'Your World' on legacy of MLK Jr., Youngkin inauguration

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Gov. Douglas Wilder reflects on Youngkin inauguration, criticizes Biden

Former Virginia Democratic Gov. Douglas Wilder reflected on Glenn Youngkin's inauguration, Martin Luther King's legacy, on 'Your World' on Monday.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," January 17, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thousands of flights grounded or delayed, cars spinning out in icy roads, power outages hitting tens of thousands, while a tornado in Florida leaves behind a path of devastation.

It's all part of a fierce a winter storm wrecking havoc on millions.

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

We have got FOX team coverage with Katie Byrne in Pittsburgh, where folks are digging out, meteorologist Adam Klotz on snow totals piling up, and Madison Alworth in Eastchester, New York, on how could this pile up problems for shoppers.

But we begin with FOX Weather's Katie Byrne in Pittsburgh -- Katie.

KATIE BYRNE, FOX WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Charles.

Well, we're getting a break from the snow, but the storm is not done yet. Now the big story is the strong winds blowing the snow around us. This store really cast a wide net, impacting parts of the Midwest and the Southeast and now the East Coast. Some parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York have already reported more than a foot of snow.

At this hour, we know tens of thousands of people are without power in South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Georgia. West Virginia in the lead with nearly 20,000 outages, but Maine now creeping up there as well with more than 10.

The snow did come down pretty fast. We saw it covering some roads, some major roads. We know that Virginia State Police, they were busy yesterday responding to almost 500 car accidents because of it. Here in Pittsburgh, a lot of people staying off the roads today. Not a lot of people out and about, and if they are, it's really just to walk their dog or gets work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT HOROWITZ, PITTSBURGH RESIDENT: Snowy, but I think, more so, it's very windy so, making for a little bit, I guess, uncomfortable walking the dog, but nothing we're not used to here in Pittsburgh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BYRNE: The storm causing more than 4,000 flight cancellations, most of them in and out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where the storm moved through yesterday.

Now, Charlotte is among a number of spots in the South impacted by this winter weather that they're really not used to. In Southern Florida, this same storm system led to tornadoes destroying dozens of homes near Fort Myers.

Now, we know the storm is moving through Maine and New Hampshire now before it heads out fully around midnight -- Charles.

PAYNE: Thank you very much.

Heavy snow and high winds accompanying the storm. Some places seeing more than a foot of snow.

Meteorologist Adam Klotz is in the FOX Weather Center keeping track of all of this and where the storm goes from here -- Adam.

ADAM KLOTZ, FOX NEWS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Charles.

Yes, as you said, this storm system really covering a very large area, continuing to make its move up to the north and to the east, but really that center of circulation now beginning to run up into Maine, getting up into the really interior New England, but still some snow on the backside of this, still windy on the backside of this system.

But, boy, this has gone on for days, and it has really piled up. These are some of your snowfall totals, and you see areas in Ohio getting up close to 30 inches, but a very large swathe of the country well over two feet of snow, getting up close to three feet of snow when you talk about some of these really impressive numbers, two-and-a-half feet of snow anyways.

And then, additionally, you add some of the ice totals getting into the Southeast, and that's caused as much of a headache as perhaps any of the snow has, because this is enough to bring down power lines, bring down tree branches, really dangerous road conditions if you see half-an-inch of ice on a lot of these roads and streets.

Now, behind this system, it is cold and it is windy. These are our current temperatures here across the Northeast, you see in spots getting down into the 20s. With that windchill, it certainly feels colder than that. And the future track is just going to continue to see maybe some lingering snow on the backside of this.

But, really, the vast majority of the snow has now tracked on out. If you live right along the lakes -- and you're typically used to this -- you get some of that lake-effect snow on the backside of a system. Maybe a little bit of snow still upstate in New York. Mostly, though, this is winding down, but it was a big winter system. And I think we're happy to see ago -- Charles.

PAYNE: Absolutely. Adam, thank you very much.

KLOTZ: Yes.

PAYNE: So, winter storm, supply chain issues proving to be a double whammy for grocery stores. They're still trying to fill up those empty shelves.

FOX Business' Madison Alworth is in Paramus, New Jersey, with more on that part of the story -- Madison.

MADISON ALWORTH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Charles.

Yes, the winter storms did no favors to grocery stores in the U.S. We're looking at issues with inflation, labor shortages and empty shelves all adding to this quite literally perfect storm of problems for your local grocery store.

Take a look at this video. This was the scene at grocery stores like ShopRite across New Jersey over this weekend, so many empty shelves. And, like I said, it's a combination of the factors leading to that. Winter storms did not make the situation any better, causing a slowdown in deliveries that we have already seen be slowed with a very crammed supply chain story.

Here at Stew Leonard's, where I'm at in Paramus, New Jersey, the team has adjusted suppliers so that they can keep items on the shelves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tropicana is a household name. Now, we're finding it a little difficult to get Tropicana in our stores. So we have to pivot a little bit.

So whether it's carrying a Simply Orange brand or pushing our Stew Leonard private label, we will still have an orange juice for you. It just might not be the one that you're used to seeing every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALWORTH: You know, when you can find those items on the shelves, they're going to cost you more because of inflation. Some in Washington are blaming grocery stores for price-gouging. But grocers say they're just keeping up with the increased cost in labor, delivery, gas, all of those things.

Americans that I have spoke to here at this store today said they're tired of the politics. They just want to be paying less for the items that they are now paying so much more for. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just the two of us. And I spend $500 a week on food. And I don't even know what I bought.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel sorry for people with big families. They can't afford to eat anymore. Prices are terrible. There's no reason for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALWORTH: So, Charles, we were looking at this issue this weekend because of the winter weather making it worse.

But as we have been reporting on both networks, we have been dealing with empty shelves for quite some time now. And there's really no indication when that will get better. So Americans are just hanging tight. And they're paying higher prices for everyday goods -- Charles.

PAYNE: Yes. And they're pretty upset about it as well.

Madison, thank you very much.

So, inflation expected to remain high, certainly as long as these supply chain issues persist. But how long before Americans say they have had enough?

I'm going to bring in market watcher Larry Glazer with me now.

Larry, on Friday, we got consumer sentiment numbers, the second lowest read in a decade. And here was the dividing line. Families under $100,000, those households, it was down 9.7 percent, a total freefall. Madison just spoke to folks who feel the same way. When do they get relief?

LARRY GLAZER, MAYFLOWER ADVISORS: You know, Charles, I have had enough.

And nothing crushes middle-class confidence faster than the empty store shelves and the rising prices. I took my family out for burritos the other day, burritos, not steak, and it was 60 bucks, up 20 percent from last year.

And I think we're seeing -- none of us have seen this in 40 years. So very few people remember how bad it can be. And I find it really hard to believe that we can put a man on the moon, but we can't keep orange juice, milk and bread on the shelves of grocery stores.

The Greatest Generation in this country stormed the beaches of Normandy, but no one will unload container ships in California right now. Right? The backlog is as bad or worse than it's ever been. And it's costing three times as much. So it's full of empty promises from Washington.

But you know what, Charles? I'm an optimist. I haven't lost faith, because we're going to resolve this, but we're going to resolve it with Main Street ingenuity, Main Street innovation, not Washington empty promises and empty policies.

PAYNE: Well, also, a lot of times, when we get runaway inflation like this -- you just talked about burritos, not steak -- people usually move down the food chain, unfortunately, to be able to still have a fulfilling mill.

We saw already -- it's early in Wall Street, what they call earnings season. Every three months, these companies report how they're doing. So far, 87 percent have said they have raised their prices. There's got to come a point where Americans are going to say, no mas, we won't pay it, you can raise the price, but we will not pay it.

GLAZER: No, you're right. I mean, that's why you saw retail sales disappoint, because I think people can only do so much.

And you had a lot of stimulus money that carried us through. That's gone. That's behind us. So now we have a lot of volatility. We have midterm elections coming. So that's going to create a lot of concern. People are going to be thinking about what that might mean. But there's a sense of hope and optimism that we get past Omicron, we look past it, businesses can reopen.

You can't have empty stores, empty store shelves, empty office buildings, which is what we're seeing, and expect a normal economy. You got to reopen things. And I think there's a lot of frustration building right now. People get a chance to vote that frustration, and they vote with their wallets.

PAYNE: Yes.

GLAZER: And when you see -- when you see negative interest rates, negative real rates that people are earning at the bank, and they're not -- their wages are not keeping up with rising prices, which is going to be the case for the next 12 months, there is going to be building frustration on Main Street.

PAYNE: Yes, real wages were down 2.4 percent last month.

GLAZER: No question.

PAYNE: Now, here's the question. And here's what I don't know -- no one's really talking about it, but let's face it, the Biden administration pumped too much money into this economy and the Federal Reserve pumped too much money in its economy.

Both have to do something about it. And I'm wondering, can they do anything without triggering a recession? It feels like at this point, for the Fed to do what it's supposed to do, like Paul Volcker did, that would also mean really the pain would be excruciating.

In other words, to get to the other side, it may be painful.

GLAZER: The party may be over for a little while. But, again, we haven't lost faith in the fact that you could get a 10 percent correction on the way to higher interest rates.

But interest rates are so low compared to where they have done historically. Go back 40 years, the last time you inflation at these numbers, and interest rates were double digits, mortgage rates were double digits. So you have got a lot of positives going on in the economy.

Earnings are actually really good. And earnings are going to continue to be good. So that's not the problem. Corporate America is doing their fair share. They're hiring people. They need to get people off the couch, back to work.

PAYNE: Right. Right.

GLAZER: And they have got to motivate people to work and not, not work.

PAYNE: Real quick, Larry. I have got about 30 seconds to go.

There's still chatter in D.C. about printing even more money. They're saying he want to do it for gyms and these kind of local businesses. But it has to be pointed out, over a trillion dollars of this money has not been spent yet. It just feels like they keep double-dipping, triple-dipping. What would that do for inflation?

GLAZER: You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over when it isn't working.

And we know that spending more money is raising prices on the middle class. It's creating a bigger wealth divide in this country. Let's try a new policy. Let's try going to work. Let's try spending less money, cutting the national debt.

The debt has been soaring for decades, it's now finally coming back to hurt the economy. And it's going to crowd out the private sector. That's my biggest fear. But I haven't lost hope in innovation and ingenuity from Main Street.

PAYNE: And there you have it, Larry. Neither have I.

Thank you, my friend.

To Richmond, Virginia, where the state's new Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is addressing the joint assembly. He campaigned heavily on education and attacking inflation. Why both parties in Washington are watching his actions closely as the midterms close in, that's coming up.

Plus, we're going to get a read from the state's former Democratic Governor Doug Wilder later in this hour.

But, first, the FBI's about-face failing -- really failing to quiet the firestorm over its initial response to that terror incident at the Texas synagogue. So, what's this all about? We're going to give you the latest on that.

Also, with those midterms coming up, are new numbers showing voters are looking to change things up? We report, you decide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: To the 's FBI's about-face after its initial response to that hostage standoff at a Texas synagogue. So what's this all about?

FOX News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich with the very latest -- Jacqui.

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Charles.

Well, the FBI suggested that they learned more about the suspect's motive as the standoff wore on. They said last night during negotiations with law enforcement the hostage-taker, Malik Faisal Akram, spoke repeatedly about a convicted terrorist who was serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States on terrorism charges.

This is a terrorism-related matter in which the Jewish community was targeted and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. But the about-face came hours after President Biden described the incident this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This was an act of terror. I wanted to make sure we got the word out to synagogues and places of worship that we're not going to tolerate this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: Senator Lindsey Graham among those asking why the FBI would dismiss anti-Semitism as a motive so quickly, especially given the statements that the suspects -- suspect was making.

Lindsey Graham tweeted: "I hope the FBI will consider the statement -- reconsider the statement, because it's well-known that at her trial, Siddiqui, also known as Lady Al Qaeda, was a raging anti-Semite who demanded the jurors be genetically tested for Jewish blood."

Lindsey Graham referencing the person who the suspect was talking about during his engagement with law enforcement. And Jewish leaders say the FBI owes their community an explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOV HIKIND (D), FORMER NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLYMAN: It makes you wonder what in God's name is going on with the FBI.

When the FBI made that statement that this wasn't anti-Semitic, for God's sake, I mean, what was -- what were they looking at? I mean, the whole world saw this clearly, a synagogue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: We're also learning today more of the FBI early statements turned out to be ill-advised.

Initially, they said there was no indication anyone but the suspect was involved. But FOX News confirmed today two teens were arrested by anti- terror officers in Manchester, England, last night in connection with this.

So far, there haven't been any statements from the Justice Department, from the attorney general on this incident, despite Merrick Garland saying that he wanted to make anti-Semitism one of his biggest priorities when he assumed his post -- Charles.

PAYNE: Thank you very much, Jacqui.

I want to get into this, the FBI's initial statement, in a moment, but, first, could this terror incident have been prevented? Was this suspect on the radar?

I want to bring in former FBI deputy assistant director Danny Coulson.

Danny, so often, we do find that these terrorists have been within the radar or the grasp even of law enforcement, and, for one reason or another, maybe have gotten out. Have you had enough time to discern whether or not that could be the case here?

DANNY COULSON, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, actually, I have.

I want you to think about this. We did not know who Tim McVeigh was. I did that case. I commanded that case. And you don't always know. In fact, you hardly ever know. And we have a great intelligence collection capability. But there are a lot of people out there who don't like the United States. There are a lot of anti-Semites out there.

And it's going to happen. I wish it was a perfect world where I could say, yes, we're going to get all these guys. We're not. And that's what we have got to get ready for the next one. This is a very serious situation, and it's going to get worse.

And we can't rely on intelligence to protect us. We have to protect ourselves.

PAYNE: All right.

And to that point, why do you think then it was initially downplayed by the FBI? There's a lot of criticism of our military, our -- quote, unquote -- "woke military." Is something similar going on at the FBI?

COULSON: Well, I hope not.

And let me just mention this to you. I have commanded a lot of these. And the information flow, the amount of information generated by these things is beyond comprehension. And what you know an hour after it starts is 1,000 times what you know when it starts.

PAYNE: Right.

COULSON: So, the information starts coming in.

What I say to you now, an hour, may not be true. We know a guy who went into the into that synagogue and took hostages. That -- we don't know if he's anti-Semite. We don't know what he is. And that's why you have to wait for this stuff to play out.

And I want to mention one thing to you here. We had a victory here. God blessed us with a great victory. All the hostages are alive. The bad guy is no longer with us. And it's almost like going to a Super Bowl conference and saying, you won the Super Bowl, but you had pass interference in the third quarter.

PAYNE: Right.

COULSON: And I know that's -- I don't mean to be demeaning anybody, but from somebody that's done a lot of these, it's hard.

PAYNE: Well...

COULSON: And we had a blessing and to get this one done the way we did.

PAYNE: Yes.

And before I let you go, and, listen, what we're trying to say is -- and you brought it up -- this is the world we live in. So the quicker we can identify these and be honest about it.

Listen, the FBI has to be commended for the program, because we saw where the rabbi was actually able to use these active shooter training to -- for them to escape.

COULSON: Yes.

PAYNE: But we do -- where do we go from here? Two teens have been arrested in Manchester.

This Malik Akram, he stayed in a homeless shelter January 6, 11, and 13. He had a gun. It seemed -- where did he stay when he wasn't at the homeless shelter? How did he get the gun? Aren't there so many more questions? Should we be on high alert until these are answered?

COULSON: No, we should be on high alert from now on.

That's a really good question. But it goes beyond your question. We are not going to catch all these guys.

PAYNE: Right.

COULSON: And we need to be ready.

Each one of these institutions, including yours, needs to prepare for this.

PAYNE: Danny, thank you so much. Always appreciate you.

COULSON: Thank you, sir.

PAYNE: You're a straight shooter. And we appreciate you always. Thank you.

COULSON: Thank you.

PAYNE: So, inflation, education, you name it, Virginia's new Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin ran and won it. So, should Washington Democrats running in November be worried about it?

You might be surprised with the state's former Democratic Governor Doug Wilder has to say. He's here.

And who's putting Vladimir Putin in his place? Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling me it's no wonder Russia is acting up, as the Biden administration keeps backing down.

The latest on that threat -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Going for the gold, well, leave the phone at home. That's a new warning for Team USA athletes just three weeks out from the Olympics.

And with inflation spiking, why does the White House want to keep spending? Peter Doocy is coming up on that.

We're back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Glenn Youngkin sworn in as Virginia's new Republican governor over the weekend.

His campaign and first actions in office focused on education and pocketbook issues. Now Republicans are looking at his playbook as we head into the midterm elections.

So what does my next guess make of that?

Former Republican Democratic Governor Douglas Wilder is here to weigh in.

Governor, I want to start with something that Governor Youngkin said yesterday, yesterday -- over the weekend: "We will remove politics from classrooms and refocus on essential math, science and reading. And we will teach all of our history, the good and the bad."

Why would anyone be offended by that statement?

FMR. GOV. DOUG WILDER (D-VA): I don't think anyone would be, Charles. And it's good to be with you.

And it's an interesting thing. I was pleased to be at the inaugural on Saturday when he made those kinds of statements, as well as emphasized what was taking place.

I think, first of all, we need to make certain that people understand. And Virginians are very proud people. They're not to be taken for granted by anybody, any party. They are not purple. They are not red. I mean, they're not blue. They're not purple or red. They are more purple than anything else.

PAYNE: Right.

WILDER: And they're not -- one of the reasons I flubbed in studies on the names and the colors, they are not defined by color. They are defined by spirit of independence.

They would vote for that person who is in the best interests of their interests and who is promoting what they want to do.

I'm pleased to say, today, this is my birthday...

PAYNE: I know.

WILDER: ... my 91st birthday, the same birthday that's being celebrated by people from Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. King had the first holiday established in his -- legislative holiday for him in Virginia. That's what Virginians did. It took me eight years to do it. Two governors vetoed it. And yet many people who voted against his holiday came to support his holiday.

And I want to say that I looked at that election. King was so much interested in education. And I think Youngkin is doing the same kind of thing, looking to promote what's in the best interests of the people.

PAYNE: Governor, I read your piece today that you put out. You were born two years after Dr. King.

He started college at 15. You started at 16. He was assassinated in 1968. You were elected to the state Senate in 1969. You made a comment, and I want to share with the audience, that: "Martin Luther King Jr. should not be confined to marches, demonstrations and songs."

Why is that statement so important right now?

WILDER: I think it's important now because so many people, oh, we could just get back to Martin Luther King, and they just start singing. And they start thinking, well, we can march.

Wait a minute. King was a visionary. He believed in the high possibility of the individual. He believed in education. Glenn Youngkin, by hitting on education, is emphasizing what King spoke about.

And I can tell you, at the inauguration on Saturday, walking through the crowd, talking with people, Republicans, Democrats, independents, many of them were pleased to see us coming together. America needs that more than anything else.

And I think, in King's instance, he wasn't a Republican. He wasn't a Democrat. He wasn't confined to being a preacher or marches or demonstrations. He was a philosopher. And he studied it. And he knew -- one of the things I liked, one of his quotes was, do not just be concerned with increased numbers, because, in a column, numbers will eventually end up adding up to zero.

And that's why it's so important now for those people who would not be in office today but for King working for the right to vote, people needing the opportunity to vote, but, once they vote, they look to see what they have got, and they become disillusioned.

Our responsibility is to give back that spirit of up -- give back that upward looking, give back the light...

PAYNE: Yes.

WILDER: ... and to let them understand that all things are possible.

PAYNE: Governor, Virginia Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears was also sworn in over the weekend.

When she was asked how she felt as the first African-American woman to hold that office, I want to share with you what she told FOX News -- quote -- "I think I am a visible success story that says to people, you can do it, you will do it, no matter your gender, no matter your color, even no matter where you were born. Are you going to look at the glass as half-full or half-empty?

"Because, if it's half empty, that's a negative view of life. That's where too many of our political leaders come from. And all it -- and all it does is serve their and I think nefarious agenda to divide us and to say, you're a victim, you're always going to be a victim. And the other people are oppressors, and so you need us."

So, this message, I happen to think it's refreshing. The politics of finger-pointing, it's -- I wish that would become a relic of the past. But your thoughts, particularly on this history-making? As you made history, now she's making history.

WILDER: Well, I think it's good.

And I never considered myself making history. I really never considered myself doing anything other than what could be done, what could be possible. I served in the Senate for 16 years. I chaired any numbers of committees. I have been involved in knowing what the laws were and how they needed to be changed and when they needed to be changed.

But I wanted that for the people. And so, consequently, I didn't go into political office for Doug Wilder. I went in there to the serve the people. And to the instance that people saw that -- and I can tell you, Charles, it's one of the best feelings I have today.

When I walk the streets, or when I walk anywhere, and I see people, they identify with me, knowing that I am for and have been and will be for the people, all of the people...

PAYNE: Right.

WILDER: ... all of America's people and all of Virginia's people.

I have spoken to Winsome Sears, as well as Jason Miyares, the new attorney general. And I have said to them, the best thing they can do now is to work with Glenn Youngkin to make this administration as strong and as profitable for the people of Virginia as they can be.

It's not an individual adventure. It's a giant thing that we all need to do for the good of the people.

PAYNE: Right.

Governor, let me ask you about President Biden, his approval rating now sunk to 33 percent. This is his first year in office. How worried are you about the direction of the Democratic Party?

WILDER: Well, I would say that, in terms of being worried about it, the people who are really actively involved in the Democratic Party should be really concerned, because there doesn't seem to be a direction flow.

There doesn't seem to be anyone really in charge. You have got to talk to the media, because the media talks to the people. You have got to not be afraid to be on the wrong side of an issue. But you can't say certain things.

For instance, the border incident, to my judgment, hasn't been handled. To the extent that you're talking about spending money -- and I don't have to tell you about that. You know it. You do it with -- every day. Spending money with no idea about how you're going to stop spending it, and when is it coming back, and how is it coming back?

Education is the key. But how do you get there?

PAYNE: Yes.

WILDER: And what are you trying to do together?

So, I think Democrats should be very worried, particularly in lieu of the midterm elections that are coming up. And let's assume that something does happen in tipping the balance. It's not the end of the world.

PAYNE: Right.

WILDER: But what are you going to do to make certain that you deserve a chance, a real chance?

PAYNE: Governor Douglas Wilder, I got to tell you, I personally believe you are a living legend.

And I just want to say happy birthday.

(LAUGHTER)

PAYNE: You look fantastic for 91.

WILDER: Thank you.

PAYNE: And this is a great -- this is one of my highlights of my broadcasting career, to have this conversation with you.

Thank you so much, sir. Happy birthday.

WILDER: Oh, Charles, God bless you. And thank you so much for that. And it means a lot to me.

Thank you very, very much.

PAYNE: And we will see you soon.

WILDER: Thank you.

PAYNE: Well, the White House talking up its spending plans, while consumers are feeling down about inflation, but it isn't spending that's just adding to the misery.

And we're going to also -- bring your ice skates folks, but leave your phones at home. This is the message that U.S. athletes are getting, worried about Chinese spying. So should we be going at all?

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: With less than three weeks until the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, a new warning from Team USA to our athletes about possible security and data breaches.

To FOX's Benjamin Hall at the State Department with the latest -- Benjamin.

BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Charles.

For some time, there has been concern about the safety and security of U.S. athletes as they head to Beijing. And now it appears that Team USA shares some of those fears, writing a memo to all the athletes going, saying that, when they get to China, they should use burner phones and leave their own personal electronics at home to avoid Chinese spying.

Now, in this memo, they state that they would be subjected in China to malicious intrusion, infection and data compromise, and, at a minimum, they should wipe all their personal data from devices before arrival and on departure from China.

The report, per USA Today, and which has been echoed by other countries to their athletes, states: "Despite any and all safeguards that are put in place to protect the systems and data brought to China, it should be assumed that all data and communications there can be monitored, compromised or blocked."

Now, the State Department has for a while warned visitors to China that security personnel carefully watch foreign visitors and that hotel rooms telephones, Internet and personal possessions might be searched without your consent or knowledge.

Now, although the administration has announced a diplomatic boycott, meaning no officials go, in light of China's genocide against the Uyghurs, it has actually emerged that up to 15 State Department officials are in fact going to China to provide, as they say, security support operations.

Now, these Games have been dubbed the genocide Games, of course, but the fact is, this may not be the ironclad diplomatic boycott we were led to expect. And another concern now rising, which is that the first few cases of Omicron have been detected in Beijing. We have seen what happens elsewhere in the country when COVID cases are detected, tens of millions in lockdown, tens of thousands in force quarantine.

The great fear now that those case numbers rise in Beijing and we see something similar happening outside the Olympic bubble -- Charles.

PAYNE: Benjamin, thank you very much.

So, if it's so dangerous for athletes at the Winter Games, why are we even going?

Let's get the read from Steve Yates, former deputy national security adviser for Vice President Dick Cheney.

Steve, thanks for joining us.

People who do business regularly in China, from what I'm told, all go there with burner phones. So what do you make now of this warning to our athletes to do the same?

STEVE YATES, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: Well, Charles, I basically stand by what I argued in The Daily Caller last April, suggesting that the Olympics shouldn't be held in Beijing and should go to a friendly, more humane country like Japan.

The evidence that's unfolded ever since just serves to reinforce that argument, whether it's the Omicron outbreak, the continued pursuit of people's freedoms in China, the Peng Shuai appearance, the tennis star appearing and disappearing, raising a lot of other concerns.

I think there's -- from health to physical security, to communication security, a variety of reasons why people should be concerned. I feel for the athletes.

PAYNE: Yes.

YATES: This is there a once-in-a-four-year moment to shine. But this is a really bad environment to send them into.

PAYNE: Yes, any time something's nicknamed the genocide Games, you know maybe, maybe you don't want to be associated with it.

Let me switch gears with you to Russia. Over the weekend, Ukraine blaming Russia for a recent cyberattack. Now, I talked with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about this, how the U.S. is handling Russia right now, this after Congress nixed those sanctions for the Nord 2 pipeline.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Vladimir Putin has essentially predicted this. He has tipped his hand multiple times, threatening the administration, threatening the United States of America and the region, saying, here's the things I'm going to go do.

And what he's gotten a response is weakness, appeasement and mere words.

The Russians are staging troops on the border of Ukraine, and we are -- the Biden administration is on Capitol Hill saying, no, no, no, no, no, don't sanction a Russian pipeline, so that Americans can sell gas and energy into Europe. We want the Russians to do it.

I must say, Charles, I'm confounded. It doesn't make much sense to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: He's not the only one confounded.

Steve, what's -- what do you think the strategy is here?

YATES: No, I agree very much with Secretary Pompeo.

I mean, really, if there were to be a sensible strategy, number one, it should have been to bolster the capabilities of the Ukrainians to defend themselves. It should have been helping or pushing Europeans to come to a neighbor's aid and to increase deterrence against Russia.

But all of the signal-sending and substance, whether it's pulling back from missile defense, ceding the territory of Ukraine back in the Obama administration, all of these things are very, very troubling signs. And I can't disagree with what the secretary said.

Russia sees a go signal and a lot of weakness or uncertainty on the part of the West.

PAYNE: So, also, apparently, the main chess piece here on both sides is NATO or the expansion of NATO.

What's their role in all of this? It's -- I just feel like we're being sucked into something that I don't know that Americans want to be involved in.

YATES: Well, I would argue Americans shouldn't be the first and foremost actor in this.

It really should be Europe. The combined economies of Europe and the combined militaries of Europe are quite large and much more substantial than that of Russia, for instance. And so this should not be an America-led issue.

And I think the American public is extremely wary about being pulled into a potential enduring conflict with a committed nuclear power.

PAYNE: Yes.

YATES: And so I think there's a lot of reason to have hesitancy about that, that, really, the answers have to be Europe taking their own order seriously themselves.

PAYNE: Steve Yates, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, folks, President Biden set for a major news conference this Wednesday, likely facing questions about runaway inflation and the spending plans that helped send it into overdrive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: President Biden's first year in office seeing trillions of dollars in new spending, and consumers spending a whole lot more at the store as inflation keeps raging.

To FOX's Peter Doocy at the White House with the latest -- Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Charles, President Biden has been proven wrong, because his prediction three months ago was that inflation wasn't going to stick around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: Do you think it's going to last for a while?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think so.

I don't think it will last if -- depending what we do, if we stay exactly where we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Reflective Democrats have conceded that pumping the economy full of COVID stimulus that wasn't tied to long-term relief may have added to inflation.

But President Biden still thinks the remedy for that inflation is to spend more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: All the talk about how my Build Back Better plan was going to increase inflation and going to cause these debts and all the like, what happened?

Goldman Sachs and others said, if we don't pass Build Back Better, we're in trouble, because it's going to grow the economy. And without it, we're not going to grow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: President Biden has long claimed instead that inflation is caused by things completely out of his hands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Well, look, first of all, a significant reason why prices are up is because of COVID affecting the supply chain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: COVID, so the pandemic, a problem all of year one.

And the promise to shut it down, turns out that's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you no longer going to shut it down?

BIDEN: Well, we got to beat it back before we shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: President Biden has spent the entire long weekend in Wilmington, Delaware, at home.

We expect him back a few hours from now -- Charles.

PAYNE: Peter, thank you very much.

Red or blue, what say you? New signs party preferences are shifting. Which party should be worrying? See the numbers, and you decide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Well, a new Gallup survey finds Americans' political preferences shifting from Democrat to Republican over the course of 2021.

So what does this mean as we head into the midterms?

Here now to discuss, The Washington Examiner's Kaylee McGhee White and Democratic strategist Jenna Arnold.

Kaylee, let me start with you. The numbers are pretty shocking.

KAYLEE MCGHEE WHITE, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Yes, absolutely.

And this is to be expected. Coming up on the midterms, typically, there is a bit of a transfer of power, but it really does go to show that Democrats are very out of touch with the voters that -- the issues that voters care about right now, both of them being COVID, the pandemic that's still ongoing, and then also inflation.

PAYNE: Jenna?

JENNA ARNOLD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Charles, it's nice to see you. The University of Miami and I very much thank you for your color palette today.

I would challenge what Kaylee said. And I actually think it has more to do with what this same poll found when they asked respondents whether or not they would identify as Republican, independent or a Democrat. Most of them said independent.

And I think it's really a reflection that you have an entire country who's still very much stuck in the middle and not interested in being pegged to one specific political party or politician. Your viewers are sharp enough to be able to have constructive thinking when it comes to any one of the candidates and know that they're not interested or likely 100 percent agree with any candidate on a ballot.

PAYNE: Jenna, one thing I look at is a lot of the economic data.

On Friday, we had this consumer sentiment report. It's the second lowest in a decade. And as you go through it, they break it down by political party. I got to be honest, I was shocked. There was almost a 10 percent plunge in Democrats' confidence in the current economy and a big decline also in independents.

So you have to acknowledge that there's some dissatisfaction going on there. And if somehow the Democratic Party doesn't reel these folks in, they're going to make a choice, aren't they?

ARNOLD: Yes, I think you see a country that's exhausted and weary and concerned about data like this, and certainly concerned about the sentiment and the pulse that's coming out of Washington. We're more divided than we have ever been.

But I think a poll like this, when asked respondents if they would consider being independent, most of the poll contributors flock to that often, because we do recognize that we are all very much the same and likely want most of the same things.

PAYNE: Jenna, that's always been the case, but messaging has been part of it.

Also, when you ask for the job, and you get it, at that point, you -- it's time to stop pointing fingers. I really believe the Biden administration has made two critical mistakes. Every time President Biden speaks, he brags. He starts off bragging about something.

And most of the time, he contradicts what's out there in the public. Oh, there is food on the shelves. Oh, the Afghan thing wasn't botched. We were OK with our COVID planning. It's never a mea culpa. Come out with a mea culpa. And so -- and also blaming the other person.

Don't you think Americans at this point, Jenna...

ARNOLD: Yes, we certainly -- we certainly haven't seen that.

PAYNE: I'm sorry, Kaylee, are we at this point now where you think Americans want solutions, a solutions-based -- or either party to come up with solutions that they can embrace?

MCGHEE WHITE: Absolutely.

I think what they want is, they just want Biden's promises to actually be kept. He promised he was going to shut down the virus. Then he had to admit that that's not going to happen. He promised that inflation wasn't going to be a thing.

This time, right now, last year, it's still a thing. It's still affecting Americans every day. And the American people are going to remember that in 2022. And that's why you see so much discontentment with the Biden administration and with Democrats at large.

PAYNE: Jenna, and, listen, the administration -- I mean, listen in the public, they kind of sweep these numbers under the rug, although early in this administration, he used polls to push his agenda.

Now it's now don't pay attention to them. At what point do you think you start to see some panic on your party?

ARNOLD: Listen, I think everybody is concerned across the board if -- going back to the original question at the top of this segment about whether or not Americans are identifying as Democrats or Republicans, I can tell you 100 percent of Americans are identifying as very concerned Americans.

And a lot of it has to do with what my co-panelist just did, which was making a sweeping generalization about what was said and what is that and what was done and what wasn't.

And I appreciate your note about Biden trying to take a victory lap every single time he's up at the podium, but he's consistently met with a fire hose of accusations about what he has or hasn't done.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: It comes with the job.

MCGHEE WHITE: But it's not a generalization. It's not a generalization. Those are his own words. He promised to shut down the virus, and that hasn't happened.

(CROSSTALK)

MCGHEE WHITE: It's not a generalization.

PAYNE: Ladies, we have got to leave it there.

ARNOLD: Kaylee, he is the president of one country. There's 200 countries on the planet.

PAYNE: I have got another catchphrase for you, promises made, promises. Maybe, just maybe, that could save the president by midterms. But he's got some catching up to do.

That will do it for me, though, here.

Of course, the markets were closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. They will be open tomorrow, So catch me at 2:00 p.m. on the Business Channel. It's going to be a huge day.

Now "The Five" starts.

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