diagnosed with terminal cancer. he beat the disease and kept building the library these past 12 years. and that's it for today. have a great week, and we'll see you back in washington next "fox news sunday." ♪ ♪ ♪ maria: good sunday morning, everyone. welcome too "sunday morning futures," i'm maria bart romo. today texas thrives in the face of challenge. the state a magnet for technology and innovation with another major tech company opening shop despite joe biden's wide open borders. new data this morning on the hundreds of thousands of gotaways gross -- crossing the southern border this year as businesses invest tens of billions in the lone star state. coming up, texas governor greg abbott with breaking news on

what samsung and tesla's big investments in the state mean for texas and for america. plus, smash and grab robberies surging across country as president biden's government blows off anti-mandate rulings, and the white house blames the crime spike on covid instead of their own bad policies. >> doeses the president still think crime's up because of the pandemic? >> i think many people have conveyed that. maria: yes. former hud secretary and neurosurgeon dr. ben carson is here on the crime spree and the omicronn hysteria. then this, holding their feet to the fire. >> i don't know whether to call you professor or comrade. maria: louisiana senator john kennedy brings heat while questioning joe biden's communist nominees. he a takes us could be to the wire as joe biden and democrats

look to put their the massive spending and tax plan on front of the stage with just a few days left in the legislative calendar. and then moral courage and american pride, e necessary freedom on why he won't back down from communist china and will stand tall for america all coming up right here, right now onn "sunday morning futures." ♪ ♪ maria: and first this morning, more confusion and arrogance at the whitete house. >> i've seen -- [laughter] more ofr] dr. paw chi than i have -- fauci, than i have my wife. we kid each other. who's president? fauci. but all kidding aside, i sincerely mean it. maria: who is president? joe biden joking this week that dr. anthony fauci is the real president as the commander in chief's poll numbers plummet to

new lows and florida and, show the lowest number of covid infections and some of the highest investment dollars anywhere. joining me right now is the governor of great state of texas, greg abbott is here. governor, thanks very much for being here. congrats to you on a lot of good news. i want to get t to your investments from tesla and samsung in a moment, but first, tell the us about omicron variant. what has it meant for texas? where are you on the covid infection? >> so for one, because, you know, you talked about how we have a low rate of infections compared to so many other states, and one reason that we've been able to achieve that is because we've been open 100%. there n are no vaccine mandatesr mask mandates, and so it shows that we can remain open and help hively hoods while also making -- livelihoods while also making sure we do a good job of protecting lives. as it curves the new variant -- concerns there new variant, department of state health services is working with local

healthca care providers across entire state to be able to test samples of covid-positive cases to determine whether or not they do contain new variant. we're working to make sure that vaccines are available to anybody who wants a vaccine and also working to make sure that we make it easier for people to get a test so they can determine whether or not they may have the new variant or just have the delta variant, whatever case may be.ma but also we, in anticipation of a potential increase many hospitalizations, we're working to surge more nursing and medical personnel p to make sure that ourls hospitals will be abe to deal with it. maria: well, it's pretty extraordinary when you look at what's going on in europe right now, governor. you've got lock coupes in austria -- lockdowns many austria, germany locking down unvaccinated people. what are your t thoughts? because the white house has not ruled out a vaccine mandate for domestic travelers. we're waiting t to see where ths omicron story the goes next.

>> well, i can tell you many texas we are ruling out -- in texas we arere ruling out vaccie mandates and lockdowns. there's no need for things like that. texans know exactly what they need to do in order to protect themselves, and they don't need government telling them what to do. and i think the same thing should apply for the white house. maria: so i texas is open and thriving, and you have had multiple number of victories this week alone. a federal judge blocking joe biden from enforcing two mandates requiring millions of workers to get vaccinated. your executive order banning mask man kates by government -- mandates by government entities becomes law. tell me about the economic story in,. i know concern in texas. i know that he's the la announced it's officially moving its headquarters to austin. what because that mean for texas? and then there's the samsung committing to a $17 billion semiconductor factory in taylor,

texas. this is going to be the real impactful not just for texas, but for the country as we battle this shortage of semiconductor chips. >> well, it's huge. i'll address both issues that you raise,, and that is, first, texas has been very aggressive about legally challenging all of these mandates that the biden administration has put in place concerning covid whether it be vaccine mandates or mask mandates, and we've been winning them all in the course. and right now in texas there are the noal federal mandates, the only mandate that applies is my executive thehs order says noboy in the statee of texas can be mandated to take a vaccine shot. obviously, they're available for anybody who wants it, but there can be no mandates infringing upon individual liberty. that isth in part why, i think, that there are so many businesses that are moving to the state of texas. maria, over just first 31 months of this -- 31 months of this

year -- 11 months of this year, 70 businesses have relocated their headquarters to the state of texas. that means there's a new headquarters in texas every five days. one ofed those, as you mention s tesla that first announced their gigafactory here and now their headquarters. samsung, e semiconductors, a $17 billion investment many taylor, texas, which is just outside of austin where they will be building additional semiconductors. that is in addition to an announcement the week before where texasts instruments announced a $30 billion investment for semiconductors. so semiconductors will help in the supply chain process. but the state of texas' economy is growing and thriving, and there are businesses hard moving here and growing here because texas is the land of economic opportunity and innovation. maria: well, this is a huge story, and this is going to have impact throughout the country. we know right now the dominance of taiwan on semiconductors, one other reason that china wants to

go in, acquire taiwan, so that they can be in charge of all semiconductors. this is going to alleviate the semiconductor problem and shortage that america is facing. so that's, that's just great news for texas. do you expect more? what are you expecting many 'ems of more investment -- in terms of more investment coming down the road? any vision or runway for us? >> sure. we've got, actually, a lot of positive projects that are coming our way. but listen, you touched upon something has very important and that is a lesson that americans have learned and, i by god, the biden administration if should learn this also, and that is country made a mistake over the past one or two decades to farm out manufacturing of all these essential supplies whether it be now semiconductors or could be health care supplies that we needed during the time of covid, whatever case may be. we need to not depend upon china or other countries for our essential needs for things like semiconductors, and has exactly

why texas is leading the way of becoming the home for semiconductors that go into everything people use. st not just your iphone or laptop or whatever the case may be, it's also in all of these vehicles we have manufacturing going on. in fact, just this last week we announced the rollout of the new toyota tundra, and they use these semiconductor chips in their trucks. maria: yeah. >> h so texas will be the home f semiconductor manufacturing going forward. maria: all the more impressive given what you are facing in terms of the challenge at border. so because of the omicron variant, joe biden came out this week and put new mask restrictions, mask mandates, rather, in place until march of 2022, and he was asked about covid testing given the fact that now travelers coming into the united states are required toest for covid within -- to test for covid within 24 hours. here's anthony fauci answering

the question from peter doocy about testing at border. watch this. >> anybody and everybody who's coming into the country needs to get a test within 24 hours of getting on the plane to come here. >> reporter: what about people who don't take a plane and just these border crossers coming in in huge numbersesome. >> for example, we still have title 42 the with regard to protection at the border, so there are protections at border that you don't have the capability, as you know, of somebody getting on a plane, getting checked, looking at a passport. we don't have that there. maria: governor, set the record straight for us. who's not getting tested at the border, and also we do have breaking news this morning. we have the latest unofficial border numbers from our border sources for the month of november, and it is the getting worse. we had 168,000 apprehensions for the month and 52,429 gotaways. in other words, those people came into the country, they were seen on surveillance cameras,

they got away. we are looking at 600,000 the gotaways this fiscal year, up 40%. your thoughts onest thing for covid -- thoughts on testing for covid and all of this impact of the wide open border in texas. >> maria, i'm unaware of whether or not dr. fauci has ever actually been ott border, certainly -- been to the border, certainly during the time of covid. i don't think he has any personal firsthand knowledge of whether people are being tested coming across border. i, however, am on the border either every week or every other week, and i've been talking to texas national guard and the department of public safety who are apprehending these people. and what i can tell you for a fact is most of people coming across border, if not all of them, are not being tested. the point is this: the president and the biden administration, they have two standards. if you'ree going to pay money into the united states of america lawfully, you have to be tested. however, if you come into the

country illegally, you don't have to be tested. and as you know the numbers, there have been more than a million people who have come across the border illegally that we know of this year, most of whom have not been tested. and so the biden administration actually has no adequate information to determine the extent to which people are coming across the border by the millions to know whether or not they were bringing covid or the omicron variant, whatever the case may be, into the united states ofme america. that is completely irresponsible and extremely dangerous. you talked about -- maria: absolutely. >> -- the gotaways, and the reason why we have gotaways is because the biden administration has tied the hands of both the border patrol as well as i.c.e. they have insufficient number of people on the border to secure the border, and that's exactly why texas the has 10,000 national guard and texas the department of public safety officers on the border. it's why we are erecting these barriers on the border, that's exactly why texas is building its own border wall.

maria: which -- exactly. and one ofa: my sources told me about the lawlessness happening in houston. he told me there were 400,000 new people in houston right now because there are getaway cars picking them up from the border, driving them to houston. in fact, i was told one of the biggest businesses many houston right now is producing fake documents, that these companies that produce fake documents for these illegals are just soaring. what's going on in houston? and, by the way, a federal judge is insisting that the biden administration reimplement remain in mexico, but my sources on the ground said i'll believe it when i seell it. your thoughts on what's going on in houston as well as this remain in mexico policy real quick, sir. >> so remain in mexico, that was the result of a lawsuit brought by texas against biden administration where a federal judge ruled in our favor compelling the biden administration to reinstate the remain in mexico policy. of course, we are apprehensive

about the extent to which the the biden administration will reimpose it, however, the news the reports are that they are going to begin doing it. i think they've gotten agreement by the mexican government to begin that process beginning this weekend and early next week. but, of course, as usual, we'll believe it when we see it. with regardd to these crimes tht you're talking about the taking place, listen, this is part of activity.ten, this is part of the cartels are advertising on tiktok to get drivers to assist in them moving illegal immigrants around state of texas. it's an issue that the texas department of public safety is working to crack down upon, but it shows the extent to which texas thehe law enforcement officers have to step up and deal with the challenges that are created by the biden administration importing illegal activity into our country and into our state. maria: yeah. all right. we will leave it there. governor, thanks very much for your leadership. good to talk with you this morning. t we have reported on the tiktok

angle as well. thank you, sir. we will audiocassette soon. quick break, and then dr. ben carson on the omicron variant threat. stay with us. (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. ♪♪ all the gifts you really, really, really, can't wait to unwrap. ♪♪ joy. fully. ♪♪ your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

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this holiday, ask your doctor about xiidra. umph! maria: welcome back. the omicron variant of co-i have has now been detected in at least 13 states, while several european countries including austria, germany, spain, have all imposed new lockdowns. mandates and restrictions as a result of this variant. joining me right now to react is retired neurosurgeon, former hud secretary, dr. ben carson. he is the founder and chairman of the american cornerstone institute and dr. carson, it's always a pleasure to see you. thanks for being here. i would like to get your reaction to the omicron variant. >> sure. well, first of all, viruses undergo variations. they mutate. it's a natural thing. it's sort of like if you go into a xerox office and you start

xeroxing things, some of the copies are not going to be perfect. when those are replicated, aren't perfect here. that's how mutations occur, similar fashion. it's a natural phenomenon for viruses to do that. so the fact that we've discovered another variation is not cause for great alarm. now, obviously we need to be concerned about the coronavirus and its variations and we need to continue to take appropriate precautions. but we don't need to go crazy. you know, you just had governor abt bought on -- abbott on, and texas is a state a that's not locked down. florida is a state that's not locked down. even though those are two of the states to which many of the people who have come across the border illegally have been sent. and about 20% of those people have had covid. and yet they're not locking down and they're doing better than

the vast majority of states. that should tell us something. there comes a time when logical people actually look at the data and make their policieses based on what the data shows, rather than on ideology. so, yes, we should continue to be careful. we should recognize that we have an excellent medical system in this country and they can come up with the appropriate solutions. let people work with their own healthcare providers. we don't need government mandating what needs to be done. that's a slippery slope. it leads to terrible places and the whole concept of he demonizing people who are not vaccinated, you know, isn't that the same kind of thing that fascists do when they come in and they pick a group of people and they say these are the ones who are causing all the problems and then they begin to persecute them, to he restrict them, to do various other things. that's not america. we don't want that.

people, we've got to wake up and understand that there are big things going on here and they're sometimes using this as subtrefuge to get other ideologies that want to come across. this is america, the land of the free. it's about the people, not the government. maria: i want to ask you about your thoughts about what's going on in europe right now and joe biden's new rules to shut down travel from south africa. let me take a short break and after this we'll talk about that as well as the democrats' plan to use $400 million in taxpayer dollars to fund a federal vaccine database. more surveillance. is this just more cash up in smoke? we'll talk about it with dr. carson when we come right back.

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>> when a huge group of criminals organizes themselves and they want to go loot a store, a cvs, nordstrom, home depot, because the shelves are clean, you think that's because of the pandemic. >> i think a root cause in a lot of communities is the pandemic, yes. maria: wow, that was white house press secretary jen psaki on wednesday this week, blaming the spike in organized smash and grab retail crime across the country, she blames it on covid. we are back with dr. ben carson, the founder and chairman of the american corner stone institute. dr. carson, your reaction to that? >> that is blatantly absurd. and i don't know how she can even say that with a straight face. but in a sense, you know, we do have examples of lawlessness because when our federal government, the executive branch decides to ignore what the judicial branch has said about mandates and they act in a

lawless fashion, why should they be surprised when the people act in a lawless fashion. maybe there is a correlation. maybe that's what she's talking about. maria: that is exactly right. and there's no accountability. you had anthony fauci on the stand under oath tell rand paul they did not do gain of function research. then the nih comes out, says no, no, we did do and fund gain of function research. why is there no accountability? you've known anthony fauci for a long time. what are your thoughts on what's going on there as the president earlier this week said we joked that he's the real president. >> well, you know, it's unfortunate when medicine begins to mix itself with political ideology. things become very ill logical at that point. one of the things that we should be talking about are other things that can be effective.

we should be looking at other vaccines. we shouldn't be satisfy fade with what we have now. we should be looking at therapeutics, we should be em take sizing those, we should -- emphasizing those. we should look at areas of the world where covid is not prevalent, like the western coast of africa and say why is it not prevalent there. for one thing, they take anti-ma larials like hydroxychloroquine. let's not say everybody get the vaccine and say we'll do everything we can to make sure everybody gets the jab. we are smart people. we have a lot of avenues that we can pursue. let's pursue those. if dr. fauci and others would recognize that and use their intellect because they're smart guys, to look at everything, i think we would make a lot faster progress.

maria: so what are your thoughts on a booster? what should people be thinking about related to a booster shot? >> well, you know, a booster is nothing more than less than a full dose of the vaccine. so it's like take a half dose and get it again. and i guess the big question is, why do we keep needing boosters? first it watt was going to be the one vaccine, then it was going to be two and then it's a vaccine and a booster and probably we're going to need another booster later. that's one of the reasons that we need to be looking at some of the alternatives in a very serious fashion. as well as looking for other types of vaccines that won't require repeated boosters but the last thing in the world we feed to be doing is villainizing the people who use their choice to take a different route. maria: yeah, especially since they completely ignore natural

immunity, those people who have had covid are arguably more immune than those people who have taken the vaccine before you go, i've got to ask you about the new surveillance power that the cdc is getting, dr. carson. 80 house gop voted with texas, with i'm sorry with democrats on tuesday to pass the immunization infrastructure modernization act. this is $400 million in taxpayer dollars to fund a federal vaccine database. so now they want to have a database on everybody on what vaccines they've taken and where they are in that. your thoughts on this surveillance power of the cdc. >> well, i was very sad to see that. recognize that governments have a tendency to grow to infiltrate and to control and those are governments that are controlled by democrats or republicans or independents or anybody. that's what governments do. they're like lions. lions kill gazelles and eat them

not because they're bad animals but because they're lions. that's why we have a constitution. the constitution was given to the people of the country so they could control the growth of government and this is a prime example of what government growth would do, having this database first of all subjects people to covid. but it will secondarily be used for other things as well. we have got to be smart enough to recognize these signs when we see them and to stop them, to nip them in the bud before it becomes too late. it doesn't take long to change a nation. you look at venezuela. almost overnight, what happened there. americans, we have got to wake up. we've got to be smart. maria: especially when you have adversaries rising like we do in communist china. dr. carson, it's good to see you as always. thank you so much for weighing in on all of that. >> you too. thank you. maria: quick break and then senator john kennedy is here, firing up the room while

questioning joe biden's radical nominee. louisiana senator will join me on the odds of joe biden's spending and tax plan getting spending and tax plan getting jamm up to one million dollars. that's how much university of phoenix is committing to create 400 scholarships this month alone. because we believe everybody deserves a chance. see what scholarships you may qualify for at phoenix.edu

maria: louisiana senator john kennedy sits on the banking and judiciary committees and, senator, it's wonderful to have you this morning. thanks very much for being here. can you kick us off with the number of legislative days you have left, what are you expecting to get cone before year end? >> well, senator schumer or determines number of cays we have left, but basically we have until the end of the year, if

your question is will build back better be brought before the senator, i think only joe manchin knows answer to that, and perhaps senator sin massachusetts i think senator -- senator sinema. i think senator manchin understands, maria, in the his heart that this is a bad bill, bad social policy, bad economic policy. when i first heard about build back better bill, i thought to myself, you know, this is satire, right? and then the i took a look -- then i took a look at it, and i was amazed beyond imagination. i mean, it's breathtaking. trillions of dollars of new spending, new taxes, new debt9, new welfare programs. the only way i know how to improve it is with a shredder. it's going to fuel inflation. when a hot pocket costs you $10, remember, we're building back better. a new welfare program for illegal immigrants, amnesty for

illegal immigrants, federal takeover of early childhood education and childcare, eventually the federal government is going to want to control what they teach your kids. at least in the short term, a dramatic rise in the cost of childcare. for example, in 2022 if the bill passes, if a couple are making together clash 70,000 a year -- $70,000 a year, do you know what the cost for childcare's going to be for them? $29,000. that's out of pocket. maria: wow. >> and that's for one child. if you have two, who can afford that? maria: i mean, people don't realize what's in this bill. i'm glad you just described it that way, a federal takeover of childcare. you also have this element in it where democrat spending bill puts 3 million illegal immigrants on path to

citizenship, and the clock, maya macguineas told me it's actually $4.9 trillion, not or clash 1.75 trillion that they're advertising. so how is it possible that treasury secretary yellen says it's the fully paid for, and joe biden keeps saying that it costs nothingsome. >> well, sec -- nothing? >> well, secretary yellen's wrong and so is president biden. this bill's going to add billions of collars in new debt. we haven't talked much about the new taxes. you know, president biden, he whispers to the american people pay your fair if share. but he never bothers to answer the questions of what is your fair share or of what somebody else's worked for? we've never had that discussion. the build back better bill just takes marxist class analysis and

uses it to redistribute wealth in a way that the -- that the i think is going to irreparably damage the american people. maria: well, senator, many people are upset with your senate colleagues. i mean, are we here at this place right now because of the 19 republicans who went along with democrats to vote for the infrastructure bill? is that why we're here right now talking about the all of these high taxes to come, to hit us in 2022? >> i don't generally tell my colleagues how to vote. if they ask me, i'll give my opinion, but i generally close by saying follow your heart, but just make sure you take your brain with you. i didn't vote for the infrastructure bill. i didn't vote for the infrastructure bill because only

23%9 of it went to infrastructure. and i wasn't going to spend taxpayer money to buy a car to bet the cup holders. but in my judgment, there's no question that the fake infrastructure bill has made it easier to pass the build back better bill. but it's -- but the build back better bill, i think i've made pretty clear that i think it's crap-tastic. it hasn't passed yet. and whether it passes, i think, is going to be determined by senator manchin and to some extent the senator sinema. some of my colleagues think my other democratic friends in the senate are going to object, but i don't think so. i think they've been hit with everything but a chair, and they've given in. maria: you know, part of the issue here is that we don't know who's running things. i mean, look at the approval ratings of joe biden and how

he's handling the job as president. they have plummeted. we have a new trafalgar poll that says only 18% of people strongly approve or approve. you've got 52.2% of those people strongly disapproving of joe biden's handling of being president, and partly it's these nominees. let me roll a sound bite of you questioning one of his radical nominees, saule omarova, his nominee for comptrollerrer of the currency, which you were great with. watch this. >> in 2020 you wrote another paper called "the climate case for a national investment authority" where you said what we need to do with the oil and gas industry have the federal government bankrupt 'em so we can tackle climate change. you have the right to believe every one of these things, you do. this is america.

but i don't mean any disrespect, i don't know whether to call you professor or comrade. maria: senator, your thoughts on who gets through, who passes senate confirmation because also, obviously, nominated jay powell and lyle brain forward for the chairman and vice chairman of the federal reserve. >> well, i support chairman powell. but as to the president's other nominees, i think they are one of reasons that president biden's poll numbers are on a journey to the center of the earth. you know, be yourself is the worst advice you can give some people. and so many of president biden's nominees are just barking mad. they're cryptoto-socialists -- clip to-socialists. they're fanatical. i mean, if you ask them to consider another point of view, their neck veins bulge, and they call you a nazi or a racist.

we try to question them in committee, but they don't answer the questions. they just refer you, excuse my language, they just refer you to [bleep].com. maria: yeah. they don't seem -- many of them don't like america, they don't seem to to. they feel contempt for america. they should feel gratitude. maria: yeah. senator -- >> and i think that -- i'm sorry. maria: no, i just, real quick before you go, i've got to get your take, do you believe russia will invade ukraine? a lot of worry bubbling up now that the russian troops have built up near the ukraine border raising the worry of an invasion in 2022. china is rising. our adversaries are smelling weakness. >> well, weakness invites the wolves. russia won't invade if president biden and the congress make it clear that there will be serious

consequences if russia does. what the president needs to do the tomorrow, tomorrow is sanction the nord stream 2 pipeline. if you do that, we'll get china -- we'll get russia down, and then we can choke them. maria: senator, it's great to have you. we will be watching whether or not there are the sanctions coming, actually. senator, thank you so much. john kennedy joining us this morning. we'll see you soon. have a happy holiday, sir. >> you too. maria: we'll talk more about china coming up. celtics' center enes freedom on why he will not back down against communist beijing as men's tennis is now pressuring to join the wta in a china boycott over player pink. >> way. we'll be right back. why don't y♪

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>> i call call on all americans, when you see made in

china, put it down. if you care about social justice, let me tell you where slavery is happening. it's happening right now where women are abused, they're in prison, they're forced to be sterilized. it's a genocide going on as we speak. because everybody is drunk on chinese money including the olympic sponsors that are happening in february, then everybody wants to turn a blind eye. good on him for calling out the hypocrisy. maria: yes, that was florida congressman michael waltz on this program back in october, praising my next guest, nba star enes freedom has been showing moral courage, calling out china over human rights abuses. earlier this week the boston celtics center became a u.s. citizen and changed his name from enes kanter to enes kanter freedom to celebrate. he joins me now. good morning to you and congratulations on becoming an american citizen. tell us, what does america mean to you? >> thanks for having me, maria. i mean, it's the greatest nation

in the world. i remember first time coming to america in 2009, one of my teammates actually criticized the president and i was very scared for him because i told him it was like dude, you're going to be in jail, stop criticizing the president and he turned around and a said this is not turkey, brother. you can relax. you have freedom here. i think becoming an american citizen was my goal the first time i stepped in america because you have freedom of speech, religion, expression of freedom of press here, and there was checks and balances and rules and laws so it was a dream come true and i cannot be happier. maria: i just love what you're saying. now men's tennis is under fire this morning, the men's tennis association under fire for not pulling business out of china, the way the women's tennis association did so. you know that the wta canceling tournaments in beijing over concerns about tennis star peng

shuai's safety after she was disappeared for two weeks because she called out the former vice premier of the ccp. your thoughts on what's going on in tennis right now? >> you know, i applaud the women's tennis association courage. every major association should take note and take an example of what wta is doing. you know, they don't care about money or business but they care about morals, values and principles and they care about their players. about peng shuai, while we know she is alive, we don't know if she's free, free to speak, free to travel. so i feel like we should definitely hold this dictator ship like china's communist party accountable. maria: yeah. i want to ask you about the nba and what's happening now that you have been so vocal against these bad abuses in the chinese communist party and i have to believe since you have been so

patriotic and showing this love of america, american companies may-probably are getting behind you in a big way. let's take a short break. i want to get your message for he lebron james after the moral courage you're showing and what kind of endorsements you're getting now. we'll talk about the u.s. potentially boycotting the 2022 beijing olympics next with [ coughing and sneezing ] cold season is back. bounce back fast with alka seltzer plus. with 25% more concentrated power. alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh, what a relief it is ♪ so fast! also try for cough, mucus & congestion.

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maria: welcome back. we are back with celtics center enes freedom. you've been pushing back on china's authoritarianism and the bad behavior with their sneakers, you called out lebron james. i have to expect that since you've been so patriotic you must have a lot of companies getting behind you and giving you endorsements.

tell me how many have gotten behind you, american companies, to support you. >> well, unfortunately zero. it's a shame that all these companies are scared, you know, scared because they are doing too much business with chinese communist party and china and they know that the moment that they give me any kind of deal, that all their business will -- in china will be shut down. but you know, i never did this to get any kind of endorsement deals. i could care less. to me, the morals are way more important than anything they can offer me but shame on all the companies out there. maria: that is absolutely extraordinary that you have shown this loyalty to america and patriotism and no american companies have gotten behind you and endorsed you. i am shocked. real quick on lebron james. you called him out for the slave labor reports, reportedly in xinjiang china. have you heard back from him?

will you face off against lebron this tuesday? >> you know, i haven't heard from him and i say this over and a over again every time i do an interview, morals over money. these athletes should definitely educate themselves before they put their signature on a paper and sign big deals with hypocrite companies like obviously nike. it's a modern day slavery. before everything, we need to call out these companies who call themselves a social justice company, but when it comes to china they remain silent because they do a lot of business with china. i feel like someone has to do it and it happens to be me and i'm glad and i'm happy that i did it. maria: real quick on the olympics, as an athlete, what do you want to say to other athletes who are headed to beijing for the olympics in february? >> shame on them. you know, all the gold medals in the world that you can win is not more important than your values and principles. come on. you know, we -- while we're

speaking right now, there's genocide happening and shame on international olympic committee that they're sleeping in the same bed with china, so someone has to call them out. maria: wow. enes freedom, great to have you as always a. congratulations to you. congratulations to you. you are a proud person ' 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. to make my vision a reality my varilux progressive lenses provide seamlessly transition from near to far. with every detail in sharp focus. that's seeing no limits. varilux lenses by essilor. when you're looking for answers, it's good to have help. because the right information, at the right time, may make all the difference. at humana, we know that's especially true when

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