This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," December 20, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Stocks rocked again, the Dow hit hard for a second straight session. Worries about the spread of the Omicron variant did hit stocks today, although finishing off the lows of the session, hard- hit Goldman Sachs cutting its estimate for U.S. economic growth after Joe Manchin rejected President Biden's social spending bill.

We're going to have a lot more on the market fallout coming up.

But first this, the White House ripping into the Democratic senator from West Virginia for slamming the brakes on Build Back Better, Joe Manchin today standing by his decision and ripping the White House staff for putting things out that he called absolutely inexcusable.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Sandra Smith, in for Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."

We have got FOX team coverage to kick off the hour, Hillary Vaughn on what the White House is now saying and Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are fuming at the no.

We begin with Hillary.

Hi, Hillary.

HILLARY VAUGHN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra.

Well, the White House today admitting they were surprised at Senator Joe Manchin announcing on "FOX News Sunday" yesterday that he is a no on President Biden's Build Back Better.

When White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked moments ago why they were so surprised, when Manchin has been very public and very clear and very up front about several reservations surrounding the policies in this package, she says that there were private conversations and discussions between the White House the president and Senator Manchin and commitments that were made behind closed doors that threw them off-guard when he went public with his opposition.

But Senator Manchin today in a radio interview says the White House is the one that did something so wrong, it pushed him to his wit's end. And a long time Manchin ally and friend, Steve Clemons, saying the final straw was when the White House last week singled out Manchin in a statement for holding back Build Back Better until after the holidays.

Writing in a Hill op-ed, Clemons says this: "It targeted Manchin specifically and alone. This presidential statement was personalizing the game. It put his family at risk. To specify Manchin in a presidential statement meant the terms of the deal-making had changed."

But Press Secretary Jen Psaki said today that her statement was not intended to be hurtful, but instead a statement of fact, but she also responded today to criticism from some progressives that are saying, essentially, I told you so to the White House, that they had a feeling all along that Build Back Better would be doomed once it was delinked from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

But she defended the White House's decision to move forward with this, saying that they do not think they should have held up the key policies and the infrastructure package to wait until Build Back Better was passed. And, Sandra, quickly, she was also asked about some progressive calls for President Biden to simply act on his own, use executive action to enact the provisions in Build Back Better, instead of trying to work through Congress.

But she says, at this point, there's no plan to do that now -- Sandra.

SMITH: All right, Hillary Vaughn live on the hill for us.

Hillary, thank you.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, vowing to put the president's social spending plan to a vote when Congress returns in January. Let's just say members of the progressive wing of the party are not happy.

Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill with more on that for us.

Hello, Chad.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS SENIOR CAPITOL HILL PRODUCER: Sandra, good afternoon.

The left is furious with Joe Manchin. They're demanding consequences for Manchin and some progressive suggest the president's word is not as strong as it once was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We have to stop giving people get- out-of-jail free cards. Enough. Enough.

It is going to be harder for the president to come to the same folks that he asked their vote for, for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, where he promised that we will have Build Back Better before the end of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: For his part, Manchin is tired of the hectoring and harassing both by his colleagues in Congress and activists in the Democratic Party.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): They figured surely to God we can move one person. Surely, we can badger and beat one person.

And they can just beat the living crap out of people and think they will be submissive, period.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PERGRAM: The problem for Democrats is that the party gave its base outsized expectations, especially with narrow majorities, but Democrats are forging ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I have confidence that Senator Manchin cares about our country, and that at some point very soon we can take up the legislation. I'm not deterred at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is planning a vote on the bill sometime in the new year. He wants senators to make their positions known on the floor, not on TV.

Some moderate Democrats are furious that the House walked the plank and voted for the bill. It's a good thing there's a recess on Capitol Hill. Democrats may need some time to cool off -- Sandra.

SMITH: OK, Chad Pergram, thank you.

So is the president's agenda in trouble as a result of all of this?

With us now, The Washington Examiner's Kaylee McGhee, White House Democratic -- White -- sorry -- Democratic strategist Kelly Hyman, and FOX News political analyst Gianno Caldwell.

Thanks to all three of you.

Let's chew on this for a moment, because I will ask you first Gianno, did it help at the White House, Psaki came out slamming Manchin's sudden and inexplicable reversal. The White House says Manchin went back on his word. Does any of this help, considering Nancy Pelosi said it herself, we are undeterred, we will get this done in the new year?

I mean, how does that look like they're going to bring all these folks, including Joe Manchin, together in the new year to get this done?

GIANNO CALDWELL, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: That's a great question. And, no, they're not helping themselves.

And aren't these the same tactics that they said were unpresidential and used by Donald Trump? So, why are they attacking, making things personal when it comes to policy that the entire country would need to embrace? And the entire country hasn't embraced Build Back Better.

If you look at polling from earlier this month, actually, an NPR poll showed that 41 percent of Americans approved, only 41 percent of Americans, 36 percent of independents approved, and 13 percent of Republicans. This was not a popular piece of legislation. Joe Manchin might have actually done them a favor, if you want to be honest about it, because the Democratic Party has been looking on the part of the American people as an out-of-touch group of individuals.

This was probably one of the most reasonable things that we have seen. And if they were really smart, they would sit with Joe Manchin and just follow his list, as he mentioned on "FOX News Sunday." Bring up the biggest priorities and work on those.

SMITH: Kelly, this is a lot of Democratic infighting that is being exposed to the public now.

Manchin's made very clear where he has stood on this all along. But in the wake of this, it's not -- it's the progressives that are coming out and they're torching him. You -- Ilhan Omar, I think she referenced Manchin's excuses as B.S. Bernie Sanders: He's got a lot of explaining to do.

So there's a lot of Democratic infighting as we wrap a challenging year that is quite clearly being exposed.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Kelly first, yes.

KAYLEE MCGHEE WHITE, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Oh. sorry.

KELLY HYMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: This is -- no, that's OK. No problem.

Build Back Better is about the American people. And I would disagree, that Americans do support Build Back Better. We have to look at fundamentally, what is Build Back Better for? It's to help the American people.

The people that have hearing aids, under the Build Back Better plan, will be covered by Medicare. It's to help people, families first, people with children for child care credit, and to help people that take care of elderly people at home. And I think that that's key, and that's important.

It's not over yet. We have next year. And I do believe that it's going to happen. And it saddens me that no one from the GOP will support something that's going to help the American people.

CALDWELL: Wow.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Kaylee, I would wonder whether or not you have seen this White House reach across the aisle to Republicans on this.

MCGHEE WHITE: No, not at all. They just spend all their time blaming Republicans for hating the American public, when the American public doesn't even support Build Back Better, as Gianno mentioned earlier.

And if progressives want someone to blame, they shouldn't blame Joe Manchin, because this is not Joe Manchin fault. This is Joe Biden's fault.

CALDWELL: No.

MCGHEE WHITE: He introduced a bill that was never going to pass the Senate in the first place -- Manchin made that clear from the get-go -- and thought that he could become the next FDR with very slim majorities in both the House and the Senate.

It was completely unrealistic from the beginning. And he is the only one to blame.

CALDWELL: Absolutely.

SMITH: Gianno?

CALDWELL: I completely and totally agree with that.

Joe Manchin has been consistent in his point of view. And let's be clear, to blame him, the Democratic Party blaming him wins them nothing, just like blaming John McCain over Obamacare didn't win much of the GOP anything, because what the American people wanted was something to get done.

And in this case, they're not getting anything done. And this is the president who said that he was going to be the statesman to get it done, he was going to work with Democrats and Republicans. And we have not seen that.

So, when you -- when I hear Build Back Better is popular, it's not. It's popular with Democrats. But Democrats don't run the country. There's more than Democrats here. So we got to be open to that. And Joe Manchin gave an opportunity to Democrats. They can either hear that or they can't.

And at this point, they're just pushing back on him. And it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

SMITH: Kelly, I think there's going to be -- there's going to be a tough conversation that's going to be had here, because we don't really know, because he didn't go into detail Joe Manchin, what he meant when they put some things out that are absolutely inexcusable.

There's obviously some things, as Larry Kudlow was telling me a couple hours ago -- there's some things that happened here that we don't quite know about. And we know that Joe Manchin could have been on board, but we just don't know why the White House didn't figure out a way to reach out to him.

And now he's in a position where they're saying that the White House has retaliated against him.

CALDWELL: Yes.

SMITH: So how can you plan to win over someone that believes he's been retaliated against?

HYMAN: Well, I don't know if he stated that he's been retaliated against.

CALDWELL: He has.

HYMAN: But I think that it's important for us to do what's important for the American people and to help the American people.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: I will give you his words on the White House statement yesterday, which Jen Psaki tried to clarify today in the briefing.

Joe Manchin said: "Basically, they retaliated," his words. "I figured they would come back strong. The bottom line is, why would I have said earlier that I was asked about the statement the president put out, and they said, what about this statement president was right here? Why would we delay it?" Joe Manchin.

Go ahead.

HYMAN: Well, my thoughts are that it'd be nice to have some people from the Republican side to support Build Back Better.

As I stated before, it's helping the American people. We have to remember what it's for. It's for people that are working Americans, working hard, Americans. It helps them. It helps them get hearing aids through Medicare. It also helps them with their health insurance as well, gives them credit for children. That's what it's about.

It's about building back better and helping American people. And so it surprises me that not one GOP supports that.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: I hear you selling it.

CALDWELL: Yes, meanwhile, people are building back broke with hyperinflation.

SMITH: Yes.

CALDWELL: I mean, this is the point.

If you can't -- if you cannot acknowledge reality. We are in a crisis in this country.

HYMAN: I am acknowledging reality. This is reality. We have no GOP that supports it. That is reality.

(CROSSTALK)

CALDWELL: What you are saying, you're giving Democratic talking points, and we have heard enough of that. I don't need to hear any Democratic talking points.

HYMAN: I'm not. I'm telling you what the points are.

I'm talking about reality.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: This problem was -- with Joe Manchin was...

(CROSSTALK)

CALDWELL: Hyperinflation is one of them.

SMITH: We're dealing with inflation we haven't seen in four decades, Kelly.

So Joe Manchin was addressing the high cost of this plan, $1.5 trillion, the way the White House wants to tout it. The CBO had said otherwise, looking at more like $3 trillion over 10 years.

So this obviously is not over. Nancy Pelosi says they're going to come back in the new year. We will see.

I appreciate all three of you joining us. Thank you.

CALDWELL: Thank you.

MCGHEE WHITE: Thank you.

HYMAN: Be safe. Stay healthy.

SMITH: And thank you. You too.

Back to the corner of Wall and Broad, and it was another sell-off today, although the Dow did finish up well off its session lows, at one point down 700 points, finishing off down 433, concerns about Omicron spreading, and the latest on what is going on with that.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Omicron surging, stocks dropping, and a whole lot of uncertainty is out there, all this coming as more cities and states improved new restrictions to deal with the spike.

More on the markets in just a moment, but first to David Lee Miller. He's in New York City with the very latest.

We have seen a lot of long lines for testing in the city, as so many will be traveling.

DAVID LEE MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Indeed we have. We're going to see a lot more in the next few days.

We just got some new statistics here from the state. They now say yet another record has been broken, more than 23 COVID cases reported in a single day in New York state. But hospitalizations are nowhere near as great as they were during the height of the pandemic.

And, as you mentioned, many New Yorkers now planning to travel, be with loved ones, they're trying to get a COVID test, not an easy task. At this location behind me, there's now a line that goes around the corner. And this has been the situation for a good part of the day.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city is going to open additional testing sites. The city will also distribute half-a-million home test kits. Other data provided by the city shows the seven-day average is just over 7 percent. One week ago, it was less than half that, also increasing, as I said, hospitalizations not nearly as bad, though, and deaths.

Moments ago, New York's governor said schools in the state are going to remain open. And Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier that shutting down the city is not a consideration, thanks to vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: We're going to double down now on vaccination to avoid shutdowns, to avoid restrictions.

I do not see a scenario for any kind of shutdown, because we are so vaccinated as a city and because we have the ability to get a lot more vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: Two days after Christmas, the city is going to impose the toughest vaccine mandate in the country. All private sector workers must show their employer proof of at least one dose of the vaccine or they will not be allowed to work on site.

The virus is taking a toll on New York City. All police must now be masked, whether they are vaccinated or not. The remainder of the Christmas shows at Radio City Musical Have been canceled, nearly a third of all Broadway shows temporarily suspended. Dozens of restaurants have stopped serving. And the next few games of the Brooklyn Nets have been postponed.

But the big question the minds of many New Yorkers, as well as tourists, is New Year's Eve. As of now, the ball drop is expected to take place as scheduled, but that is under review. The mayor has said that he is going to meet with Times Square officials and look at the possibility of either canceling or modifying that celebration if the statistics do call for it -- Sandra.

SMITH: For so many of us who've reported there in Times Square through the years, a real rock star to make it through the hit with the distractions that are happening out there, a lot of folks, because a lot of tourists are coming back to the city regardless.

MILLER: Times Square.

SMITH: Indeed.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: Good job.

David Lee Miller, thank you.

All right, well, read them and weep, another bad day for your money, the Dow off 433 points, but well off session lows, where -- when we were down 700 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 all got hit today as well over Omicron fears, as they continue to grip investors.

Let's get a read from our money panel today, Larry Glazer of Mayflower Advisors and Gary Kaltbaum from Kaltbaum Capital Management.

So, Gary, I will go to you first on this, because, as you know, if you watch me every day, I say perspective is everything. While the Dow was down 700 points, it finished up well off the lows, just down 433 points. That's a 1.2 percent loss. So while there are fears out there because of the spread of Omicron, this wasn't like a panicked sell-off that we saw today, to be clear.

GARY KALTBAUM, FOX BUSINESS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, look, the economy is still what I would call in shape.

The worry is -- and you said it -- when you see one basketball game canceled, when you see the Rockettes stop, that's the economy. And the more that happens, the more it gets into the psyche of the markets, the more it can potentially hurt.

I was supposed to fly into Amsterdam on Wednesday. They're locked down. Guess what? I'm not going there. They lose economy there. And that's the story as we move forward. And the big worry is not just the COVID. I will tell you, over the last couple of months, you have seen interest rates tank and the strongest stocks in the market have been like the Procter & Gambles the General Mills.

These are the ones that benefit most when the economy is softening. So I think there's a little bit of that component also going on right now.

SMITH: All right, Larry, so we just had Goldman Sachs' stock up on the screen.

And Goldman Sachs' chief economist is making the forecast now that with Joe Manchin a no on Build Back Better, they are cutting back their growth forecasts for the country and for GDP because of that. How important is that for your market outlook?

LARRY GLAZER, MAYFLOWER ADVISORS: Look, unfortunately, there goes the Santa Claus rally.

And it's because the shutdowns have already begun. It's the domino effect. It's the sporting events. It's the lights going out on Broadway. It's the Rockettes not showing up, all the things people look forward to during the holidays out the window.

And, look, the market sending us a signal that it's iceberg dead ahead, oil prices coming down, and Goldman sending out this forecast. I would temper that and say, look, we have not recovered from the last set of shutdowns...

(CROSSTALK)

GLAZER: ... whether it's labor challenges.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: OK. Give it to us.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Gary, but our hearts go out to the small businesses, who they are dealing with this level of uncertainty, that it has just been a brutal two years. And now we're heading into year three of this pandemic.

And I'm looking at a Wall Street Journal article that talks about U.S. restaurant seating. In the weekend ended November 28, seating were down 4 percent from 2019 levels. A week later, they were down 9 percent by the same metrics. A week after that, they were down double digits ,12 percent, from 2019 levels.

So there's a serious decline. And it's not just because of restrictions. People are fearful and they change their habits and they stay home. That's not good for the economy.

KALTBAUM: No, it has been Murphy's law for small business. And it seems like every time we get hit with another bout of a variant, it worsens.

And all you can ask for is the governments to be very careful about their mandates and their restrictions, because they're getting buried. Here, where I'm in Central Florida, where business is pretty darn, good there's still plenty of businesses that are just going bye-bye, whether they don't have enough employees or supply chain this or supply chain that.

It's just been a very, very tough road to hoe. And just keep fingers crossed it gets better for them, because they are the driver of the economy, small business.

SMITH: Larry...

KALTBAUM: They're a huge portion of it.

SMITH: I got a challenge for Larry. You have got 10 seconds.

Leave us off on a cheery note. Be optimistic, as we are heading towards the holiday.

GLAZER: Yes.

Look, the days are getting longer. That's good news. I walked my dog this morning. It was 12 degrees wind chill and I felt great.

SMITH: Good news?

GLAZER: The sun was in my face.

SMITH: OK.

GLAZER: I see small businesses so resilient in this country. We're going to get through this.

It's the small business owner that gets us through this. Gary, you know that. We're going to survive this. We're going to invest in America and we're going to be great on the other side.

SMITH: Gary, you get five seconds for a cheery note. Come on. Leave us off.

(LAUGHTER)

KALTBAUM: For 100 years of history, if you bet against America, you lost, simple as that.

SMITH: You can...

KALTBAUM: There's nothing better than capitalism and American ingenuity and our ability to move forward. And I mean that.

It sounds a little silky, but it is true.

SMITH: All right, and we can look forward to new beginnings and a new year. Thanks to both of you.

There's a bright side to everything, isn't there?

GLAZER: Thank you.

SMITH: All right, can breakthrough COVID cases lead to super immunity? One study is pointing to it.

So, just how promising is it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: President Biden driving vehicle mileage goals higher, the administration announcing it will require cars to achieve a 40-miles-per gallon standard over the next five years. That's up from 32 miles under the Trump administration.

We're back in 60.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: All right, well, this could be some good news in the fight against COVID, a new study finding super immunity may be possible in vaccinated patients who develop COVID through breakthrough infections.

The read on that now from St. Joseph's Health director Dr. Bob Lahita.

Dr. Lahita, thanks for joining us.

I was just saying I would like some cheery news, since we're walking up towards the holidays here, about to end the year, and it seems COVID has taken a turn for the worst, and we're all dealing with this.

So tell us about this super immunity with breakthrough cases.

DR. BOB LAHITA, ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Well, it's very logical, Sandra, because if you have had the booster shot and two previous shots, and you now become infected, you will shed the virus very quickly, but your immune system will see it as a major boost.

So it's sort of like a fourth booster shot. So you're going to be super protected. So that's where that paper describes super immunity.

Now, the infection itself is quite interesting, the Omicron, because it doesn't cause, apparently, severe illness, but everybody's going to get it eventually.

SMITH: I mean, we all kind of feel a sense of dread, though, thinking, OK, for this super immunity, I have got -- I have got to not only have the first two shots, but the booster as well, then get sick, and then, OK, great, now I'm immune.

LAHITA: That's right. You're super immune.

SMITH: That's kind of a -- that's a harsh reality on the other side of that.

(LAUGHTER)

LAHITA: You're super immune.

But you know what? The good news is that your immune system is reacting appropriately to an infection which is not going to make you very sick. Now, this is highly transmissible. So a lot of people are going to get the Omicron. Some of them are going to get very, very sick. My advice to everybody is to get vaccinated with the two shots and then the booster.

But, right now, just one shot will help you overcome this Omicron variant.

SMITH: Such a good point.

But then we all -- we all look at this possibility of super immunity that - - as this study shows, and we wonder when that science is going to play a part in the bigger picture, when everybody wants to use science, on immunity. So, therefore, when there's -- it's been joked, OK, what are we going to need, fourth, fifth shots or shots every six months from now on?

There's questions about that.

LAHITA: Yes.

SMITH: But everybody wants to know, when does that immunity play a part in what you do next as far as your medical health plan?

LAHITA: Well, if you think about this virus, which is highly infective, it's infecting people who are not vaccinated, and, hopefully, they survive the infection.

We now get broad immunity. So maybe this Omicron variant will allow us to reach her immunity, because remember, you get herd immunity from infection or the vaccine. Once we get herd immunity, then we can see the waning of the pandemic, the pandemic starts to go away.

We're always going to have coronavirus with us. But we may not have to have that one injection a year, just like with the flu.

SMITH: If feels like, just for a few minutes, we were getting closer and closer to that, and things were feeling so much better, right, before this Omicron variant,

LAHITA: Yes.

SMITH: OK.

Also, Doctor, Moderna today said that its booster shot works against the Omicron variant in its lab tests. It's highly effective against it.

LAHITA: Yes.

SMITH: Neil spoke with Moderna's chief medical officer, Dr. Paul Burton, last week ahead of those findings, and said this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Is there anything Omicron-only-related or targeted only for this that would be beneficial or is down the pike anytime soon?

DR. PAUL BURTON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, MODERNA: We at Moderna are working on an Omicron-specific booster. We announced that at Thanksgiving. We continue to do that. We're a leader in the field of mRNA and vaccine therapeutics.

And it's our responsibility to do this. We don't know where Omicron is going. We take the responsibility seriously, and we're working on that vaccine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: OK, so they're working on adapting the vaccine. But, for now, the company says that getting a booster of Moderna is highly effective against this variant.

So, I have one quick question. A lot of people are still currently getting their boosters that got fully vaccinated in the spring. If you are lining up for your booster right now, should you specifically seek the Moderna shot vs. the Pfizer?

LAHITA: No, I think both messenger RNA vaccines are perfectly capable of overcoming the Omicron variant and preventing you from getting terribly sick.

So I think the messenger RNA, which is so perfect, because, scientifically, it's really produced based on the sequences within the virus for the spike protein, so it's extraordinary that that can be tweaked. It can be tweaked over, say, a three-month period and a new vaccine can pop up at any one particular time, based on molecular biology.

SMITH: Dr. Bob Lahita, thank you for talking us through it. We're all trying to just keep our cool through all this and do the right thing.

LAHITA: You're cool, Sandra.

SMITH: Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

LAHITA: OK.

SMITH: You acknowledged I have some. That's a good thing.

All right, supply shortages still slamming holiday shoppers, meanwhile, and while that means digging deeper in your wallet for Christmas dinner, our own Dan Springer has why it could also mean digging yourself out to get to that dinner.

Oh, boy, look at the snow behind you, Dan. Hi.

DAN SPRINGER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sandra, it's going to be a white Christmas for a lot of folks out West, but it's also going to be really tough sledding to get to grandmother's house.

I will tell you why coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Well, if you are looking to get out this holiday season, be prepared to dig yourself out, many places this year already experiencing a critical shortage of snowplow drivers.

FOX News correspondent Dan Springer is in North Bend, Washington, with more on that, and folks there certainly in need of some plowing -- Dan.

SPRINGER: Yes.

And, Sandra, there's a nationwide shortage of snowplow drivers, but it's made worse in states like Washington that are firing unvaccinated state workers, you know, the people who go out and keep the road safe.

And we're seeing the results here in Washington state. And Snoqualmie Pass here on I-90, the freeway, which sees about 20,000 vehicles per day, has already been shut down five times due to accidents and spinouts on snowy days.

The state Department of Transportation warn drivers back in November that snow removal would suffer this year because they are so short of plow drivers; 150 either quit or fired for not complying with Democratic Governor Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate.

Yet the DOT doesn't blame the short staff for the messy roads and all the accidents, but, rather, bad drivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA LABOE, WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Those closures have been -- we have checked to verify -- those have been due to driver behavior. There were not that the snow levels were too much for our crews to handle it or that we didn't have enough crews up at that site.

It was that people were driving too fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPRINGER: Now, the whole country is seeing a shortage of snowplow drivers.

A big reason is people with commercial driver's licenses are in high demand, and they can make more money in the private sector. But the problem is especially bad in states run by Democrats who have vaccine mandates for state workers.

Look at this. Washington state is down 220 drivers, 15 percent of its snow removal team. Oregon is down 146 drivers, and Colorado is short 200 plow drivers, or 20 percent of their staff.

John Curley, a host of KIRO Radio, who drives the past every day, blames the governors and these mandates for making the roads less safe and much less predictable for many.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CURLEY, KIRO RADIO HOST: So, think about the number of lives, whether it's somebody trying to get to work or someone trying to get home to see a sick child or someone just trying to be able to transport goods and services back and forth, thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands.

I mean, exponentially, you're probably looking at millions of lives impacted every time they close that pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPRINGER: And we drivers better get used to it. The National Weather Service's predicting higher snow levels for the entire season for the West and the Midwest, so tough driving conditions for a lot of folks this winter, especially with lack of snowplow drivers -- Sandra.

SMITH: It's a serious challenge. Dan Springer, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, worker and supply shortages also keeping prices up for that Christmas meal.

Here to break it all down, Wall Street Journal associate editor John Bussey.

John, great to see you. It's been a little while since we have chatted.

JOHN BUSSEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you.

SMITH: There is no doubt the American family is paying a whole lot more for their meals, including their holiday meals coming up.

And the Associated Press had a really interesting piece, pointing out one family really budgeting out their costs for food and keeping food in the refrigerator and on the table, and how that is quite clearly going to take away from their ability to put presents underneath the Christmas tree. They are severely having to cut back on their holiday presents for their kids and family members because of the higher cost of food.

BUSSEY: Yes, and the higher costs of a lot of things, not just food, but rental cars and a variety of other things that people are buying right now.

So what's behind this? I mean, we had a number, 6.8 percent inflation, in November, compared to the previous year, prices rising. These are striking inflation numbers. We haven't seen these in decades. But we also haven't seen a robust economy like this in a long time either.

It's growing at 5 percent-plus. For an economy our size, that is really strong. And so you have a lot of demand. A lot of consumers had a lot of pent-up demand from the pandemic. But you still have production shortages and supply chain disruptions, stuff coming in from China getting held up at ports, factories that had to close down during the pandemic not fully operating yet.

So the thing that individuals can do to address inflation, they can't do much about supply chains right now, but they could do it a lot about the future of production. They can get vaccinated. Vaccinate, wear a mask, do something about the virus. The virus, Omicron, Delta, that's what's causing the production disruptions, continues to cause them.

And that's what the public could do.

SMITH: Well, there's also the massive amounts of spending. And then there was the fear of more massive spending, obviously, until that no came in from Manchin over the weekend.

But you talked about the food prices. It's the gas prices. It is all playing a part. And I found it fascinating to see that, talking about the strong demand. The National Retail Federation still says this holiday shopping season is going to exceed their own sales forecast between 8.5 and 10.5 percent.

But this also stood out to me. And this was a poll done by the Associated Press. About six in 10 Americans say holiday gift prices are higher than usual. And I always say that is that tangible thing. When you see the polling out there, if you put your political hat on, people don't like what they're feeling right now.

They go shopping and they see that their receipts are a whole lot healthier. And when you go out to buy your holiday presents, you're feeling it.

Real quick final thought, John.

BUSSEY: Yes, that's right.

And wages have gone up, but that's getting absorbed a lot by inflation. Here's the thing. You think that Omicron is going to slow down the economy. The markets seemed to suggest that today. Your earlier conversation suggested that. Not necessarily.

Central banks around the world, including the Fed, worry that, more than anything, Omicron and the continuation of the spread of the virus, the fact that we haven't brought it to bear yet, to heel yet by getting vaccinated, is going to cause more supply disruptions, which is going to cause ultimately more inflation.

So, think about getting vaccinated and wearing a mask.

SMITH: With all due respect, the Fed hasn't got a whole lot right lately. The Fed sort of missed the whole picture on inflation.

And I trust the restaurant...

BUSSEY: Not so transitory, was it? Yes.

SMITH: Right. I trust the restaurant owners who are saying that they're seeing a double-digit drop in seatings. And that's a real -- that's a real hit for those restaurants that have already been through so much.

John Bussey, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.

BUSSEY: Good to see you.

SMITH: All right, well, snowbirds heading south for the winter, but it's not just the cold temps that have some people bolting.

Our Madison Alworth is down in Tampa, Florida. She's got the scoop -- Madison.

MADISON ALWORTH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Sandra.

People are always coming down South in the winter. That's not new. But what is new is that some of those people are staying here and calling the South and Florida home.

Like you said, I'm at Tampa International Airport. Coming up, I will explain why we're seeing this shift and just how many people are making that decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Well, forget about escaping the cold.

Some Southern states are trying to lure more people down there to live, not just because of higher temperatures, but lower taxes and no COVID lockdowns.

To Madison Alworth at Tampa International Airport in Florida with the latest, where it is a pleasant 72 degrees today.

Hi, Madison.

ALWORTH: Oh, hi, Sandra. Yes, it is gorgeous down here. I know, up in New York, it is a bit colder today.

That's obviously one of the reasons why we typically see travelers this time of year, of course, the warmer temperatures always drawing people in. You also mentioned it. When it comes to relocating here, those low taxes, that is a huge draw, having no income tax.

But, aside from those things, that third piece, people are coming because of what the state promises not to do. Governor Ron DeSantis says that he will not, absolutely not be doing any COVID-19 shutdowns anytime soon. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): At the end of the day in Florida, Floridians know, we will not let anybody lock them down. We will not let anyone take their jobs. We will not let anyone ruin their businesses. And we will not let anyone close their schools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALWORTH: This compared to the Northeast, where governors will not commit to no restrictions and have said that shutdowns are not off the table.

That uncertainty leading people to move their lives and work to Florida at a time. Where other states and airports are still trying to reach pre pandemic levels, Tampa International Airport saw a 9 percent increase in travelers last month compared to 2019.

Florida is outpacing pre-pandemic travel levels. And we have been talking to airport executives today. They say that, based off of the data, those travelers not just coming for the short term, but making the decision to stay for the long term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN TILIACOS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF AIRPORT OPERATIONS, TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: As you can see looking around the airport, people want to get back to some level of normalcy. They want to get out and travel.

And the local Tampa Bay area is ahead of the rest of the country in terms of attractiveness, so people want to live here, work here, play here. We have got beautiful beaches. It's a great place to live. And that's drawing people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALWORTH: So, Sandra, we have focused a lot on Florida, but we're seeing this happen across other states as well.

Arkansas, they have been revising their income state policy to try to also make moving there more attractive, following that Florida model, because, for Florida, it has created an increase in their population -- Sandra.

SMITH: OK, Madison Alworth, it sounds very attractive to many. It's why we see many fleeing to there. Thank you very much.

All right, well, the Pentagon is fighting against extremism among those fighting for our country.

Press Secretary John Kirby on what the new rules mean for our men and women of the military -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: As we worked through things over the course of the last eight, nine months, we believe that less than 100 or about 100 active-duty or Reserve component members of the military participated in some prohibited extremist activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: A Defense Department review finding extremist activity within the U.S. military and prompting the Pentagon to now announce new rules aimed at getting it out of the military.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby joins us now to discuss.

Admiral, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate you meeting with us on this subject. I know this is near and dear to your heart. You have said something has to be done to combat this.

First off, that number you gave us, is that actively in the military today, those 100 that you noted, or is that over a period of time that you found?

KIRBY: That 100 is over the course of 2021. And it includes active-duty troops, as well as those in the Reserves.

SMITH: What is it that you found about their extremist behavior? And how are you planning to combat it?

KIRBY: So, these were cases of substantiated extremist activity.

And I want to make sure that it's very clear. We're talking about activity, not what's going on between somebody's ears, what they're thinking or their feelings. It's about when they act on extremist ideology that puts the force at risk. And some of it can lead to violence.

I mean, there's a whole range. In the course of the 100 that we talked about, there's a whole range of activities, some more severe than others. And, again, the numbers are really small. When you think about a force that's 3.5-million-men-and-women-strong, 100 cases over a year is not very much.

And we're certainly not surprised by that at all. But even the small numbers can have an outsized impact when it comes to unit discipline.

SMITH: OK. So we look forward to whatever it is that you're able to do with those new rules and an update on that from you.

Meanwhile, the State Department's issued this warning against travel to Ukraine, as Russian troops are building up along the border there. So are we getting any immediate indications that Putin plans to invade? What can you tell us from the Pentagon?

KIRBY: Right now, without getting into intelligence assessments, I can tell you it's not exactly clear that President Putin has made a decision to launch another incursion in Ukraine.

We don't -- we don't believe that he has made that active decision. And, obviously, what we're trying to do, as an administration, as well as with our allies and partners, is to convince him not to do that, to make it clear that there will be severe consequences, this is not in his best interests or in anybody's interests, for that matter.

But there's no evidence right now that would -- that would convey certainty that he's made some kind of overt decision.

SMITH: OK, so it would appear to you that this is not inevitable.

I want to also ask you. Several U.S. intelligence officials reportedly claimed China is developing brain control weaponry, Admiral, for offensive use. How would the Pentagon respond if that's the case?

KIRBY: Yes, well, again, I can't validate those reports.

But, look, I would just say, broadly speaking, we see that China and their military continues to develop advanced technologies and capabilities, which are clearly designed to reinforce their very coercive, very aggressive behavior, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, but around the world.

That's why we're focusing on our own capabilities and our own operational concepts. You have heard Secretary Austin talk about something called integrated deterrence, trying to net together those capabilities with ourselves and our allies to deter China from any kind of more aggressive or more assertive action in terms of conflict.

SMITH: Keep us posted on that.

KIRBY: Yes.

SMITH: Lastly, if you could, Admiral, as someone who served yourself -- and thank you for your service -- for so many years, can you leave us off with a message to our troops, our men and women who may be serving abroad over the holidays, won't be home with their kids, and a message of hope to them and appreciation as well?

KIRBY: I would just ask them to please remember how much those of us that are back stateside, those of us who will have the luxury of being able to spend the holidays with our families and our friends, that we're thinking of you, we're proud of you, and that we are -- you're going to continue to get all the support that you can.

And, oh, by the way that goes to your families too...

SMITH: Amen.

KIRBY: ... because we believe that the military families serve every bit as much as those men and women in uniform.

We respect and we support and we love them. And we want them to have the best possible Christmas and holidays that they can.

SMITH: Absolutely.

Thank you, sir, for your service to the country. Thank you for joining us.

KIRBY: Thank you.

SMITH: All right.

That's all the time that we have for today. Thanks for joining us. Neil will be back tomorrow.

I will see you tomorrow at 1:00.

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