outraged about little things, but ultimately these are our children and if you understand the lifelong complications anyone who choose this transgender path has to go down, it is not something that

any mom or dad would want for their healthy child. >> john: good to talk to you. you grew up with american girl, sandra. >> sandra: i did, and now on to the next generation, although it's a little bit different. generation to generation, if you want to go old school you can, but the store has changed a lot. a lot more inclusive, wonderful, dolls of all shapes and sizes and colors and disabilities and that's been fantastic. this is sort of a forray into the company, our team went and bought a copy, an american girl store a block or two away, here is the book. the section that is, has become so controversial is gender joy, john, and i sort of tabbed this because there's a section in here that if you are a 3 to 12-year-old as your guest just suggested and you probably put yourself in the 8, 9-year-old age frame -- most girls in there

are around 8 years old that focus on -- if you don't have an adult you trust, it reads, this is about being transgender, there are organizations across the country that can help you turn to the resources on page 95 for more information. critics have already, you know, weighed in saying it almost looks like this is telling you to sort of go around your parent and that would be concerning. >> john: and remember what was going on in the fairfax county public school board, as well, or school district, where the school board said that instructed teachers and principles that children could change their gender pronoun, say which bathroom they wanted to use, which locker room they wanted to use and did not have to tell the parents about this. the so if your child goes to school and says i don't want to be known as he or she, but something different, and by the way, i want to use the girls' locker room. the parents would not have to be informed.

governor glenn youngkin went ballistic over that. and we want to jump to moscow, idaho, there is some police activity at the home where the four students were murdered, they are taking boxes of material out of the home. we had heard that they were going to package up the belongings of the students and turn them over to the families. we can't say for sure whether this is that process or whether they are taking out evidence. but do know today is supposed to be the day when the personal possessions of the four students who were brutally murdered were supposed to be taken out and handed back over to the families. so sandra, that's what this could be all about. >> sandra: indeed, it's a live look there. we will monitor that situation. obviously just another heartbreaking day for those parents there after all the items were combed through in the crime scene, day after day, approaching week four and no

suspect. we'll keep our eye on that. a suitcase, multiple boxes. >> john: personal items, not evidence. heartbreak after heartbreak with no clue what happened. >> sandra: and the snow has fallen. roll-out of oregon's restrictive new gun law is sparking outrage among gun owners and law enforcement. gun shop owners have seen a huge spike in sales since this law was passed just last month. it bans magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds and requires permits to purchase a process that would require fingerprinting and training by instructor who has been certified by law enforcement. you are looking at pictures of a crowded parking lot of folks that are showing up exercising their right to own a gun fearing those rights are going to be taken away. our next guest is the owner of northwest armory.

karl is joining us us. >> good afternoon, sandra, thank you. >> sandra: very busy parking lot there. are those -- is this what's happening, they are fearing they won't be able to buy a gun once the law takes place, they are showing up now? >> two things are happening. there's fear, won't be able to get a gun, and the actual logistics that they won't be able to do the background check. oregon is a point of contact for the fbi and the oregon state police do the background checks. it's an instant check. normally 90% of the people get -- get approved in minutes, seconds. right now as of this morning there was 36,400 people that have delayed background checks because the state just doesn't have the resources to do their

job properly like they have been doing for 23 years. the new point of -- the new permit to purchase of which the attorney general said would be ready tomorrow, the assistant in hearing in portland on friday, is very mistaken. the funding as per the sent of state on august 5th in a report that they posted says that estimated first permits would be in january of 2024. on her website. the estimate of financial impact is $51 million for local governments and $21 million for the state government. that's a wad of money that has not been budgeted by the

legislature yet. it's going to take a year before oregonian has a permit. if the effective date of the permit happens in the next 30 days, let's say, what some of the judges have been talking about, effectively an oregonian will not be able to buy a firearm anywhere in the united states. and that's -- that's a violation of the second amendment, you know. oregonians wil constitutional rights. >> sandra: chris skinner is the eugene police chief and he weighed in on the burden this places on police departments. listen. >> we are all spread thin and we are working people harder than we have worked them before. one of the nuances that's unclear to us, who is responsible to do the training, where is it going to happen, and it can't happen safely in the front lobby of my police

department. we need to figure out how this is going to work. >> sandra: sounds like it's a confusing mess. but to your point, people see it may happen and if not lined up for the permit now they may not get one in the near future. >> that's right. and the rights in oregon are being trampled right now, the politicians in salem, and i've lived most of my life in multhoma county. there is something -- some disconnect. i don't see the connection between lawful gun ownership and violent crime and mental health crisises, you know. the city of portland has a violent crime problem. the state of oregon does not. it is in the city of portland, the county, and they really need

to address, you know, the $72 million, that should go to mental health. >> sandra: and the measure sponsors say the whole goal here for them is to reduce violent crime, accidental deaths and suicides, obviously you are taking issue with the blanketing of that rule to all oregonians, and you have seen a big spike in sales in your store, sir, as everybody watches the deadline approach. thank you for joining us. we'll be watching for that. all right, john. >> john: incredible story in oregon. we want to go a little east of there back to moscow, idaho, alexis mcadams has been reporting for the last few days, and we saw some live pictures of police taking some boxes of material and there you see somebody coming out with a plastic container behind you. i assume this is the personal items of the four victims that will be turned over to police that you were talking about

earlier today? >> john, that's exactly right, and specific items the family wanted because they were not able to say good-bye to the kids, say anything to them, had no idea it was going to unfold in the horrible tragedy, they could not go to the house and it's covered in crime scene tape and you can see the investigator in and out, items from the desk, girls' toiletries, quite a lot of boxes and putting it into the u-haul truck, they will put it at a location they can go pick up the belongings. but it was not easy for him, it was a gruesome crime scene, and they had to take boxes and pictures and things from the home and the most we have seen with investigators in quite the past few days and look up here to some of the windows, you can see some of the investigators in there. those are the rooms, too, under

investigation, police never exactly said which rooms specifically murders were committed in but the entire house has not yet been released back. to have the investigators going through, and a step forward in the grieving process, trying to put some closure here as they grapple with the horrible tragedy. so see all the items out of the house, a first glimpse what it looked like in there. a normal college house, neighbors said it was a party house, nice kids who never really did anything wrong to anybody. so as the investigation continues and the search for the killer continues, new pictures live on the ground, john. >> john: yep. sandra, you there? >> sandra: i am. sorry, my microphone was not up. early on we did get a glimpse sort of some of the -- "daily mail" i believe had some pictures and the house was as one would expect, a college house, it was a mess and exactly

the way the kids obviously left it before they went to bed that night, and i would assume there is a lot of combing through to see whose things are what, if -- were the parents let in to help identify the items that belonged to each of their children? >> great question. no, they were not here, they were not allowed in. so we were told by one of the fap list, i talked to kaylee's dad and the police mentioned they would come into the house and take items out, and wanted what you guys want us to take. but now looking they took a lot of things, random items from the bathroom, from the rooms, from the office space, and on both floors we saw the investigation. you can see them standing right there in the doorway. we learned earlier as i mentioned you guys in the 1:00 hour they had never mentioned too much about the front door here of the home, always the back glass sliding door. but sandra and john, learned from a neighbor the door you are looking at was wide open hours before police were called out here to the scene. so, still a lot of unanswered questions, but no family members were allowed back here and they

are back at their homes trying to grieve with this process and kaylee's family did not have a funeral process for her, they cremated her and her best friend, horrible memories and nothing they want anything to do with at this point. >> john: just, oh, you can't imagine being these parents. alexis with an update, thank you. before we go, a stat may seem shocking to those who have gone through the college admissions process, less than half of applicants submitted test scores with their applications this year. mike emmanuel joins me. is this the beginning of the end of standardized testing? >> not yet but could be a trend in that direction. based on the students applying for early action or early decision using the common application. in 2019, 78% of early applicants reported standardized test scores, a drop to 44% largely

blamed on covid. and then up over 50%, and now 48% submitting scores. they say the scores are valuable in assessing a students' readiness for college. >> test, see how you are doing and then because so many different colleges have different policies, then you can use those scores depending on where you are planning to apply to college. >> more than 1800 colleges are test optional this year, according to the national center for fair and open testing. testing optional is liberating for admission staff. now they can select the class they want, more diverse or whatever factor they choose. >> does that make college admissions more challenging? i think it makes the job of college admissions offices more interesting in that they are trying to engage in what i would call a holistic evaluation of students, and away from test scores. >> final note, the university of california system, largest public system in the country has

thrown out standardized tests all together, john. >> john: don't tell our 11-year-old twins. >> i have a high school junior studying hard. >> you did the s.a.t. when you were young? >> sandra: absolutely. s.a.t. and a.c.t. >> john: or younger, i should say. >> sandra: jam packed two hours. >> thank you, john and sandra. i'm trace gallagher in for martha maccallum. ahead on "the story," dan crenshaw on tragic news that a border patrol agent died in a high speed pursuit of suspected illegal immigrants one day after the president said there's more important things than visiting the border. first, to elon musk firing james baker for possible "suppression of information". baker's name has come up in the apparent scramble at