doesn't exist and they say they're doing the devil's work whether they acknowledge it or not. >> john: thanks, lauren. how is that to finish off your thursday? >> sandra: first graders. wow. i'll be in for neil at 4:00. thanks for joining us. i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'll see you tuesday. my late mother-in-law's memorial is this weekend. >> sandra: our best to your family. >> john: i'm john roberts. "the story" with martha starts right now. >> martha: thanks very much. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum at fox news head quarters in new york. right now on "the story" in the midst of massive confusion from workplace to schools to everywhere else on what the covid rules are right now, a looming crisis between russia and ukraine, we'll take you there live. and we have this blockbuster inflation number. 7.5% jump. president biden left the white

house for the first time this week to breathe life into the build back better bill. so he made that stop in culpepper, virginia. the hits keep coming in terms of the numbers here, this is the lowest ever according the real clear politics. he's clocking in the low 40%. the new virginia governor, glenn youngkin won on a platform of letting the voices of parents be heard in schools and the reluctance to lift mask mandates for schools is galvanizing a new voting block that they dub the covid mom. fed up with covid rules and the impact on their kids. some of them are running for office. governor glenn youngkin joins me shortly. stick around for that in moments. first, american enterprise institute scholar and fox news contributor marc thiessen. good to have you with us. with that as a backdrop, a lot going on for the president to have on his desk at this moment.

he's in culpepper virginia today pushing for bbb. >> it's remarkable. last week joe manchin was asked by a reporter on the hill how are -- what is the state of negotiations on build back better? he said what build back better? i don't know what you're talking about. what part of dead does biden not understand? why is he setting himself up for failure and focusing on flogging a dead piece of legislation? we're experiencing the worst inflation in 40 years, the worst crime wave since the 90s and the worst border crisis in history and the worst foreign policy catastrophe in my lifetime in afghanistan and we're on the brink of the worst military active aggression in europe since world war ii. that is a lot of things that the commander-in-chief and the president of the united states could be focusing on. instead, he's focused on raising expectations that he can pass a

bill that has no chance of passing because of his own incompetence. because he could not get his own party to support his agenda. he's got to stop flogging socialist spending bills and focus on what americans care about. >> martha: joe manchin is increasingly frustrated. his relationship with chuck schumer has broken down according to all records that we're seeing. so the hopes that they can get something passed are becoming dimmer because the president keeps going back to push for more on this bbb. here's what he said at 10:00 a.m. joe manchin. watch. >> this is not a time to throw more fuel on the fire. we have inflation and we have basically an economy that is on fire. you don't throw more fuel on a fire that is on fire causing the problems that we have. so we have to get our house in order. >> martha: it's clear where he stands on that. it's interesting, marc, that this afternoon we're not sure what time, there's reports that former president barack obama is going to be on the hill meeting with house democrats to -- it's a virtual meeting as i'm told,

to talk to them about the agenda, about what they're doing. what do you think of that? i wonder what president biden thinks of that? >> yeah, i don't know what president obama is doing interfering with capitol hill. i guess joe manchin -- joe biden is in desperate straits that he needs some sort of help. barack obama wasn't much more successful in getting legislation through. what joe biden needs to do is what he promised to do, which is go to the center. his approval rating is lower than donald trump's. he started being 20 points above water, now he's ten points under water in terms of approval. why? he didn't do what he said he was going to do, unite the country, compromise republicans and democrats and bring them together. the worst thing that happened to him is he won the two senate seats in georgia. it gave them delusions of

grandeur. the thought that he could be a transformational president instead of a uniter. he needs to go back. he will lose one house of congress in november and there will be no more reconciliation bill. he's going to have to compromise. do it now when it appears like a choice. >> martha: the president is talking about something that isn't meeting the moment of where people are. we have a picture of allison spanberger in a difficult seat in virginia. she was standing up there with him. big hug between them. she spoke out against bbb. she didn't want it passed. they're in a district that trump won by 20 points, a quick thought on that. >> well, she's the one that said, americans didn't vote -- if i remember correctly, she said americans didn't vote for f.d.r. they voted for someone to unite the country. if joe biden wants to save his

presidency, he needs to tact to the center. stop the socialist spending bill, reach across the aisle and work with republicans and joe manchin to get small things done. >> martha: thanks, marc. we're waiting for governor youngkin as promised. we're working on that. we'll bring it as soon as we get that worked out. meantime, is the freedom convoy coming to america? the feds here today warning police that they should prepare for similar protests to what we've seen in canada, where truckers are mostly vaccinated out here protesting. they say that -- they hit their limit with these mandates. they have now clogged the roads in protest for 12 days. hugely controversial. molly line joins me now live in ottawa where she's getting to know the scene well the past several days. what is it like there today, molly? >> today the trucks remain in place. a balmy afternoon here in ottawa, stretching across the

roads in parliament. they're stuck firm. there's talented carpenters building a platform above the trucks. goes to show you there's potential for arrests warning demonstrators that they could be arrested if they block streets. they coulds will also be taken into custody. there's a line of gas tanks on the ground there. those are symbolic. the folks, the protesters were told if they helped to refuel the truckers they could be arrested. it's pop here to carry about these empty gas tanks. a show of solidarity. what i'm being told by the protesters on the ground here, they don't feel heard by he their government and they feel that they're being portrayed wrongly in the media here in canada. they've been portrayed as extremists, fringe people. what they want is to push back against tyranny and end the

vaccine mandates. one of the big things that they talked about is how they move trucking supplies and such an important part of the supply train and then the mandates put in place and now here they are. they see they're firmly in place and continue to push back against any efforts to get them to move. we'll see where things go in the coming days. right now they're going literally nowhere. martha? >> martha: thanks very much. we'll be back to that story in a short time. we want to go to virginia governor glenn youngkin who is joining us live today from virginia beach where he's about to hold an event touting plans to lower taxes for virginiians. thanks so much. great to have you with us today, governor. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, martha. great to be with you. >> martha: great to have you, sir. president biden is in your state today. he's talking about expanding spending programs. the bbb, reviving that. why do you think that that is what is on his agenda today in your home state? >> well, first of all, everybody wants to come to virginia now,

martha. we're getting taxes down. we're improving education. we're getting our economy moving and investing in law enforcement to get crime down. we're standing up for our constitutional rights. so i invite president biden and anybody else that wants to come to virginia because it's an exciting place to be right now. i'm very excited about the fact that delaware, his home state just decided that they were going to allow parents to make decisions whether their kids will be masked or not. that's what we're pressing for in virginia. we've been leading on this for a year. so excited we have a bipartisan effort. i welcome him to virginia and i hope he has a great day. >> martha: in terms of what he's pressing, he wants to expand spending at the federal level. we have inflation at 7.5%. he was also with allison spanberger, the representative to according. she's in a district that trump won handily. you think that is politically apt for her to be with him today? >> well, first of all, we have

run-away inflation. it's completely driven by a lack of discipline in federal spending. to see inflation at -- raise 7% last year and expectations that it will be another 6% this year, it's just running away from us. we're seeing it on -- at the ground level across virginia. grocery prices going up, housing prices going up, service prices going up. virginiians are frustrated with this. so i don't think this is going to play well for the president in virginia. we're working to get costs down. we're working to cut taxes, eliminate our grocery tax, double our standard deduction, have a large tax rebate. exclude $40,000 of our veterans retirement benefits from being taxed. and by the way, spent the most nickel increase in gas taxes. we have to get prices down. the one thing that i can do is get taxes down. i wish washington would do a better job of understanding the dynamics of supply and demand.

>> martha: taking taxes down isn't something that we hear a lot of today at all. as a governor, you can push for that in your home state. we'll see how you do with that. you talk about going to the store. you went to the store the other day and got heckled. i want your reaction to what happened. >> senator, where is your mask? >> [inaudible]. >> read the room, buddy. >> martha: so you didn't have a mask on and the last person says "read the room, buddy, you're in alexandria." what did you think of that? >> we're making change and we're standing up for parents. empowering parents to make decisions for their children. it's happening on a bipartisan basis. we have gotten a bill through the senate. it will go through the house. we'll get this in effect the next two weeks. we're going to give parents the power that they deserve to make decisions for their kids.

virginia has been leading in this the last year. the rest of the nation is now all of a sudden recognizing we must get back to normal. we have to give our kids the ability to get back to normal to fully participate in education because we have watched that mandatory mask culture where parents have no ability to choose, to work against our children. we're watching them fall behind in school, learning development challenges. so if parents want their child to wear a mask, please have them wear it. if parents don't want their child to wear a mask, we'll give them the ability to make that decision. >> martha: jen psaki yesterday said it's our view if a student chooses to wear a mask, they should be able to freely. i haven't heard you say a single time that you thought anybody that would like to wear a mask shouldn't be prevented from wearing it. that was an interesting comment on her part. i want your thought. there's something called the youngkin effect after your stunning election in virginia,

which sent out a lot of waves. this is from barry weiss. they're labelling a new group of voters called the covid moms that are angry about the way this has been handled. it reminds me of the soccer moms, the security moms and clearly this is of the moment. here's one of them running for office in new york against carolyn malone who has been in office for 30 years. watch this. >> you can be 60, 70, 80 years old and go sit in a restaurant indoors for hours and have a meal together, but my 5-year-old can't have 30 minutes with his friends at recess and play without a mask on and run without a mask on. that makes no sense. that is not science. that is politics. i'm not alone in new york city in being a parent that is just fed up with it. >> martha: is this the youngkin effect and you think we'll see more candidates like this one? >> yeah, i do. i think that the idea that parents matter isn't a new one, but it's one that the democrats

forgot about. we're listening to virginiians. one of the things i'm doing today, listening to families, listening to parents. i just -- i encourage democrats to listen to the folks that elect us. what we're hearing over and over again is that they need politicians that will go to work for them. what we're seeing over and over again right now is that the school boards aren't working for parents and kids. school boards are working for the education unions. here we have school boards that are making it hard for kids to come to school. they won't let them come to school in this is exactly what parents across america and parents across virginia are standing up and saying, no more, we're going to elect different folks. >> martha: thanks, governor. thanks for coming by "the story." see you soon. >> sandra: great to be with you. thank you. >> martha: in moments, robert redfield on why the agency says this now. >> at this time we continue to recommend masking in areas of

high and substantial transmission. >> martha: the author of the 1619 project goes after al sharpton that is sick and tired of crime in new york city. >> you go to a local pharmacy or rite aid, any of them, you have to get someone to help assist you. hit the buzzer. the guy comes over and unlocks your toothpaste. we're talking about basic stuff here. what did i miss that we have to lock up toothpaste?

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remember this guy. >> the alleged hamburglar that strolled out of trader joe's with ten packages of steaks? you can see the helpless employees. you can't take the shopping basket, sir but take the steaks. change of tune this morning. okay? listen to this from al sharpton. >> i'm just curious, is eric adams going to do anything? he's obviously surrounded by elected officials that want new york to remain chaotic. >> there's a debate in the criminal justice system. there's concern about overloading the jails but at the same time, you can't have people random robbing and stealing. >> martha: he talked about his toothpaste getting locked at cvs. nicole hannah jones, the 1619 author scolded sharpton tweeting

this drum beat for continued mass incarceration is horrific to watch. a personing stealing steak is not national news. there's always been theft from store, this is how you legitimize crime. will cain is here with us. great to have you here. what's going on here? >> what's going on is reality is settling in. it's funny to think about 20 years ago, al sharpton was about as radical and crazy as it got on the left. today he's outflanked people not only employed by "the new york times" but awarded pulitzer. that's how far left they have moved. al sharpton is right, by the way. you go to cvs, they have deodorant behind lock and key. you have to flag an employee down to get old spice. this is a sign of a community, a culture a society that is letting small crime go and that metastasizes in to large crime. we have the stats.

you heard them if you watched fox news for ten minutes. we know murder, burglary, robbery. every crime is up and it starts with the small crimes. it starts with the steaks. >> i love the camera with the guy. he's like whatever. i'm taking my steaks home. why do we pay for our steaks? you can walk out the door with them. here's more of al sharpton this morning. >> we cannot have a culture where people just at random robbing and stealing and it's out of control and on the front page of news papers. in fairness to eric, he's been mayor five weeks. but they're looking up my toothpaste. >> martha: they're locking up the toothpaste. this is not normal. i don't know what world some of these people are in, but this is

not normal. of course, there's been theft since the beginning of history. what we're seeing now is something very different. >> it's shocking that we turned over policy making. now it's been turned over to the absolute most radical people you can find. race and woke issues are behind the scenes whether or not d.a. alvin bragg will prosecute small crimes. on covid issues, on every issue driving public policy. how have we turned over decision making and judgment policy to the most crazy radicals? >> martha: they're trying to pull it back? this is not working? the public is telling us what they care about. they care about inflation and crime so we better get on the other side of the mask thing quickly or we'll get hammers. >> i think they are. let us never forgive them or forget what they put us through the last several years. >> martha: will cain, great to see you.

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>> we look at casing, hospitalizations, we've been reporting hospitalizations. we look at deaths. though decisions are made at the local level. we continue to recommend masking in high areas of transmission. that is much of the country right now. >> martha: that's the cdc director rochelle walensky that sid she's not ready to update mask guidance. several democratic governors relaxed mask requirements. they say we're still listening to the scientists and the data does not move at the speed of politics. let's bring in former cdc directeder dr. robert redford. doctor, great to have you with us. thanks for being here. i'd like to start by showing everybody -- >> thanks for having me. >> martha: this is the map of the high transmission areas for omicron right now. as you can see, it's rather red.

rochelle walensky said because there's high areas of transmission of omicron, we can't change our mask guidance. do you agree or disagree? >> no, martha, i don't agree with that. it's not so much where it is in the larger community but what is it in the setting that you're in. with the debate about schools, schools have always been a very low transmission zone for covid. i think this is what many people are realizing, that the risk of transmission acquisition within the school setting is extremely low, even if one is in a community where there's significant transmission. the risk for students has always been not the schools. it's been the community in which they live, the dinner table in which they have dinner at. >> martha: but masks off on on for everybody in the general public, restaurants, schools across the board in your opinion? >> i think we're at a stage, and we have been for several weeks

now, where each individual has to take the personal responsibility for how they want to best protect themselves against covid. there's no question that masks can play a role. i think people really overplay the role that they play. most of what is happening to this pandemic is more dependent on the virus and how the virus is evolving in the population rather than what the population does. >> martha: i'm hearing that you're saying not mandatory in school, public places. it's your choice. >> yeah, i'm totally against mandates, for vaccine and masks. we're going to be with covid-19 for the rest of time. we need to now really embrace how each of us are going to learn to modulate that risk. obviously one of the most important things we can do is be vaccinated and stay vaccinated and keep our vaccine up to the act of level that it needs to be. the second thing we can do is make some smart choices about

how we potentially can get exposed. i don't think, again, the school setting is a safe setting. i'm not an advocate for mandatory mask mandates. if parents want their children to wear masks, the parents should have that right. if the parents don't want their children to wear masks, the parents should have that right. >> martha: if you were still in charge at the cdc, you'd have a different than what we're hearing now from the head of the cdc. is that true? >> i would -- i challenge my colleagues to put forth the actual data and evidence that they're so confident in their policy recommendations. i don't think they have it. i think they're expressing their opinion based on where we were, not based on data that we have and clearly not where we're going. we're going for the next year, two, three, four, five of having our society begun to function in the presence of omicron. each of us have to take the

responsibility for how we're going to mitigate our own risk. one of the things that i think is most important that we've underutilized is knowledge of infection. i'm a big advocate for schools that want to do regular testing in a high transmission zone of twice a week to maybe identify the silent epidemic, pull that kid out of school but not pull everybody out of school. it's a sounder policy than let's just acted like everybody might be infected. have everybody wear a mask. >> the question was asked yesterday you through the cdc has lost relevance because they have sent out so many confusing messages. they're not relying on the science or the data, which is pointing in a different direction than what they're doing. you think the cdc has lost relevance in this conversation? >> well, clearly the messaging has been very confusing. clearly they've had a number of situations including this one that they're behind. they're behind. if you want to lead public

health in the united states, you have to lead public health. you have to be ahead. i think cdc is too risk averse in their recommendations. i will be fairly confident in the next four weeks they'll be reconsidering this. but when you're the 12th person to say to do something, you're not really leading. i to think you've seen a number of the governors move independently of cdc now, which is a good sign that the governors believe that they can make better decisions for the citizens of their state than relying on cdc guidance. >> martha: thanks, dr. redfield. always good to have you with us. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: you bet. a live look now from kiev, ukraine where a plane operated by the united states air force has just landed and is delivering another package of military aid to ukraine. john kirby joins me next.

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>> martha: americans are paying 7.5% more than a year ago. energy prices 27% higher than last year. electricity up 14%. gas prices up 40%. the highest level that we've seen in eight years. here is liz peek, fox news contributor. always good to have you with us. i want to start with a quick sound bite from the president who was pressed on this while he was pushing for bbb, some form of bbb today in virginia. >> i'm going to work like the devil to bring gas prices down, which i'm working to make sure that we keep strengthening the supply chains that bring down the cost of energy and the goods prices down.

>> martha: your thoughts, liz. >> well, if that's the energy level with which the president is going to address 40-year high inflation, we should be concerned. this is a stake that is in the heart of the bbb. that is a zombie like bill that keeps arising from the dead. i can't believe he keeps talking about it when people are so concerned about the cost of everything. probably next month will get worse. chances are that some of the elements that showed up in january will get worse. this is not going away any time soon. this is hanging around the democrats' necks. we've had 5.4 trillion of spending authorized by congress on democrat-only votes at a time when the economy was growing at 6%. it was reckless. that's why the gop didn't go along with it.

combined with record low interest rates and an enormous surge in monetary excess in the last two years, anybody would see this was a mounting problem. i cannot believe that joe biden and democrats generally are still trying to spend more money. it's a very bad idea. >> martha: it's interesting. we go to glenn youngkin a few minutes ago. he's doing something on cutting gas taxes, the grocery taxes in virginia. that would help people to man the inflation they're seeing. i want to play larry summers that has been a top economic adviser to a number of democratic presidents. listen to the beginning and what he says at the very end. let's play. >> i think we're dealing with inflation of a kind that we have not seen since the 1960s and 70s. i think the principal reason for it is we have overheated the economy with the incredible

volume of stimulus that we provided in 2021. but look, build back better is an investment that we need to make in the future of our country in some form. >> martha: huh? that was interesting. >> sandra: can't have it both ways, martha. joe biden keeps saying all of these nobel laureates said it was a great idea. i looked back at what they said. that's not what they said. they said over time some of these investments might help a little bit to bring down inflation. they're talking ten years. first of all, he needs to get the oil industry on his side. he needs to tell domestic producers, whatever you need, it's available. ramp up production. we're behind about 1.5 million barrels a day. that has a big impact on oil prices worldwide. the fact that he insulted

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>> martha: the russian military forces taking part in war games with belarus right now. close to the border of ukraine. the british prime minister warning the next few days are the most dangerous moments in the tense standoff with russia. in moments, the u.s. response from john kirby. first to lucas tomlinson live on the ground in kiev, ukraine. lucas? >> martha, the big question here is what exactly comes next when the war games end february 20th. do the russians go home, do they invade ukraine. the head of nato spoke earlier today. >> this is a dangerous moment for european security. the number of russian forces is going up, the warning time for a possible attack is going down.

>> russian's top general has flown to belarus to oversee the exercises. since 1999, russia has seen nato expand closer to the border. president putin says he feels threatened. russia has blocked the waters offshore head of planned missile tests. warships like this are loaded with troops and tanks and going to crimea. u.s. forces are also making moves. american b-52 bombers have arrived in england. the u.s. air force sending f-15 fighters to poland to help bolster nato defenses. an all-out invasion by russia is not expected. >> what the russian forces are continuing to do is squeezing ukraine. i don't anticipate an all-out

assault with the red arrows like we've been seeing coming in from every direction simultaneously. i don't know that the russians have the assets. >> general hodges believes any likely russian invasion will keep from the sea. this is at odds with the pentagon. >> martha: thanks, lucas. reporting live from kiev. john kirby joins us now. good to have you here, sir. thanks very much. let's start with lucas's reporting ended. you heard general hodges says he believes an attack is most likely from the sea and not from the surrounding areas that we've all been looking at on the maps. does the pentagon agree with him on that? >> it's hard to know what mr. putin's plans are, martha. he's adding naval capabilities in to the black sea has not gone unnoticed by the united states or by our nato allies. it just serves to prove what

we've been saying, he continues to add options to his menu of military capabilities. we noted with concern. now he's -- these are amphibious landing ships. ships designed to put troops ashore. it's more clear to us that he's exploring additional military capabilities available to his use should he want to do that. >> martha: here's boris johnson. >> this is probably the most dangerous moment i would say in the course of the next few days in what is the biggest security crisis that europe has faced for decades. >> martha: it's interesting. you hear that from boris johnson and we see this build-up. yet we keep hearing from voices in ukraine and president zelensky that they don't think this is eminent and there's lots of reasons why russia would not want to invade. >> look, we would love nothing

more than the ukrainians to be right about this. nobody wants to see this escalate into conflict. we're also looking at this very pragmatically. mr. putin adds to his military capabilities. no sign of deescalating the tensions, no sign of sitting down and taking a negotiated path forward. that is all alarming to the west and to the nato alliance. we have to treat this seriously and look at it pragmatically. >> martha: a lot of people are looking at other areas, too. what is going on in iran, they're getting closer to capability on a nuclear weapon. i heard wendy sherman say that they're concerned that they're getting closer to it and that their negotiations are in a tentative spot. north korea brandishing their power. we're having a great time over here with hypersonic missiles are. you concerned that russia is providing cover for this ramped up activity in north korea and

iran? >> i don't think that that's the russian intent. we're focused on the other threats as well. general mackenzie is in the middle east right now and he just visited the emirates to talk about additional self-defense capability that might need additional resources. we have a very robust presence in the endo pacific. we're watching pyongyang and their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and increasing ballistic missile precision. all of these things are happening at once. you're right about that. the u.s. department of defense is focused on that. i would add that one of our great strengths is our alliances and partnerships. in every area of the world, we have strong allies, good partners and we're working with them to address all of these challenges simultaneously. >> martha: the other day, the german chancellor said he was in lock step with the u.s.

when he was pressed would you shut off nord stream 2 if there was an invasion, he would not use the words nord stream 2. so are they in alliance with us on that? do you feel confident? the president said he promised it would be shut off. >> the president is right. if there's another incursion, there would be no going forward on nord stream 2. >> martha: we don't have control over it. germany does. >> we have a close relationship with our german allies. we have a good relationship with them. we know they're taking this threat seriously. they see the threat the same way like we are. like any sovereign state, they have their own domestic concerns to speak to and we respect that. >> martha: sure. like getting 40% of energy from russia. that is a big nut. it's cold there right now. we would they bite the hand that feeds them?

>> we're in deep discussions with germany about this. as the president said, should there be another incursion, nord stream 2 will not go forward. >> martha: it's kamala harris who is going to the munich security conference. why is the president not going and this happens right after these drills and in the sea near belarus. >> it doesn't have to be the president to go to the munich security conference. he's spoken a lot in the last couple weeks about this threat. he's staying focused on it and getting briefed every day as is secretary austin, secretary blinken at the state department. having the vice president go is a terrific addition to the agenda to offer the easy our strategic approach in the continent and around the world. at the same time she's in munich, secretary austin will be in brussels meeting with the defense ministers at nato. a lot of ground to cover by a lot of officials here. >> martha: obviously this is a moment where america can make a

big statement. president biden made a big statement at this conference last year. he said "america is back." so i think there's notice that he's not going this time. we'll watch what happens. >> we'll have the vice president of the united states there. a pretty high level participation. the president has not been a stranger to the munich security conference, nor has any other tom level cabinet officials. >> martha: thanks, john. good to have you with us. >> thanks very much. >> martha: so why a russian figure skater may be at the center of another olympic doping controversy next.

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it could cost her team the gold medal. the latest untold story podcast is out today with enes kantor freedom. he told us his amazing story of growing up in turkey and why the olympics should not be in beijing at all. we'll see you back here tomorrow. have a good day, everybody. >> sandra: consumer prices surging 7.5% last month. the liest in 40 years. americans are feeling it. >> i'm seeing prices increase. i use my charge, keep track of it. it's up 10, 15% the last several months. >> you see the signs, help wanted, $18 an hour. in and out burger. so i think it's filtering down. >> it's hard on businesses, hard on consumers and it's a tough