>> an american dad is among three more hostages reuniting with their families in israel today after being released by hamas. alicia: this ahead of secretary of state marco rubio's visit to israel tomorrow where he will push for president trump's demand that hamas release all of the hostages. welcome to another hour of fox news live, i'm alicia acuna in denver. jonathan, let's keep going. >> good to see you, alicia.

i'm jonathan hunt in los angeles. we begin with greg palkot in tel aviv israel with the latest on the hostage release and secretary rubio's mideast trip. hi, greg. >> absolutely, jonathan. safe again tonight. three more israeli hostages freed and there was fear this past week that the group might hold back. included in the group was an american, 27-year-old russian-israeli, and 46-year-old argentine born this is after 498 days, think about it almost 500 days, transferred from gaza to a military base to area hospitals. they were greeted with jubilation and exultation and all the hostages appeared to be in better shape than the group last week. this as the agreed captives got

mixed news. sasha learned his father was killed on october 7th, but another great news about a newborn baby. in exchange for this, 369 palestinian prisoners were freed from jails and 36 of them life sentences, most of them second and third countries. as for that threat by president trump earlier this week of a noon deadline today for all the hostages to be released or else, well, he posted a short time ago, it didn't happen, but he also left the response to israel. jonathan, the prime minister will have a security cabinet meeting tonight at 7 p.m. and he seems to be settling for the three hostages for now. secretary of state rubio is coming to town tonight, looking at a way, a possible way for forward, back to you. >> yeah, and the israeli ambassador to the u.n., danny

danon told it does appear we'll hold off for any return to all-out war. thank you so much, greg. meantime, as greg was mentioning, president trump is still talking about that noon deadline and we assume he means noon eastern, one hour's time for hamas to release all the hostages. but he also said in the statement, as greg again mentioned that the u.s. will follow israel's lead on how they want to respond. so, what does happen now? let's ask retired army major gen general, what do you believe happens next? it appears that israel is not at the moment ready to go back to all-out war? >> good morning, jonathan, i think it's great news that hostages have been released and more hostages have been released and more will be released. i think the noon deadline is

serious on the part of president trump, whether israel is ready or not for that, giving israel the green light to conduct more intense operations against hamas may force hamas to give up the hostages. so we'll see what happens. we've got one hour. >> yeah, and do you think president trump behind the scenes is pressuring israel to do more, pressuring prime minister netanyahu to put more now, because a raid in iran-gaza, ready for any action. but it doesn't look like we're on the brink of any action. do you think that president trump would like to see more? >> well, i think president trump is putting pressure on hamas. and then giving the green light

to israel and saying they have american support to do what they need to do to get rid of hamas and get the hostages back. >> so, general, when you look at the way these hostages are released, they're surrounded by masked and gun-toting hamas fighters. it's impossible for president netanyahu at this point to say he's achieved list goal of completely destroying hamas. do you think that that is an achievable military goal ultimately or not? >> well, to completely eliminate hamas, possibly not, but hamas has really been defeated and gaza is ready for peace. so it's time for hamas to step down for any future, the palestinian people, it's got to be without hamas, so i think that's where the israelis are

coming from. >> can i switch you over to russia and ukraine. the president and vladimir putin spoke on the phone this week how to bring that war to an end and we heard defense secretary hegseth also talking about it, basically ukraine is going to have to give up territory and ukraine cannot be -- think about becoming a member of n.a.t.o., that seemed somewhat bizarre to a lot of objservers to say that russia is going to get some of what it was after ahead any negotiations, how did you see the comments? that was a head scratcher in a way. secretary hegseth walked back the comments, obviously, the next day. the fact that president trump can actually talk to president putin actually, i think, is a good thing as far as the start of negotiations, but

negotiations are going to form a lasting peace, ukraine's got to be a part of that. russia's got to give up something, which would be -- they're against ukraine being in n.a.t.o., so they would have to give that up. that could be a concession. and for ukraine, the concession would be, hey, the territory that russia has in the dumbas and crimea. >> when i was there at the start of the ukraine war, president zelenskyy was absolutely unequivocal in saying russia can never be rewarded with one inch more of ukrainian territory, but now, it seems that he may ultimately be forced or encouraged into

that by the trump administration. what does that do for zelenskyy because i, having talked to a lot of ukrainians, i see a lot of them being absolutely furious if he does end up giving some territory. that would seem it would put president zelenskyy in a really difficult, possibly dangerous position domestically. >> well, there is a reality there and that is since 2014, and i'm not talking the invasion of 2022, but since 2014, the russians have taken the crimean peninsula, there's reality to that. the ukrainian people will never be satisfied until they get all the territory back, i get that. but in order to have peace and not a forever war, there must be concessions from both sides. concern might be that ukraine is giving up everything, the only way to give ukraine some ability as far as security and

feeling of security would be for at least a pathway to n.a.t.o. membership. >> it's going to be really interesting. obviously, a very complex deal, a difficult deal that has to be done. major general dana pittard, thank you for spending part of your saturday with us, sir. >> thank you, jonathan, alicia. alicia: president trump eyeing the finish line in the conflicts in the middle east and eastern europe. what impact should we have on the two wars coming to an end? committee member pat fallon joins me now, so good to see you. jonathan just mentioned, defense secretary pete hegseth's comments calling ukraine's goals, quote, unrealistic. democratic committee member chris coons responds with this, if hegseth think it's helpful for ukrainian security to make proactive concessions like this on their behalf, i hope he'll go back and read the art of the

deal, because this is no way to negotiate with or for a close partner. congressman, obviously referring to the president's book there. what's your response? >> well, alicia, there are facts, you know -- there's realities on the ground and they are a country that is -- ukraine has 40 million people roughly, a little more than that and russia has four times that. how militarily is ukraine going to take that territory back. they've acknowledged that's not going to happen militarily. what's a peace deal look like? putin has already lost and he's looking for an off ramp. his goals was to dominate ukraine in three days and take as many as three weeks. it's three years later, he hasn't dominated ukraine, 80% of ukraine is ukraine's hands, he wanted ukraine to be a belarus and that's never going to happen and expanded n.a.t.o. and 830 additional mile border with n.a.t.o. because ascension of sweden and finland into the

alliance. he's desperate at this point quite frankly because a protracted war is not in his advantage other. and part of ukraine in ukraine's hands, and 90% of ukraine, some of the territory russia holds right now they have to give back or there can't be a lasting peace. alicia: with the u.s.'s role in all of this and the president trying to get both sides to the negotiating table, both presidents to the negotiating table, it seems like it's going to be tough. how does the president convince-- president trump convince president zelenskyy that putin has actually lost here? >> well, i think that president zelenskyy has some very good points and the biggest fear that him and the ukrainians have is that this is going to act if they get a peace deal like a two or three year truce where russia reconstitutes and then comes back after them.

i don't think that n.a.t.o. short-term is on the table, but they could have a bilateral agreement with the united states for security. that has to be, i think, part of a realistic deal, and you're handing putin another opportunity, you have to ensure that that's off the table. and so, president zelenskyy, i think the best thing quite happen to president zelenskyy is president trump winning, the strategy that kamala harris has going to have was biden's, continuing war. treasury lost and ukrainian lives also being expanded as well. alicia: and the president and the u.s. involvement two fronts here. earlier, jonathan hunt spoke with the ambassador to the u.n., danny denot and one of the things that the president taking over gaza. >> time to think about new united states and so many leaders talking about the palestinian cause and not offering any ideas and about

time you think about new ideas and countries in the region should support the process of helping the palestinians, though, i think it's on the president, it would not be to implement, but a time for new ideas. alicia: that idea got everyone's attention, right? now it comes down to brass tacks. the reality on the ground and what is actually achievable. the president doesn't want to involve u.s. troops, is that unavoidable especially when you consider other middle eastern countries that don't want to play along right now, that's what they're saying. >> a few things, alicia, the status quo has not worked. october 7th proved that an honest broker and player in the global future, quite frankly. that's one. and two, that's a bold idea president trump had. he said it, i think my theory, is to get everyone's attention and you know what?

it worked. our arab friends need to come to the table as well and we've got to figure out something moving forward and clearly that includes there cannot be a future with gaza and hamas. that is a non-starter for israel, for the united states, and for the west and for the region, really. so, i'm really glad he did it, it was a bold idea, used to get people's attention, you know what, figure this out or here is an idea that, you know what, you may not like, but we're willing to do it if you can't move forward with some. alicia: i mean-- oh, it looks like we are losing congressman pat fallon. we still had so much more to talk about in this conversation here, but we appreciate his time today and we will keep moving on. jonathan. >> alicia, that was a fascinating discussion on all fronts. in the meantime, talk about a

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>> americans all across the united states dealing with wicked weather this weekend from flood risks in the southeast to snowfall up north. adam klotz is in the fox weather center with the latest, hi, adam. >> hey, alicia. this is one large storm system we're watching sweep the eastern half of the country, rain, flooding, snow, ice, pretty much all forms of weather. the northern end where we're seeing the snow. the blue beginning to move across portions of pennsylvania not running up some of the coastal cities yet. the pink color, that's ice and behind that, that's where we're looking at some of the big rain storms. this is how this ultimately progresses and you see a lot of that pink and ice becomes a major player on this and on the back side more rain funnels in, kind of raw if you're going to see snow, ice, and cold rain move through as well. the heaviest snow is interior areas of new england. pinks and purples, at least six

inches of snow and some of the areas a whole lot more before ultimately that rain and ice moves in. icing may be one of the largest concerns of one of the northern areas of the storms. you're talking enough that could bring down branches and could affect power lines and cold air behind this. not everyone is seeing winter weather, at least snowy weather. a four out of four, the flood risk, targeting areas here in eastern tennessee and kentucky, and it's an absolute downpour in some of these areas currently as we speak. flooding is an ongoing issue and ultimately by the time we get into sunday i think that flooding may be the thing that we remember most about the storms today, but there's a severe aspect as well. this big area here a three on a scale of five as far as risk goes, you're looking at possibility some big severe thunderstorms. it's not just severe thunderstorms, also a severe tornado risk. could be looking at ef-2's or

later running up and down the mississippi river. arkansas back towards louisiana and you're talking about mississippi as well, and alabama. so big area here where you could see some of that tornado risk and behind all of this when it finally drags out, alicia, what are we going to be talking about? well, some really cold weather is funneling back behind all of this. some folks in the plains this morning waking up with temperatures, negative 20, negative 30. even though we're talking about tornados and flooding, there's still severe winter weather on the way. alicia: it is still weather. adam klotz, good to see you. jonathan: alicia, tomorrow's daytona 500 is hitting a little speed bump and changing course because of the weather and there's word that president trump may be preparing to attend. madison scarpino has the assignment of the weekend if not the assignment of the year, she's in daytona beach, florida previewing the big race. hey, maddie. >> hi, jonathan, yeah, it's a

good one and there have been people camping out here at daytona international speedway for days. so, i don't think the fans are going to mind the now earlier start time. the iconic daytona 500 race now begins at 1:30 eastern time tomorrow because of some weather threats. and you can watch it all here on fox. now, today the weather is not amazing. rain on and off, but if you know anything about florida, things can go from thunderstorms to sun very quickly and, but and the fans are still coming out right now, but things are going to look very different tomorrow, because it will be absolutely packed with fans and even if you don't know much about racing, you've probably heard of the daytona 500 or the great american race. it's a nascar cup series season opener held every year here in daytona beach, it's considered the most important and prestigious race in nascar and this year's total purse is over $30 million. and fans tell us, it is a

bucket list experience. >> this is the super bowl of racing, the biggest race, the first race of the year and over 100,000 people watching in grandstands and another 100,000 in the infield and it's one big party and it's a good time. >> if you've never done it, you should do it at least once in your lifetime. >> and president donald trump is rumored to be here tomorrow, second time attending as a president. grand marshal for, 62nd in 2020 and we'll let our viewers know once we get the official word from the white house on that. again, 1:30 p.m. tomorrow you can watch the daytona 500 on fox. we'll see if the weather holds up, but these fans behind me are likely going to be packed with over 100,000 fans, the stands will being packed. jonathan: the fans look darn happy to be there in daytona. great to see you madison. alicia, i know nothing about motor sports in terms of

rolling following it, but i went to daytona once to cover it as a story i think about 25 years ago because i'm so darn old, and i have never forgotten. it was one of the best weekends of my life. those fans really know how to have some fun. alicia: yeah, that's what it seems like. i have never been and i don't have a lot of knowledge about it either, but i understand that the experience is like no other and one time, years and years ago, bill hemmer and i got a chance-- i anchored with him and he had just come from daytona and he looked at me and he said, i get it, i get it. because i think it's just something you have to experience in person like you did. jonathan: yeah, and it's like that guy in madison's report said, if you can only do it once, it is a once in a lifetime experience and thanks for mentioning you anchored with the brilliant bill hemmer. you're making me feel inferior and useless, thanks, alicia. alicia: not at all, chief. you know that's not true. [laughter]. alicia: so we'll move on. a doge fight breaking out.

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or call 888-316-2224. that's 888-316-2224. >> democrats putting the elon musk in the doge house, side note, our writers are on fire this weekend. he's in the doge house for slashing the federal work force and trying to cut spending, but there's at least one democrat who has a bone to pick with his own party about all this. aishah hasnie has the details from capitol hill. >> well, former congressman dean phillips is calling out his party once again. you remember he was sort of the canary in the coal mine in the primary with president joe biden's age and he wanted the

primary to happen and no one listened to him. now he wonders if anyone would listen to him when he's asking to stop fighting with elon musk and get with the program. >> i think we're missing the boat as democrats. sometimes it's better to join them and actually play a role in how the strategy works, rather than so pathetically, frankly, trying to combat something that clearly is a steamroller and democrats are being steamrolled. >> democrats might be too far gone. senator chris murphy calling for fill scale opposition to elon musk so they've been holding press conferences, rallies, slamming musk in committee hearings, bringing up doge in nomination hearings, it's nonstop. meanwhile, republicans have the opposite problem. they just can't keep up with doge. so, they are now getting ready, preparing to codify doge's impact to make those cuts permanent by law. >> i think the public needs to know that we will have to put

those things into the law or just the next president just comes along, executive order this, executive order that, they do away with all of their hard work. >> so doge will keep on doge-ing and see if democrats change their tune, back to you. alicia: thank you, aishah. doge versus democrats, where is this headed? joining me now is real clear politics phil wegmann. thank you so much for being here. where is this headed? it's just like nonstop. >> well, right now republicans are delighted because it seems that every fight that elon musk picks with democrats is an 80-20 fight. you'll hear that a lot from trump world. they see that as a fight where 80% of the public supports them and the 20% is in opposition. so long as elon musk keeps picking fights over things like usaid where republicans feel they can present to the public an argument that they really are cutting waste, fraud and abuse, they're happy for this to continue and happy for democrats to keep setting them up for these kind of lay-ups.

alicia: and democrats did hold a rally on thursday at the department of veterans affairs to rail against what they're doing. take a listen. >> we talked about the golden age, he was talking about delivering even more money to elon musk and the tech titans. >> let's make sure that unelected felon musk, because you can't spell felon without elon. >> don't believe the dog whistle, don't believe the fraud, waste abuse and efficiency. they're dismantling to delay until dead. alicia: is that resonating with voters and taxpayers? they're going after elon himself as a person and they're also trying to downgrade the friendship that he has with the president. >> it will have to wait and see. elon musk is attempting target, this is the world's richest man, after all. fundamentally when i was listening to the democrats outside of the va there, fundamentally politics is a question of comparison and the

question, is he making the va better or worse? and not that long ago, it wasn't just an eccentric tech billionaire calling for the government to be more efficient. republicans will point out that former presidents obama and clinton launched their own campaigns to shrink and make more efficient the size of government. so, again, from the perspective of the trump white house, this is going according to plan and they're happy. alicia: even though so much of this is ending up in the courts, is this still a win for the trump administration that that's happening now? >> right now the trump plan is to flood the zone and go as quickly as possible. we heard from the president he's going to be respecting the injunctions from the courts, once the doge goes in one court, they pop up in another. and they're moving the central issues to the voters and elon musk is delivering what donald

trump promised on the campaign trail. alicia: as you know, the senate is set to vote on fbi director nominee kash patel. this is happening, controversial picks rfk, jr. and tulsi gabbard made it through. where does kash patel hit? >> you hit the nail on head, some of the nominees, some of my sources told me m an uphill battle have been getting confirmed, and tulsi gabbard and rfk. and kash patel out of committee, he doesn't seem like he's the heavy lift as a while ago. but senate majority leader thune is batting a thousand, that's his batting average. alicia: they're trying to get so much done, as they watch this. as they watch the democrats try to slow walk some of this stuff. do you think that's creating frustration for the average american out there?

>> you know, it's difficult to say because you know, remember the average american is focused on so much more important things, they don't have the luxury of, you know, reading a couple of different newspapers and catching up on the talking points. i think that the general message that all of these members are congress have received is that those nominees are trump's guys and what we saw is that a majority of the electorate that wanted donald trump, that has been a mefrj message in the caucus. we'll see. right now this hasn't broken through in a way that would, you know, swing the coming midterms in two years. alicia: right, okay. phil wegmann, good to see you on this saturday. >> thank you. alicia: jonathan. jonathan: alicia, while doge sniffs out spending cuts, americans are hoping for cost cuts, as prices continue to jump. we'll break it down for you. and later, flu cases surging to

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♪ >> president trump announcing reciprocal tariffs this week as americans continue to grapple with rising inflation. so will these tariffs send prices even higher or ultimately ease inflation and improve the economy? let's bring in our experts, slate stone wealth, kenny pol polcari, and gary, let me start with you. i with the pro adviceo that i have no financial brain whatsoever, it does seem obvious to me that if you charge more for the goods coming into the country, the consumer is going to have to pay more for those goods. so in the short-term at least, tariffs surely will increase

prices? >> yeah, by definition a tariff, the business pays more and potentially will pass it on to the consumer, but i must say, i'm less worried than i was two or three weeks ago. i'm hearing a lot of announcements, but not a lot of things being put in place and i really do think we're into tactics here. if you're tariffing us 10% we're coming back at you 10% and i think the president knows one very important aspects of the situation, we're a $30 trillion economy. china's 19 approximately. after that is germany and japan under 5, and then you have canada and mexico, which are around 2. so, we're really the head honcho top dog, big cheese. he's hoping that the bigness of us is going to get them moving towards us and hopefully at one point in time will end the tariff thing. i don't think they do much for anybody by charging back and forth. jonathan: so, kenny, would you agree with that, it's the

short-term negotiating tactic rather than a long-term tactic with regards to the economy? >> yeah, 100%. i think gary is right and i think he's shown that, right? i think that trump has shown that that these other countries, in fact, deciding to come to the table and to renegotiate some of these trade agreements and to gary's point. he's not looking to elevate this issue, he's saying, okay, you charge us 10, we'll charge you 10 and trying to level playing field that way and i think will bring everyone back to the table. so i'm not-- i don't think the issue is tariffs this year that investors and that americans need to worry about, i think the issue is going to continue to be kind of this growing inflation i think is starting to lift its ugly head again and that's before we even get to the tariffs. jonathan: gary, on that point, how much could a president really affect inflation? it seems to me that there's a lot more to it than just simple

executive orders or whatever it might be coming from the oval office. >> well, you nailed it with that question. with eggs, there's a bird problem. i'm in florida, if we have a freeze, orange juice prices can go up, but i think the big matsa ball is energy, if energy prices can stay down, it's not just what you pay at the pump of thousands of products made with petroleum. i can tell you the last month to six weeks, energy prices have come down markedly so that's definitively going to help. as you produce more, prices usually come down, notwithstanding opec coming out of the box and doing something that affects them. so, watch energy prices. i think that's going to dictate policy as far as inflation and again, in the last four to six weeks it's been coming down nicely. jonathan: and kenny, do you see hope on the horizon for all of these hard-pressed americans? >> i do because i do-- while i think we may hit a short-term bump in inflation like we saw over, you know,

this past weekend, i think that's going to be -- i don't think it's going to get out of control so i do think that gary's point if they bring energy costs down, that's by far the one input that affects inflation across the board. you bring any two prices down, transportation costs go down, electricity goes down and affects the whole gamut. i'm very, very bullish on that where we're going. i remain bullish on the economy, i'm a little worried about inflation, but i think it's temporary in nature. jonathan: while i have you both. jerome powell said quote, the fed is not in a hurry to cut rates further. gary, is that the right move? >> yes, at this point because the free market interest rates have come down. looking for me, the less the fed does, the less the fed says is good. why? because they seem to think they're the economy when i

believe it's the 150 million of us that go to work every day to do better for ourselves and our family and i think the fed has only done damage in the past when they printed to nine trillion dollars and missed the whole move on inflation. the other part on inflation i like at this point is doge. i believe the out of control spending did contribute to it. keep in mind, government spending is up over 60% since the year before covid. that's an unimaginable amount, if they could get that under control, i think that's going to help, also. jonathan: kenny, picking up on that doge point that gary is making, it does -- you'd be hard-pressed, i think, to find any american, particularly a financially astute one like yourself, who doesn't think there isn't waste all over bureaucracy as big as the u.s. government. >> it's amazing to me that there's, you know, 40% of the country that seems to think that this is a problem, that

all of this wasteful spending and some of it is waste and some appears to be fraud and abuse, but percentage of the country that thinks this is not a good idea. honestly, i'm with gary on this. i want them to find it owl all, and to gary's point the wasteful spending will help the economy and the level of inflation, i'm so in the camp that they should go after it a all. jonathan: ken and gary, i think the last five minutes have made me smarter. thank you. alicia: pope francis canceling upcoming events after being admit today the hospital on friday. the latest on the condition of the catholic leader next.

>> the vatican announcing pope francis has canceled all scheduled events for the next three days after he was admitted to the hospital for bronchitis treatment on friday. stephanie bennett has the latest from london. >> yeah, despite a slight fever, the vatican says that the pope is stable. now, this, of course, comes after many years of battling different health issues for pope francis.

now, the vatican said yesterday preliminary tests showed that pope francis had a respiratory tract infection, running a mild fever and was in tear condition at rome's hospital. he was diagnosed with bronchitis on february 6th and continued his works hours before being admitted. he was appearing bloated and he was holding meetings. over the last few days he was handing off his speeches for an aid to read allowed saying he was having trouble breathing. outside of the hospital passersby were concerned, but hopeful. >> i mean, we are very worried, we came to actually see him at the vatican this weekend and we're very worried that he's in the hospital. i'm praying for him that he will get better and recover. >> now, over the years, pope francis trudged through cases

of pneumonia and bronchitis before. as a young man he had part of one lung removed and in 2021 part of his large intestine was removed. back in 2023 he was admit today the same hospital he's in right now to remove intestinal scar tissue or herona. he uses a walker or wheelchair, and suffers from sciatica pain. there's a mass for sunday. it's unclear how long he will be in the hospital for, but for now everything is canceled at least through monday, alicia. alicia: and we do wish the pontiff well. stephanie bennett. thank you so much. jonathan. jonathan: hopefully the pope will get better quickly. anyone else feeling sick? thank you for asking. the flu is hitting the highest levels in 15 years. dr. marc siegel and how to stay

healthy next.

>> flu cases are soaring this year to the highest level in 15 years, and we're just now hitting the peak of the season. fox news medical analysts dr. marc siegel on the stunning cases, doc. >> we're at the heart of respiratory virus season. the humidity is low and people

are huddled together and virus travels further. covid is very low this year so flu a predominating and again, people are spreading it because they're close together and travel farther in low humidity. and we're even seeing some in our southern states. seeing it in florida it's very high. in kentucky it's high, in texas and south carolina, it's high. so we're concerned about it and it's causing literally 8% of all doctor's visits right now, jonathan, are from the flu or what's called flu-like illness and get this, over the past week, and i'm in touch with c.d.c. directly on this, 50,000 hospitalizations over the past week alone from flu and that's really high. jonathan: goodness me, that's really high, dr. siegel. i've been feeling pretty rough with a bad cold the past few days, other than having three children school age that carry

viruses on demand. what can i do better to keep myself healthier. >> knowing you, i think you're doing things right, but i tell you one thing, there's a low rate of flu vaccination, and i don't like it. it decreases the severity of the flu and when you mention flu, children going to school. with the flu you get suddenly fatigued and you can't get out of bed. that's the most common symptom and then headache, sore throat, you get congestion, you don't get a productive cough usually, but muscle aches. so you just-- you're just knocked flat by the flu. whateing reported i'm seeing a ton of secondary infections, treating bronchitis, that can happen with the flu. you've got the flu, bronchitis, i might give you an antibiotic, for the flu, a new drug now that you literally only have to take one pill and works as well

or better than familiar f tamiflu. that's one in my arsenal. and if you're sick, stay home, and if you were, you'd be at home, i'd be on with a different anchor. jonathan: you're too kind. what about the flu vaccines, and there are concerns with rfk as health secretary, there will be a seasonal push for health vaccines. >> i'd like to talk about the middle ground here and i already hinted at this. i want to talk about vaccines that may help a little, but not a lot. it's easy to say, well, measles, polio vaccines, those are slam dunks. something like the flu vaccine is in the middle, meaning, it doesn't work perfectly and you already hinted at it, it depends on what the strains are this year. we've got two strains, we've identified them. they're covered by the flu shot.

it's still only about 50 to 60% effective, but if you have nothing else, it's a really good tool. who wants to be in the hospital? it makes it less severe. one more thing i didn't mention, one more thing i didn't mention, we've gotten in the habit of doing rapid flu testing like rapid covid testing. i'm all for that, jonathan, work 60% of the time. if i know you're testing positive for the flu i might be giving you that anti-flu drug. jonathan: all right, dr. marc siegel always great advice and analysis from you. stay healthy and i hope i'll follow the doctor's advice and get much healthier, alicia, that will do it. and it's been great to be with you, and i'm glad i'm not next to you. alicia: fox news live continues right now. >> three more hostages released by