>> greg: there you go. jessica jessica michael jordan gave 10 make-a-wish foundation. birthday. he is a terrific guy. all right. 10 seconds. >> dana: i will save mine. >> judge jeanine: that is it for us. "special report" suspect next. hey mike emanuel. >> mike: sure is cute. thank you, judge. >> judge jeanine: you are welcome. enjoy. good evening, welcome to washington. i'm mike emanuel in for bret baier. lots of questions. not a lot of answers. a drain derailed show up to town hall meeting. kevin mccarthy visit the southern border and takes new swings at the biden administration. plus, we show you how the president want use of the strategic petroleum is affecting the price you pay at the pump. ♪ but, first, breaking tonight. president biden is finally talking about the four mysterious objects spotted over north american airspace and his decisions to shoot them down.

the president says he is ordering new rules to track and monitor such devices. we he have fox team coverage. jennifer griffin at the pentagon on more on what the defense department knows and does not know about what is in the skies. first up, white house correspondent jacqui heinrich with the president's message. good evening, jacqui. >> hey, good evening, mike. president biden revealed the three objects shot down since friday were most likely tied to private companies or research institutions. but he defended his choice to blast them out of the sky following chinese spy balloon. >> i gave the order to take down these three objects due to hazard to civilian commercial air traffic and because we could not rule out the surveillance risk of sensitive facilities. >> critics watching the president's remarks say he missed a golden opportunity to drive home the threat about china's spy program. >> in the last several weeks. i have been informed this is a program that our country has known about for some time. chinese are using balloons for

surveillance purposes. they are using them also for offensive capabilities. >> lawmakers have been clamoring for better answers. >> i mean, i have never been in briefings where i learned so little. >> left to wonder why biden didn't speak sooner. >> if a civilian had not spotted this spy balloon over montana and reported it to the media, which did its job, would the white house have ever told us about this? >> on the day of his physical, officials dismissing questions about the 80-year-old president's health and new calls from 2024 candidate nikki haley for a mental acuity test for candidates 75 and older. >> we have heard these types of attacks or remarks before. maybe they're forgetting the wins that this president has had over the last couple of years. >> biden appearing unfazed by his morning at water reed touted new actions blasting six chinese agencies linked to spying efforts to which china seems to have responded with sanctions on two major american defense manufacturers.

lockheed martin and raytheon. but biden appeared to brush off concerns the tit-for-tat is escalating telling nbc i think the last thing that xi wants is to fundamentally relationship re relationship with the united states and with me. >> i expect to be speaking with president xi and i hope we have -- we are going to get to the bottom of this. but i make no apologies for taking down that balloon. >> we also learned today the biden administration briefed former trump administration officials and what they know about china's spy program, including three flights that happened during their time in office. but, the white house is not sharing new policy recommendations that biden has been putting together, at least outside of the classified setting. despite promises that we would be getting new details all week. we did, however, just learn new information on the president's health. his doctor releasing a letter saying he remains fit for duty. he has an irregular heart beat. acid reflux, arthritis.

but they are all kept in check and also a small lesion on his chest was sent off for bypass. bypass ---biopsy. but he is fit. >> mike: jacqui live on the north lawn. many thanks. of the president is advocating chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin is at the pentagon tonight. good evening, jennifer. >> good evening, mike. president biden says the reach officials are now seeing more objects in u.s. airspace and have learned more about the chinese balloon surveillance program is that when he came to office, he asked the intelligence community to take a closer look at unidentified aerial phenomena. >> i want to be clear, we don't have any evidence that there has been a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky. we're now just seeing more of them partially because the steps we have taken to increase our radars. >> president biden has ordered his national security adviser to lead a government-wide effort to

create an up to date inventory of high altitude objects in u.s. airspace. >> i have directed my team to come back to me with sharper rules for how we will deal with these unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not. >> those rules will be briefed to certain members of congress in a classified setting and will remain classified to prevent u.s. adversaries from exploiting them and evading u.s. air defense. u.s. navy is now packing up its recovery operations off the coast of south carolina after the u.s. military managed to retrieve the bulk of the chinese spy ship pay load about 30 feet wide from the ocean floor last friday which is now being examined by the intelligence community. the president has asked secretary of state blinken to embark on a global effort to establish norms surrounding high altitude surveillance balloons, which until now, halls remained

a largely ungoverned space. mike? >> mike: we will follow it. jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. jennifer, thanks very much. ♪ ♪ >> mike: house speaker kevin mccarthy is leading a delegation on the tour of the southern border in arizona today. cochise county is considered a hot bed of human and drug smuggling. correspondent bill melugin spoke with the speaker a short time ago. he joins us live. >> mike, good evening to you. this is kevin mccarthy's first trip to the southern border as speaker of the house. before he even got here, the white house was already criticizing this trip, calling it a partisan political stunt. so, a short time ago, i asked the speaker to respond to that criticism. take a listen. >> the white house says your trip here is a political stunt and that their border plan is working. what's your response? >> you know what? if they would actually come here, they would realize their border plan is not working. this is why we're going to move our hearings down to the border so those who say this is some

type of f.o.p photo op. open up their ears for the first and even what's going on. >> we are on track to beat last year's record high numbers. the president says his border plan is working. is it working? >> no. it's a failure. it's beyond a failure. and it's destroying our nation because it's poisoning, killing, young children. >> you will not accept any kind of immigration deal that involves amnesty of any kind, even for dreamers? is that still the case that. >> is the case. you can't have immigration reform without first securing the border. how can you trust. you find people coming one after another and when you ask them why, they will tell you the president told me to come. >> and then take a look at thee images, as we mentioned the speaker is out here with a delegation of g.o.p. house members, freshmen members of congress getting a tour of the tucson sector for border patrol. they got an aerial tour up in helicopter earlier today. this tucson sector is greater

than any other part of the border. evaders, criminals and got-aways. it's got remote rugged desert all over the place. this tucson sector has the most known got-aways of anywhere on the southern border last year than more than 175,000. we will show you the kind of people crossing here. lastly, take a look at these images, border patrol in this sector report almost everybody they apprehend is a single adult man dressed in camouflage, sometimes wearing carpet shoes to mask their footprints in the sand. almost everyone here is trying to get away. they are not turning themselves in. and the border patrol sector chief here just testified before congress that a lot of the guys they catch here will often run away, try to fight their agents or sometimes they're frequently, previously deported felons. and listen to this stat. just since october, border patrol in this sector has already arrested more than 55,000 of these single adult men. speaker mccarthy told me he was shocked when he heard about these numbers and saw this for himself. back out here live, next week

the g.o.p. led house judiciary committee is going to be having a physical hearing about the border here at the border about five hours west of where we are right now in yuma, arizona. we have heard the speaker talk about how he wants to bring members down here to the border to have these border hearings. the first one is going to be next week in yuma and the speaker says if democrats don't show up, they are failing to do their jobs. we will send it back to you. >> mike: bill melugin along the border tonight. thanks very much. the supreme court has canceled oral arguments over plans to end title 42 border policies. quick deportation of policies seeking asylum were enforced during the pandemic. the white house says its may 11th deadline to end federal covid restrictions makes the policy dispute moot. republican led states had sued to keep title 42 in place citing a worsage border crisis. many questions and not many answers coming out of eastern ohio residents in east palestine held a town hall meeting last

night over the health concerns following the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals. neither representatives of the train company or transportation secretary pete buttigieg made it up. one biden final did make it to the area today. garrett tenney reports from east palestine. >> you are going to smell it as soon as you go into my house. >> touring east palestine today the head of the e.p.a. met with voice tina ferguson who hasn't brought her mother back home since the evacuation nearly two weeks ago out of fear for her safety. >> this should have been done before we came back to our homes. we need help. >> the e.p.a. administrator says his agency isn't going anywhere. >> we will be here as long as it takes to ensure the health and safety of this community. >> at a packed town hall meeting last night, hundreds of people looking for answers and assurances vented their frustrations about how the disaster response has been handled. >> where is pete buttigieg

anyhow? where's he at? >> i don't know. your guest is add goosed a me. yesterday was the first time i have heard anything from the white house. >> why are people [inaudible] >> i don't know what to do about providing assurance. >> so far norfolk southern railway has paid for all of the cleanup and testing. and in an open letter to east palestine today. the railway ceo tried to reassure folk those live here writing we will not walk away. but, like many who live here, a town's mayor isn't convinced. >> i'm cautiously optimistic. that's the best i can say. >> in an effort to get answers about why so many people are getting sick, despite data suggesting the air and water are safe, today ohio governor mike dewine asked the cdc to send in medical experts to help and i'm told that the white house has assured the state that request will be granted.

mike? >> mike: garrett tenney live in east palestine, ohio. garrett, thanks very much. words about high inflation and interest rates sent stocks down the dow lost 431. the s&p 500 fell 57. nasdaq lost 215. federal regulators have pressured tesla into recalling nearly 363,000 vehicles with its full self-driving system. the software has had problems around intersections and does not always follow speed limits. the nationa national traffic hiy safety administration says tesla will fix the concerns with an online software update in the coming weeks it. says tesla agreed to the recall but does not agree with an agency analysis of the problem. up next, republicans say big tech colluded with the biden administration to censors conservatives and freshman senator checks himself into walter reed medical center. we'll have an update. first, here is what some of our fox affiliates are covering tonight. the tennessee national guard is identifying its two pilots killed in yesterday's helicopter crash in alabama.

they are chief warrant officer daniel who had 15 years of service and warren officer served 13 years. uh 60 black hawk helicopter went down in huntsville. fox 4 in dallas as one person is killed and three more wounded in a shooting at a shopping mall in el paso. police said hours after yesterday's gunfire that two people had been taken into custody. details of what led to the shooting remained unclear. and this is a live look at philadelphia from fox 29. one of the big stories there tonight. a germantown gasoline station is playing opera music on its outdoor speakers. it is believed the purpose is to deter loitering and nuisance crimes. philadelphia police say they have not received any noise complaints about the opera music. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

♪ [opera] ♪ all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work helping them achieve financial freedom. we're proud to serve people everywhere, in investing for the retirement they envision. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive.

♪ ♪ start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed. science proves quality sleep is vital to your mental, emotional, and physical health. the sleep number 360 smart bed. it's temperature balancing, so you stay cool.

it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to help keep you both comfortable all night. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed, plus 0% interest for 36 months and free home delivery when you add an adjustable base. ends monday. i've never been healthier. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions

to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today.

>> mike: breaking tonight, pennsylvania senator john fermt has checked himself into walter reed medical center to receive

treatment for clinical depression. fetterman was in the hospital just days ago after feeling light-headed. >> senior congressional correspondent chad pergram has the latest tonight from capitol hill. good evening, chad. >> mike, good evening. fetterman's office says he checked himself in to the hospital. his chief of staff says fetterman's clinical depression recently became more serious. it's something fetterman has experienced for years. the capitol attending physician recommended inpatient care at walter reed. he is there on a voluntary basis. fetterman missed months of campaigning after suffering a stroke. >> to be honest, doing this debate wasn't exactly easy. after having that stroke i got knocked down but i'm getting back up. i'm for everybody in pennsylvania that got knocked down that ever had to get back up. >> fetterman went to the hospital last week after not feeling well. doctors ruled out another stroke. democratic new mexico senator ben ray lujan suffered a stroke last year.

>> i have been having conversation with senators fetterman from the very beginning. and even after he survived his stroke he has only gotten stronger and stronger. he has a lot of support here and is he going to do very well. >> fetterman has now missed eight of the senate's 24 votes this year. fetterman missed a hearing in the agriculture committee today. he asked his first question at a hearing earlier this week. >> are there any barriers, any specific kinds of special barriers in -- for workers in the fossil fuel sector that -- to learn skills in renewable fuel production? now fetterman uses an electronic screen to help the process language during hearings. both of pennsylvania's senators are now out. democrat bob casey is recovering from surgery for prostate cancer.

mike? >> mike: chad on the hill. chad, thanks. house republicans continue their efforts to investigate what they call collusion between big tech companies and democratic lawmakers. congressional correspondent aishah hasnie tell us where things stand tonight. >> we want accountability. we want transparency and want this done as quickly as possible. >> house judiciary committee chairman jim jordan slamming the ceos of five major tech companies with subpoenas. demanding they turn over documents relating to alleged collusion with the government to suppress free speech. spokespeople from microsoft and meta tell fox digital they're gathering documents and engaging with the committee's request. notably missing from the subpoena list. >> little worried about the direction that -- and the effect of social media on the world and especially twitter. >> twitter ceo elon musk. >> elon musk has released that information. if they do the same there wouldn't have been a need for the subpoena.

>> do you solemnly swear or affirm. >> musk's twitter files led to a bombshell hearing on capitol hill last week over the social media's site decision to suppress the hunter biden laptop story. >> in hindsight, twitter should have reinstated the post account immediately. >> senate g.o.p. leadership is watching it all closely, hoping the oversight will lead to legislation to reign in big tech. >> i hope that we can find some bipartisan cooperation when it comes to those solutions. >> that will be hard to find as senate democrats think republicans need to stop focusing on themselves. >> the house republicans are claiming discrimination against conservatives. we are looking at the exploitation and abuse of children on a bipartisan basis. i think that that is a worthy goal and continue. >> mike, those five big tech companies have until march 23rd to comply with jordan's subpoena. chairman jordan wouldn't say though whether he would hold them in contempt if they don't. mike? >> mike: aishah hasnie live on the hill. aishah, thanks very much. >> you bet.

>> mike: up next, update on double murder trial of a prominent south carolina attorney. then we take you inside the ukrainian field command center as their fight against the russian invasion nears its one year anniversary. as we go to break. we remember baseball player and hall of fame broadcaster tim mccarveer. he was the lead analyst for cbs and fox on 23 world series broadcasts. before that he was a two-time all-star catcher and a member two of world championship teams. tim mccarveer was 81. and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection,

flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. feel unstoppable. ask your doctor how lasting remission can start with stelara®. janssen can help you explore cost support options.

- hiring is step one when it comes to our growth. we can't open a new shop or a new location without the right people in place. i couldn't keep up until i found ziprecruiter. ziprecruiter helps us get out there quickly and get us qualified candidates quickly. they sent us applicants that matched what i was looking for. i've hired for every role, entry-level technicians, service advisors, store managers. ziprecruiter helps me find all the right people, even the most difficult jobs to fill. - [announcer] ziprecruiter,

rated the number one hiring site. try it for free at ziprecruiter.com ♪ this feels so right... ♪ adt systems now feature google products like the nest cam with floodlight, with intelligent alerts when a person or familiar face is detected. sam. sophie's not here tonight. so you have a home with no worries. brought to you by adt. ♪ >> mike: new details tonight about monday's campus shooting university. anthony mcrae who took his own life had two legally purchased hanhandgun and a backpack full f ammunition. he had a two-page note in his wallet. police say it indicated some

possible motive for the shooting but it is yet to be confirmed. ♪ ♪ >> mike: prosecutors in the trial of a prominent south carolina attorney accused of killing his wife and son are nearing the end of their presentation. this evening, a stunning admission from the defendant. correspondent jonathan serrie has tonight's update. good evening, jonathan. >> good evening, mike. late this afternoon, the court listened to a phone interview a state detective conducted with alec murdaugh just nine days after he survived a gun attack. in that interview, facilitated by his attorney, murdaugh admits he hired his primary drug supplier to shoot him by the side of a road after he punctured his tire with a knife to fake a flat. murdaugh explains he had been paying the supplier 40 to $60,000 a week for opioids. the now disbarred attorney explains his work-related financial schemes were catching up with him and he wanted to

leave his surviving son buster with a life insurance payment in excess of $10 million. >> how would you describe your state of mind at that time. >> i was [inaudible] >> what does that mean? >> i thought it would be better for me not to be here anymore. >> what do you mean by "not be here anymore"? >> i thought it would be make it easier on my family for me to be dead. >> murdaugh survived the september 2021 attack with minor injuries and authorities arrested the alleged gunman, curtis eddy smith a former client and distant relative of the defendant. the defense has tried to block the jury from hearing about the alleged suicide for hire scheme arguing it was unrelated to the fatal shootings of murdaugh's wife maggie and his younger son paul three months earlier. the judge initially agreed but then reversed his decision after during cross-examination the defense asked a witness about murdaugh's alleged drug payments to eddie smith.

mike? >> mike: jonathan serrie reporting live tonight. jonathan, thanks very much. ♪ >> mike: russia is firing more nice ukrainian territory. the russians used three dozen weapons overnight. this evening, fox news has exclusive access to a major ukrainian military facility. correspondent trey yingst reports from dnipro, ukraine. >> a territorial defense captain checks monitors at a field command center in the southern ukrainian region of zaporizhzhia. his troops from 129 brigade are using drones to identify russian positions and direct ukrainian artillery fire. >> with the help of radio, our troops transfer information where the movement of our enemy was seen so they can shoot. >> outside, soldiers under his command show over american made sniper rifles. they say they are thankful for u.s. support but need more artillery and rocket systems to

kill russian troops. >> we have a lack of heavy weapons. >> while much of the world's focus remains on ukraine's eastern front, the south is where analysts believe ukraine could soon reclaim more of their territory. it's also from where russian forces have launched many of their missile and drone attacks. including a 36 missile barrage fired overnight against ukrainian cities that sent millions of civilians to bomb shelters. >> we live in fear. we're scared for our children. >> due to the continued russian missile attacks on major population centers, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is asking allies for air defense systems. zelenskyy met today with israeli foreign minister ellie cohen who promised to deliver air alert systems but stopped short of committing air defense batteries. today white house press secretary karine jean-pierre discussed president biden's upcoming trip to poland saying it will be used to send a message of solidarity to ukraine amid the war.

mike? >> trey yingst in ukraine, trey, thanks very much. turkey's disaster management agency says the death toll from last week's earthquakes has eclipsed 36,000. that pushes the combined number of those killed in turkey and syria to nearly 40,000. up next, bret baier shows us how sales from the strategic oil reserve impact gasoline prices at the pump and why they could send costs even higher. ♪ ♪ when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis keeps flaring, put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable, i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. and left bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc got in my way, i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my gastro saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check. and check.

rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there, with rinvoq. ask your gastro about rinvoq. and learn how abbvie could help you save. ♪ ♪ a bunch of dead guys made up work, way back when. ♪ ♪ it's our turn now we'll make it up again. ♪ ♪ we'll build freelance teams with more agility. ♪ ♪ the old way of working is deader than me. ♪ ♪ we'll scale up, and we'll scale down ♪ ♪ before you're six feet underground. ♪ ♪ yes, this is how, this is how we work now. ♪

♪ well, the stock is bubbling in the pot ♪ ♪ just till they taste what we've got ♪ [ tires squeal, crash ] when owning a small business gets real, progressive gets you right back to living the dream. now, where were we? [ cheering ] if your business kept on employees through the pandemic, getrefunds.com can see if it may qualify for a payroll tax refund of up to $26,000 per employee, even if it received ppp, and all it takes is eight minutes to get started. then we'll work with you to fill out your forms and submit the application; that easy.

and if your business doesn't get paid, we don't get paid. getrefunds.com has helped businesses like yours claim over $2 billion but it's only available for a limited time. go to getrefunds.com, powered by innovation refunds. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

♪ >> mike: a special grand jury that investigated efforts by then president trump and his allies to overturn his election loss in georgia is recommending the district attorney seek appropriate indictments for witnesses who may have lied under oath. the report does not name the people who are alleged to have lied. any recommendations on potential criminal charges for specific people will remain under wraps for now. president trump wrote on truth social today that he did not wrong and participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity. ♪ ♪ >> gas price are on the rise once again today's national

average hit $3.42 for regular unleaded up 11 cents from one month ago. in nearly the same price it was when president biden began to release from the strategic petroleum reserve to lower gas prices. in tent's "special report" spotlight, energy matters, my colleague bret baier looks at how sales from the stockpile impact prices at the pump and why it could send costs even higher. >> bret: thanks, mike. in our last installment in our energy series we told you about our strategic oil reserves hitting an historic low. that number has only declined since. and now sits at under 372 million barrels. of the maximum withdrawal amount per day is 4.4 million barrels. so, if that were the country's only supply, it would last less than three months. some lawmakers and economists say that puts the u.s. at risk. national security risk. now, they must figure out how to re-fill the stockpile while

trying to keep gas prices low. >> lowering prices that people pay at the pump. i think most folks it's estimated that the administration fell well short. >> bret: in november 2021, president biden announced the first major release from the strategic petroleum reserves. >> i will do what needs to be done to reduce the price you pay at the pump. >> >> bret: the stockpile at that point held more than 600 millio. the 50 million-barrel drawdown was the largest release in history. the weekly average for regular gasoline at the time was $3.40 per gallon. >> bret: is there a sense that the spro is something that should be tapped. can be tapped more frequently or only for the ultimate emergency? >> you don't want to do it for political -- purely political purposes and president biden didn't do that in this case. here we had the unprovoked war of aggression by vladimir putin on the innocent people of ukraine and i think that was entirely appropriate at that point to tap the spro.

>> by the time the next major release was announced in march 2022, gas prices had risen by 21 cents. >> what this is all a reminder of in the president's view is our need to reduce our reliance on oil. >> bret: 30 million barrels were released in march. by the end of the month the average gas price rose to more than $4. prompting the biden administration to continue releasing oil from the spro. >> i'm going to continue to use every tool at my disposal to protect you from putin's price hike. >> bret: how is china's reopening and then u.s. and european sanctions impacted pricing? >> we are stepping into neuter rain. there are counter sanctions from russia that could start to take effect. there's more ships traveling longer distances, a lot of unknowns. we don't yet know. and investment in the world is still lagging the need for supply. >> bret: more than 180 million barrels released over six months. yet, gas prices still rose. and hit a new historic high at $5.01 per gallon.

>> we are at a point of maximum vulnerability. he panicked politically when gas was at $5 a gallon. >> bret: the average gas price finally fell below $4 more than five months after president biden's march announcement. and just over two months away from the november election. when you hear criticism that the president tapped into that like he did because he was coming up to a midterm election, less so about the ukraine war, how do you respond to that? >> i think if there had been an election or not, i think president biden would have gone to the strategic petroleum reserve. >> bret: president gerald ford established the strategic reserves in 1975 after arab countries cut off oil to the united states. the goal was to stockpile petroleum to ensure the u.s. could respond to emergencies. >> we have urged the administration to not use the strategic oil reserve as a price changing mechanism but rather to

use it as it was intended by law which is in cases of significant supply disruptions. >> bret: republicans want president biden to increase domestic production before he can drain any more from the stockpile. >> bret: you have a bill that prevents further drawdown. if as a byproduct of this bill, the direct result in the short-term is raising gas prices, are republicans okay with that? >> well, joe biden is trying to repeal the law of supply and demand. >> bret: the white house has provided few details on how they will refill the reserves while keeping gas prices low. >> i have no concerns that we will be able to refill and replenish the spro and do it at a savings to taxpayers. >> bret: economists say it's difficult to project how long it will take to refill the reserves and whether it can even be done at all. historically the government has added to the reserves slowly and in small amounts to avoid impact oil prices. it took more than two decades to

reach 600 million barrels and it maintained that amount for another 18 years. and it took a little over a year to cut nearly 40% of that stockpile. >> bret: how much does that effect oil prices and then gas prices down the line? >> when these barrels come into the market, the way oil pricing works, these new barrels reduce the price of all the barrels in the market at once. so it's not just the price of the barrels that are being sold on an emergency basis. it's the price of all the oil in the world that goes down as a result. >> bret: so spro barrels are kind of like super barrels as far as dealing with the price of oil. >> if you use them when the world is short, they are. >> bret: the energy department sold the 180 million barrels released for $96 each. $17.3 billion total. but the recent congressional spending bill stripped all but $4.8 billion away from the energy department. so there's a lot less money available for buying back oil. there's enough right now at $70 a barrel, which is the price the white house stated to buy back

about 70 million barrels. >> bret: at $70 a barrel the u.s. could afford to purchase about 70 million barrels. that only takes the reserves back up to 440 million. the same amount it had in 1984. >> that's not tapping out. that's not topping it off. >> no. >> bret: the energy department announced this week it will sell another 26 million barrels this year from the strategic oil reserve. it's part of a requirement in the 2018 budget deal, which mandates drawdowns to help fund the government. congress canceled additional required releases from 2024 through 2027. if unfilled, the reserve could have fallen to around 200 million barrels. president biden said in his state of the union address that we will need oil for at least another decade. economists say the u.s. will rely on oil for much longer than that in our next installment, we

will take a look at where oil and gas drilling are on the rise, which parts of the country are facing hurdles to try to keep production up. mike, we'll send it back to you. >> mike: bret, thanks very much. up next, the panel on president biden's health, the house speaker at the southern border and environmental mess in ohio. and, later, a putt for the ages. there's nothing like hitting the waves. but with my moderate-to-severe eczema it hasn't always been easy,... ...since my skin was so irritated and itchy... ...and even worse with all my gear on. now, i'm staying ahead of my eczema. there's a power inside all of us to live our passion. and dupixent works on the insie to help heal your skin from within. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema. so adults can have long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief.

serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. healing from within is a powerful thing. ask your eczema specialist how dupixent can help heal your skin from within. all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. we're providing greater access to investing, with low-cost options to help maximize savings. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive.

let me be direct. why would you pay more than double for teeth straightening with invisalign? with smiledirectclub,

you get a doctor-directed smile you love for sixty percent less. that's a lot less. like a lot. choose smile. choose direct. ♪ smiledirectclub ♪ science proves quality sleep is vital to your mental, emotional, and physical health. and we know 80% of couples sleep too hot or too cold. introducing the new sleep number climate360 smart bed. the only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms, and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sleep. only from sleep number.

>> i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> watch me. that's all i can say. i'm a great respecter of faith. i will be completely thoroughly honest with the american people if i thought there was any health problem. anything that would keep me from being able to do the job. >> i don't think joe biden will be the democrat nominee. i think democrats recognize he's too old. >> i hope he does seek re-election. >> if he runs, i'm going to support him all the way. >> at 80, he is the oldest president in american history. >> mike: questions about age as president biden considers seeking a second term. the oldest president in history at inauguration. president biden walls 78, president trump was 70. ronald reagan was 69. and william henry honors was 68

years old. and when you are president of the united states, and it is physical day, well, the whole country get to find out about how you are doing. president biden's health summary will atrial f fibrillation hype. gastro esoph gallery flux. seasonal allergies. stiffened government mild sense neuropathy of his feet. skin cancer surveillance. also checking his eyes and his teeth. with that, let's bring in our panel. fox news senior juan williams. wmla radio host and director of the daily caller and fox news correspondent gillian turner. panelist, welcome. so, juan, you yoish thoughts. >> mikey says watch me. remember that old james brown

soul song "watch me" if you hold that standard. i think the american people are going to have a pretty steady gaze on him in terms of watching for any infirmity. any evidence as his critics would say dementia or looseness of thinking. so far, you would have to say if you watch him, gosh, that state of the union performance was pretty strong. he looked vigorous. he looked in command. and then second thing to say is what about the nomination? should he be the nominee that there are polls that indicate many democrats feel that his age, in fact, is a factor that weighs heavily against him being the nominee. but, there is no other democrat and lots of other democrats from gavin newsom to gerald poller to others who could run against him and none of them has chosen to do it. possibly because biden might be the best candidate for the democrats. >> is the president's doctor egoy to say he is healthy and vigorous and fit to execute the duties of the presidency? your thoughts.

>> i don't know how eager he is to say anything. this is the second time that the white house has released this statement and not actually put the doctor out in front of the press to answer questions. remember, at one point they brought out a completely different doctor who wasn't actually attending to biden who was playing a game of telephone about what he had heard. they didn't even try that this time. they just released a written statement. i think to juan's point about democrat concern, may be understating the extent to which democrats are very nervous about his age and how much is showing a report this morning in politico that democrat lawmakers are too scared to say their names but they are going to people like jill biden and plea of guilty with her to keep him at one term i think it's because america can recognize. this is he in a very advanced state in his life. and we need somebody who has the wherewithal, the competence, the acute to twafn actually govern the most important country on the planet. >> mike: gillian, the big news at the day at the white house after bipartisan calls for the president to speak about shooting down these unidentified ariel objects, the president

spoke today. let's play it. >> we don't yet know exactly what these three objects were. but nothing right now suggests they were related to china's spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from other -- any other country. the intelligence community's current assessment is that these three objects were balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studied weather or conducting other scientific research. >> mike: your thoughts on the unidentified flying objects? >> well, i have thoughts on the chinese spy balloon for sure, which the president touched on today. that's what people really wanted to hear about. and the response there in keeping with today's remarks sort of two weeks after the fact, highlighted how botched the response was from the get-go. because, if you recall, the president on the very first day that the chinese spy balloon was spotted over u.s. airspace ordered the military, he told

us, the american people, he ordered them to shoot it down but his military advisers didn't want to do that. they advised him against it. and they stuck with that. it turns out that the president's gut instinct was actually correct. they probably should have shot it down the very first day that they thought. those remarks today, he concluded them by saying i'm not going to -- i'm paraphrasing. i'm not going to apologize for shooting it down. which i found to be a very weirdly telling statement because nobody was asking him to apologize for shooting the balloon down. nobody has even been publicly critical of the decision to shoot the balloon down. it made me wonder whether maybe officials in his administration are. >> china is not happy. >> yeah, but this is an address to the american people to explain what is going on. not to china. and he said i'm not going to apologize for it. who is telling him that he should be apologizing for this decision? if anything, the criticism has been he should have shot it down

sooner. so i wonder if people in his own administration disagreed with that decision and have made it known to him. >> mike: showsm at the southernn mccarthy i promised when we took the majority and i became speaker that no long we're people have to come to washington to talk to their government. so we will be bringing committees here so we can listen. not listen to republicans but listen to americans who are having to live through this. >> mike: juan, your reaction to the speaker going to the border in arizona? >> juan: well, it's good politics. immigration still ranks highly if you look at concerns of american voters. it's still up there. it's also shrewd politics, mike, in part, the efforts last week, you know, the hunter biden probe, looking at twitter, banning conservatives. it really hasn't had the sparks that they had hoped for. this takes you back to an issue that i think can play long term

for house republicans in terms of them saying we're in the vanguard and we're going to force the president to respond. i would hope that he comes back with some plan to help with comprehensive reform for dreamers, for people who are already in the country. for asylum requests. >> mike: okay. gillian, your thoughts? >> gillian: it might be good politics for the speaker to go to the southern border. it's also really good policy, i would argue. in scenarios like this where you have sectors of the country where americans are struggling every single day with the border crisis completely out of view of the rest of the nation. the best thing can you really do is to highlight what these people are going through. >> mike: vince, your thoughts? conv>> i think the biden administration needs to be shamed into taking problems seriously. we have seen it happen routinely. the border is an example. what is happening in eastern ohio it wasn't until the media made a lot of noise about this that they began engaging with it seriously. same thing with the classified documents. they were content with keeping that secret until the media knew about it. it is important that americans and the media by extension focus on these issues so that the white house might just follow

along eventually. >> mike: that eastern ohio story really alarming for folks there with the concerns about the water, concerns about the air. we will stale stay on that story. panelists, well done. thank you all very much. >> thank you, mike. ♪ ♪ >> mike: and finally tonight, a very special day. [cheers] >> he is just going to do it. all right, there it is. >> mike: auburn's arena erupted saturday after one student made a show-stopping play. craig putted a golf ball opposite hole on the baseline totally across the court to bin a brand new toyota. first student to make the 94-foot golf put since the 2013, 2014 season. craig says he did not already have a car of his own and he felt fantastic. there may be hope for my putting

after all. a 94-foot putt well done and a brand new car. how about that? tomorrow on "special report." the next part in our energy series focuses on domestic oil and gasoline production. we look at where the u.s. output is increasing and which locations are producing less. thanks for watching "special report." i'm mike emanuel in washington. "jesse watters primetime" starts right now. hello, jesse. have a great show. >> jesse: hey. thank you have much. ♪ >> jesse: east palestine, ohio has become the home of the forgotten men and women of this country. a community that was pretty much just nuked with 500 tons of chemicals is being forced to live in the middle of a potentially cancer-clustering mushroom cloud. these people were just living normal lives. they didn't want it. they didn't even cause it. this happened because of a rail company who put themselves above a small company in ohio. when they lit their train on fire, after letting it fly off the rails with 500 tons of hazardous chemicals inside of