'Your World' on Russia conflict, economic struggles facing Americans

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Sen. Bill Cassidy shreds the 'worst energy policy'

Louisiana Republican weighs in on the rising gas prices, dependence on foreign nations for oil, and Russia-Ukraine tension on 'Your World.'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," January 21, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Martha.

The last-ditch efforts to stave off a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Will it work?

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

And it's a world on edge, hanging on talks between the U.S. and Russia to bring this escalating crisis to an end. Both sides agreeing today to keep talking. Now we're waiting for the next moves.

And we have got you covered with Greg Palkot in Kiev, Ukraine, on what comes next over there, Jacqui Heinrich at the White House on the fallout right here, and Rebeccah Heinrichs on where this all goes from here.

We will be speaking to Senate Energy Committee member Bill Cassidy on why all this could mean more pain at the pump for Americans.

But we begin with Greg in Kiev -- Greg.

GREG PALKOT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra.

Yes, officials here are a bit more reassured after today's high-level talks, but they are still nervous. Secretary of State Blinken meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov for 90 minutes in Geneva. Lavrov called it constructive and useful. Blinken described the moment as critical.

And what seemed critical for Blinken, after the muddled message from President Biden earlier this week, to come out strong and forceful. Here's a bit of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: So that's the choice that Russia faces now. It can choose the path of diplomacy that can lead to peace and security, or the path that will lead only to conflict, severe consequences and international condemnation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALKOT: Still, the gap between the two sides remains dangerously wide, Sandra.

Blinken demanding Russia pull back its 100,000-plus troops on the borders with Ukraine. Lavrov saying they didn't intend to invade. Russia also sticking to its demands that NATO stay out of Ukraine and its U.S.-led troops get out of Eastern Europe, nonstarters for the U.S.

Again, Ukraine probably appreciates the clearer line from the U.S. today. Ukrainian President Zelensky was critical of Biden's earlier comments this week, and will also approve of another commitment of military aid to Ukraine. Blinken also shared information about all this meeting with Ukraine's foreign minister.

Sandra, late and developing news this afternoon, U.S. officials have confirmed to FOX News that the State Department is at least looking at a possible evacuation of U.S. diplomats' families -- back to you.

SMITH: Greg, what happens if countries like Germany and others don't step up here? Is there anything President Biden can effectively do in that event?

PALKOT: Oh, that's the big worry, Sandra, that there are divisions in the ranks in the last couple of days, not just Germany, but France and other countries waffling a bit.

Yes, the U.S. can go in alone. But it really depends on NATO unity and NATO teamwork to get this job done. So there is talk of unity. But, again, the longer this drags out, the longer there could be issues, Sandra.

SMITH: All right, Greg Palkot in Kiev for us, thank you.

So as we look at a map of Russia, Ukraine and the surrounding European countries there, what exactly are the stakes over there and for us here?

Let's ask Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

So, Rebeccah, this is a crucial situation that we're watching develop there. What do you see happening next?

REBECCAH HEINRICHS, THE HUDSON INSTITUTE: Well, I will tell you what.

I mean, at this point, I think it's inevitable that Russia is going to do something. The question is, at this point, how far is Russia going to go back into Ukraine? What is the extent of the military operation? I mean, you can kind of tell by President Biden's statement about a minor incursion that it's like this administration has simply thrown up its hands and just thinks that this is going to happen.

Now we have word that Germany is blocking critical weapons from NATO allies going into Ukraine. And so, if you don't have Germany standing with the NATO alliance, there's really not a whole lot we can do at this point. And the beginning of the end was when Joe Biden decided not to sanction Nord Stream 2 and to allow that to go through between Germany and Russia.

And at this point, all we can do, we can hope that the Brits keep sending in aid. Thank goodness for the Brits. Thank goodness for the Poles that are helping. The Canadians have sent in special forces reportedly, so we can hope that other NATO allies might be able to do enough to help the Ukrainians if something does happen.

But I am not confident that we can stave off anything at this point.

SMITH: Wow.

Rebeccah, so then what do you see happening on our part, the United States, if Germany doesn't step up to the fight?

HEINRICHS: Well, I mean, at this point, there isn't a whole lot we can do.

I mean, what Biden should have done was leaned hard into Germany at the beginning of the administration a year into this. I mean, our hands are really tied. And so we're going to have to see to the extent of what Putin decides to do in the coming weeks, and then reevaluate our relationship with the Germans, our relationship with -- obviously, what we're going to do with Russia.

We can penalize Russia to the extent that we can. But, again, the previous comment is so true. We need to have NATO solidarity if we're going to have NATO sanctions, and we cannot do that with Germany. This administration has not understood the importance of leaning hard even on our allies. Do it privately. You don't have to beat Donald Trump, and do it publicly. But you have got to do it privately.

And this administration really made a major strategic air by throwing in with the Germans on Nord Stream 2.

SMITH: What are the implications for all of us here at home, Rebeccah, if Putin does indeed invade Ukraine?

HEINRICHS: Well, I will tell you what.

Our primary focus right now is China. China poses the greatest existential threat to the United States and the American way of life. We need to be focused on that region of the world as a primary theater. But that means that, if we have a war in Europe, we are going to be distracted, it's going to be awful for the United States.

Obviously, you could talk about energy prices as an immediate thing that's going to hit the American family. And so we're distracted once again. This is why not everything is an area where we have to send troops and go to war, but we can't be stupid, Sandra.

SMITH: Right.

HEINRICHS: You have to be smart and strategic and make diplomatic decisions, so that you don't get to the point where you have a military conflict.

So it's really hard to know the extent of how this is going to affect the American people. But it's not good. It's not good across the world, various regions. We have got some increasing acts of aggression against adversaries, against -- from adversaries against the United States and our interests.

SMITH: I hear the urgency in your voice.

But, real quick, Putin's got a lot at risk here, too. I mean, we are promising serious economic sanctions on Russia if they're to invade. Real quick final thought.

HEINRICHS: Yes, there's -- but, again, you have to have Europeans with us, because the Europeans don't want to be hitting the pocketbook with gas prices either. And the Russians can really harm them when it comes to energy exploitation.

And so, again, we can try to hit them and punish them and raise the cost of what they're doing.

SMITH: And Germany obviously very dependent on Russia for a lot of their energy.

Rebeccah, really appreciate it. Thank you.

HEINRICHS: Thanks.

SMITH: All right, well, you just heard it.

There are mounting concerns for U.S. energy security in this fight. Americans are already suffering under high fuel costs here at home.

Our next guest says this situation, combined with President Biden's energy policies, will have us paying even more.

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He joins us now.

Senator, great to see you.

I mean, we're already paying as a national average $3.33 a gallon at the pump. That is already painful for most families in this country. What are you predicting could happen here with not just gasoline prices, but oil prices, heating oil? It's costing us all a whole lot more to heat our homes this winter. What are the implications of this fight for us here at home?

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Yes, the implications are that it'll further fuel inflation, hitting the American family right where it hurts, in their heating bill, in their gas bill, electric bill, as well as that which it takes to get to work in their car.

So -- and, by the way, a byproduct of the Biden administration's decision to shut down American energy production, to kind of attempt to inhibit the use of Canadian tar sand, despite the fact that all this is produced in a better environmental and a better -- better environmentally than if we get Russian gas, it's kind of like the worst of all worlds.

If they had come up with the worst policy, I'm not sure they could have done worse than they have done.

SMITH: Ah, that is a stark warning. And you have got Wall Street that is looking at these prices as well. Goldman Sachs got a prediction for $100 oil.

The world is certainly watching. What I just asked Rebeccah about whether or not Germany's going to step up to the fight or other allies step up to the fight here, that is a looming question.

I got to tell you, digging into the oil prices and the oil purchases by this country under this administration, Senator, I was blown away when we dug into government data this morning, this after talking to Senator Barrasso yesterday, that we have doubled, as a country, our oil purchases from Russia in just the first year of this presidency under the Biden administration.

That seems shocking to me. But that is the reality of this moment. We are more dependent on foreign nations for our energy now than we were just a year ago.

CASSIDY: When they begin to inhibit the production of U.S. oil and gas -- by the way, it created American jobs -- and the prices of gasoline went up, they go to Glasgow, and they -- the climate change summit, and they kind of start begging OPEC and Russia to produce more oil.

Our dollars are going to Russia to support their economy, so they can do more militarily, while we take jobs away from our economy. It is like the worst energy policy you could come up with. And that's what they have done.

SMITH: Senator Cassidy from Louisiana, I appreciate it, sir.

And, by the way, you will note the Big Board at the bottom of your screen, the Dow closing 450 points. There's obviously been concerns in the market about what is happening. We're watching it.

Senator, thank you.

President Biden, meanwhile, heading to Camp David, meeting with his national security team. So, what is the White House saying after these talks happened today?

Jacqui Heinrich is at the White House.

Jacqui, what are we hearing?

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sandra, President Biden knows that reporters want answers on their questions about Ukraine. But he didn't have time for that this morning after giving remarks on semiconductors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason we're not going to have any time for questions now is, these guys got to get quickly on a plane and go out and do a major announcement in Ohio. And you guys will ask me all about Russia, and not about anything having to do with chips.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: We will see the president once more this afternoon when he makes this short walk from the White House to Marine One. He's flying to Camp David, where he's set to speak with his national security team to talk about Ukraine this weekend.

Meantime, preparations are under way for possible evacuations of Americans in Ukraine, although it's unclear how many are there. Lawmaker offices were told today the number could be as high as 20,000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: Is there any effort right now to get a handle on how many Americans are in Ukraine? Because I remember, with Afghanistan, that was sort of an open question. Is the dynamic different this time?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's an open question around the world. We don't put a chip in Americans when they go to countries around the world and track their movements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: Talks between Secretary Blinken and Russia's foreign minister today failed to produce any resolution, but they will continue next week after Russia boasted that the U.S. agreed to submit written responses to its demands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: Why would the U.S. agree to submit written answers to Russia, given that it could undermine or be used to discredit the U.S. negotiating position? And is the U.S. asking for any written responses from Russia?

PSAKI: Well, no one sees it that way from the U.S. negotiating team. It's not written answers like we're filling out a Q&A. We're also going to convey what our concerns are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: Now, the Pentagon is producing options for the secretary of defense to potentially bolster our forces in Eastern Europe in case NATO allies need any support.

The Pentagon press secretary said that that support could come from inside the European command area or from the state -- Sandra.

SMITH: OK, Jacqui Heinrich reporting live at the White House for us.

Jackie, thank you.

HEINRICH: Thank you.

SMITH: The suspect, meanwhile, in the slaying of 24-year-old grad student Brianna Kupfer facing his arraignment. What lies ahead for him?

And will this continue to put pressure on those soft-on-crime policies? The county sheriff, Alex Villanueva, is back with us today.

And more than 20 million Americans under winter storm watches and warnings, Virginia and the Carolinas declaring states of emergency, as snow, sleet and freezing rain move in. And we're going to take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Brianna Kupfer's a suspected killer set to be arraigned in Los Angeles today, as new details on his arrest are released.

FOX News' Jonathan Hunt is in Los Angeles with the very latest on this horrific story -- Jonathan.

JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Sandra.

Shawn Laval Smith is scheduled to be arraigned on murder charges in moments, 4:30 Eastern, 1:30 p.m. local time here in L.A. Smith was arrested thanks to an intense manhunt and the help of the public. which police had appealed for almost from the moment of the murder.

They got that help when someone's spotted Smith about 15 miles from the site of the brutal killing of Brianna Kupfer.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am calling because I see gentleman that looks very similar to the suspect in the Kupfer stabbing in L.A.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HUNT: As we have been telling you, Shawn Smith had a long criminal history and appears to have slipped through the cracks in the justice system on several occasions, with both Democrat and Republican prosecutors involved on both coasts.

At least 11 arrests, for instance, in South Carolina, including on an assault charge, a theft charge here in Southern California, where he was free on $1,000 bail, and in Northern California, he served four months for assaulting a police officer.

Combined with COVID-related prison releases and court shutdowns, his freedom to move around the country and the state led Smith back to Los Angeles last Thursday, and ultimately to the store where Brianna Kupfer was working alone.

Hundreds of people gathered yesterday outside of that store, paying tribute to the 24-year-old and calling for the city's leadership to do more to keep the streets safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just so scary out here. And I just pray for just safer days and better days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has got to stop. This has become the Wild West here. Somebody has got to stop the crime. There's no reason for this to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Now, Brianna's heartbroken father has spoken out emotionally, as you would expect, this week. He says he blames no one but the man who murdered his daughter -- Sandra.

SMITH: Just awful.

Jonathan Hunt, thank you.

We're going to get right to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Sheriff, you just heard from the mourners at the vigil there for Brianna Kupfer. They say they're scared, they're angry. They want something done about this.

How do you react to that?

ALEX VILLANUEVA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, SHERIFF: Well, we just got to reassure the public that we're doing everything possible with the resources we have at our disposal to make sure these killers are not walking freely.

And we have to rely on a prosecution, when we do arrest these bad apples, that they actually face the full consequences of their actions. However, right now, our struggle with a district attorney, 12,000 cases his first year in office, he just decided not to prosecute. Those are 12,000 cases we investigated.

And I guarantee you, among those 12,000 people that walk free will be people that are going to go on to commit more violent crimes and who knows, up to including murder.

And this soft-on-crime approach does not work with a crowd bent on harming others.

SMITH: I want to be clear. We called DA Gascon to join us, and he has not responded.

When it comes to what can be done about this, a very powerful piece was written by my colleague Sean Duffy on FOXNews.com, writing about the infiltration of these woke DAs into a justice system. He says it will not be easy to fix, saying that this new woke army of activist prosecutors is on the rise and their goal is not the rule of law or even safety.

That is a scary thought. You just heard it from those citizens there. So, I mean, we're dependent on voters and leadership to turn this thing around. But when you have got DA Gascon in charge there, you're still dealing with the effects of a hiring freeze when it comes to your police force. And you have got him vowing that his priority is police accountability.

VILLANUEVA: Well, we have the governor picking up trash around the railyard because of the rash of rail thefts that are plaguing Union Pacific rail lines, and he says he wants prosecution.

But then he turns around and endorses Georgia Gascon, who does not prosecute thefts. He's legalized petty theft, all sorts of misdemeanors. He's legalized prostitution. Without a proper prosecution, it does us no good or very little good to just arrest people that are going to be released immediately.

So that part equation is missing. We need a district attorney. And if he wants to be the public defender, I'm pretty sure he can get the job if he wants. But he needs to stop pretending that he's actually doing his job as a DA.

SMITH: That is a frightful warning and a scary thought for people who are actively living through this, as you just heard one of those mourners saying she felt like she was living in the Wild Wild West.

What's the future of Brianna Kupfer's killer?

VILLANUEVA: Well, right now, he's -- obviously, he's going to face a trial. And depending on the evidence and the strength, which it looks pretty solid, hopefully, he will have a fair trial and they will have a conviction.

And then, again, it can be this -- according to Gascon, he's going to have a very minimal -- minimum amount of sentence possible for a murder is what Gascon is planning to do. There will be no enhancements. And, unfortunately, these enhancements are what keeps a lot of these killers in prison, not harming people.

That's how we drove down these homicide rates back in the '90s was three strikes. It worked. It's put the worst of the worst behind bars, so they cannot harm other people. Now we're back to square one.

SMITH: Do you think that there will be, Sheriff, any possibility of a change in the mind-set of DA Gascon, when he sees what is happening there and people are scared to walk down the street?

Will there be change, or will we hit -- have to hit rock bottom before leadership steps in and makes this better?

VILLANUEVA: His change is going to come when he gets recalled and realizes he's no longer the DA. He's that dead set on his ideology.

SMITH: That is just a brutal reality for people who are living through this.

I look at what's happening here in New York City and as crime is running rampant. People are afraid to walk down the street. Obviously, you see what is happening in broad daylight. A tiny little girl was shot, spending her birthday in the hospital here after being shot by gunfire in the Bronx, as a man walked -- ran down the street, I should say, firing his gun.

The Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, is doubling down on a soft-on-crime memo he put out in January. It would indicate that these soft-on-crime DAs are doubling down on their policies that are leading to this incredible crime spike that we're seeing happen across the country, Sheriff.

VILLANUEVA: Well, it's going to be really up to voters.

And, remember, everybody who's in office today got elected in either '18 or -- on 2018 or 2021, when it was all the rage in the political world and the left that, oh, soft on crime, progressive reform of the criminal justice system, systemic racism, all these wonderful terms you heard.

While, all those woke wonders are in office now, are -- it's all blowing up in their face. There is no data, there is no science, like Gascon says, that says that their policies work. They have been an absolute failure. We need to put that pendulum back in the middle, where it belongs.

And voters need to start paying attention and hold elected officials accountable for not doing their job.

SMITH: And you see Gascon hold these news conferences. He can't believe people are surprised by his policies. People -- he can't believe that people think that they're leading to this spike in crime.

So, we will see what happens. Obviously, there's talk about a lot of political implications of this crime as it plays out in some of America's biggest and smallest cities happening across the nation.

Sheriff, thank you. Appreciate the conversation.

VILLANUEVA: You got it.

SMITH: All right, later this hour, by the way, business leaders facing off with Manhattan's controversial district attorney today, as crime surges throughout New York City, as I just mentioned.

So how did that meeting go? Our own Charlie Gasparino says you might be surprised.

But, first, another winter storm set to slam the Southeast, the Carolinas and Virginia under states of emergency now. We are going to have the very latest for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Think prices are high now? Why something happening tomorrow could send them even higher.

And COVID forcing a tearful Adele to push off her Vegas shows just 24 hours from opening night. How are fans reacting?

We are back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Get ready for it. There is more wicked weather on the way.

Millions of Americans are under winter storm warnings and watches today, as the Carolinas and Virginia brace for freezing rain, sleet and snow.

FOX Weather multimedia journalist Robert Ray is live in Wilmington, North Carolina, with the latest from there.

So, what are we expecting, Robert?

ROBERT RAY, FOX WEATHER MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST: Yes, Sandra, you can see right here the freezing rain has begun here in Wilmington, North Carolina, not too far from the Atlantic Ocean, about 10 miles.

We are expecting a very treacherous and dangerous evening and overnight ahead, as temperatures are set to plummet and the system move in up and down the Eastern Seaboard of not only North Carolina, but South Carolina.

Now, inland, we're going to see accumulation of snow as well. Power crews for Duke Energy are here staging behind me. There are hundreds -- and there are about 2,500 utility workers around the state ready to go as soon as the potential for these power lines to go down occurs overnight.

They are also expecting downed trees. The weight of this ice, anything a quarter-inch to a half-an-inch and above is going to cause a very destructive landscape all across these areas, the roads in particular not safe at all. As I speak right now, right now, if you're out there, get off of them. They are not safe.

They are going to ice over momentarily as this sun goes down and throughout the evening into tomorrow morning. The good news is, is, tomorrow, by afternoon, as temps begin to warm up, we will see that ice dissipate.

But the aftermath of this ice storm could be devastating to the region. That's why you see behind me all these trucks ready to rock and go out there and try and repair any power lines or downed tree -- Sandra.

SMITH: All right, preparing the best way they can there.

Robert Ray, thank you.

So where is this storm headed and how bad could things get?

FOX News chief meteorologist Rick Reichmuth has been tracking the storm. And he has the very latest on it.

Hi, Rick. What should we expect? Show us the map.

(LAUGHTER)

RICK REICHMUTH, FOX NEWS CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Yes. Yes.

So, we got about 12 to 14 hours of this storm. And it's primarily across the Carolinas, a bit into Virginia as well. My -- we have got winter storm warnings in effect, high storm warnings, winter weather advisories.

The ice is going to be right along the coast. And this is a very strange storm. We have had so much of our action this year down across parts of the South, instead of the North. And that's one of them. We had some snow across parts of Texas. We had some mixing even in places like New Orleans.

And now the bulk of this energy, what will really see this storm is going to be here along the coastal areas of the Carolinas. We're already just now -- you see that pink popping up there -- beginning to see that freezing rain start. That will very quickly make every road impassable.

So, hopefully, everybody is home. Good thing it's on a Friday. People don't have to go to work in the morning. Stay home until, as Robert was saying, the day warms up tomorrow and we get a bit of a break with that melting of that ice that's going to happen.

Now, this, it goes in about another hour from now. We have got that ice along the coast. We will have a band of the snow across interior sections. And then take a look at this. This is 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. For the most part, it is offshore, and it will not be a storm for the Northeast. It's going to move far enough offshore that we don't have any big concerns.

Snow to come still yet. We might see a few spots four or five, six inches of snow right across interior sections, a lot of places getting two to three inches. And these are places that don't get a lot of snow. So it's going to have a bigger impact than it might in a place that is used to dealing with all that.

And then the ice forecast, as Robert was saying, we will see some spots, probably quarter to half-an-inch, maybe a couple spots a little higher than that. That will topple over any trees. That will probably topple over some power lines. And that's why they're having all those preparations.

But take a look at this. We're talking about an ice storm all the way to the coast there across North Carolina and South Carolina. There is one other aspect to the storm, and that is going to be down across parts of Florida as the front moves through, chance for a little bit of severe weather there.

We're going to see that throughout the evening tonight and maybe even a little bit into the morning tomorrow. Watch primarily for some really strong winds, so Southeastern U.S. as the target once again -- Sandra.

SMITH: All right, Rick Reichmuth, thanks for taking us through it.

REICHMUTH: You bet.

SMITH: We're prepared and we will watch it.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas will not be saying hello to Adele anytime soon. COVID and delivery delays forcing the music sensation to push off her run of shows there.

Hear how fans are reacting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADELE, MUSICIAN: I'm so sorry to everyone that's traveled again.

I'm really, really sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADELE: My show ain't ready. We have tried absolutely everything that we can to put it together in time and for it to be good enough for you. But we have been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and COVID.

I'm so sorry to everyone that's traveled again. I'm really, really sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Adele hoping her fans will go easy on her, one of her songs.

The singer tearfully announcing her Las Vegas residency will not be happening, at least for now. Here's what a few of those fans had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but I think that Adele also have to plan B.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's expensive, but, I mean, we will love Adele. We will come back, obviously, but sure seems like it could have been coordinated a little bit sooner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Well, joining us now to discuss, FOX News entertainment reporter Ashley Dvorkin.

Are they being too hard on her? I mean, she did cancel one day out. That's kind of rough.

ASHLEY DVORKIN, FOX NEWS ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCER: Hi, Sandra.

Yes, I mean, it is -- it's the timing of it. Obviously, fans are disappointed, but I think for the most part very understanding that, when you purchase tickets right now, there is a chance of a cancellation and a postponement.

SMITH: Yes.

DVORKIN: And Adele clearly visibly upset, disappointed herself. She said that they tried everything. They were awake for 30 hours. They really tried to pull this together, and then they couldn't.

But, of course, understandably, fans who are already in Vegas, because the show was supposed to start tonight, they're frustrated. They don't know what to do. If they were staying at Caesars, they get a refund. But if they're staying somewhere else, they also -- that's a different story.

They also booked a whole trip around this. So I -- on her social media, for the most part, people were very understanding.

SMITH: Well, I don't know if you're going to be understanding if you were among the fans who paid upwards of $6,000. That was face value for some of the tickets paid to go to these concerts, several thousand dollars higher on the secondary ticket market.

I can't imagine there's really any way to make them feel better now if they're just out that money.

DVORKIN: No, this was such a highly anticipated show. The demand was so high. It was right after her new album.

And, yes, those resellers, there were also reports of $40,000 for tickets, $30,000 for tickets. I mean, you were hearing numbers, it was incredible. But it was also the pace that it sold out. The fans, they scooped up these tickets.

And, yes, I'm not sure how you replace. However, maybe if you could afford that in the first place, then you might be some of the few that can afford to do the trip again. But, again, it is a lot of money.

SMITH: We wish her well, of course. And she feels awful. She says she's embarrassed. She can't believe this happened.

But I guess there are some fans who are even more upset, because they also signed up to see Celine Dion. And Celine Dion had to also cancel her show. I guess she was having excessive spasms. I'm thinking, dear goodness, what if you signed up for paid tickets for both concerts and you're just out of luck? That's not good.

DVORKIN: That's true, although there is so much going on all the time in Vegas.

I know it's not the ideal and it's not the tickets that you paid for, but Las Vegas offers a lot of shows that are still going on this weekend.

SMITH: Yes, indeed.

DVORKIN: So, they can still make some fun plans.

SMITH: I'm looking at a few of the notes coming in from some of her fans.

"I love Adele. I love her songs. But I think it's not a good idea to tell people of a cancellation one day out."

Perhaps just a little bit more warning. They could have at least saved their airfare in some cases.

Great to see you. Thank you. I'm sure everybody will be all right.

DVORKIN: You too. Thank you. You bet.

SMITH: OK.

Well, with crime in New York City ramping up, how did a meeting between business leaders and Manhattan's district attorney over his controversial policies go down?

Charlie Gasparino has got the scoop. He will be here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Well, as we mentioned, the sell-off on the Dow earlier, big day on Wall Street.

Just a quick look at the ugly week for the U.S. stock market. This was the biggest one-week loss for the Nasdaq in nearly two years. Price spikes and those expected upcoming rate hikes from the Fed all sparking the sell-off that you see on the screen there. More on that in just a moment.

Meantime, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg met with Partnership for NYC today over his controversial crime policies, all of as some members of the trade group are reportedly pushing to have him recalled.

FOX Business' Charlie Gasparino joins us now with the latest details on this.

So, Charlie, hello.

CHARLIE GASPARINO, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you.

SMITH: By the way, we did put in a call, I want to make sure I mention, to DA Bragg. We have not yet heard back. So...

GASPARINO: I got a call into him too and his chief of staff.

SMITH: Good.

GASPARINO: Listen, we should put out the Partnership for New York City is not just some random business group. It is made up of, comprised of the big banks, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, you name it. All the big New York players are in it, real estate, retail.

About 30 of them today met with Bragg. I believe it was via Zoom. And they voiced their concerns. And here's essentially the bottom line. And I'm going to give you the bottom line and tell you some of the people who made those comments.

The bottom line was, if you want to open New York City, OK, you want people to come back to the office, your memo was not -- your memo, which basically says, I'm not going to prosecute anything but somebody getting their head blown off in Manhattan, is not the way to go about it.

People are scared. They don't want to come to the office. We can't get them back in the office because they think that -- because they believe, with good evidence, that the city, from a crime standpoint, is raging out of control. They made that point very forcefully.

I mean, I heard it was a good meeting, productive. I mean, I don't think there was screaming and yelling involved. But they made that very forcefully. I think one of the more poignant aspects of the meeting was the first call. The CEO of Deloitte, we should point out, spoke first.

Now, why is that important? Well, Michelle Go, the subway -- the woman that was shoved...

SMITH: She was shoved on the subway, yes.

GASPARINO: She worked at Deloitte.

And he made the point, point blank, you are playing with fire with this. Steve Schwarzman, point blank, same thing. You are playing with fire. We can't get people into the office. Our people are scared. Crime is getting out of control.

Now, the positive thing is -- here is, Bragg is saying listen, public safety is a huge concern. I definitely believe public safety -- at least he talked a good game. I'm going to go after people that do violent stuff.

Somebody asked him, I believe, suppose I get hit in the head with a bat. Are you not going to prosecute that person? And he said, of course. That's assault with a deadly weapon. I have to prosecute it.

So he's walking back some of the stuff, clearly, that he said in that memo.

SMITH: Is he?

GASPARINO: And it's because the business community -- I -- well, at least rhetorically he is.

Now, he did mention the point that we are balancing public safety, which is paramount, with social justice. That was scary to some people in that, because you're not supposed to even balance...

SMITH: Some made the case he doubled down on the controversial policies.

GASPARINO: No, he didn't, not in this meeting.

SMITH: Good.

GASPARINO: He -- this meeting, he was -- he was conciliatory.

He said he understood what they were saying. He says public safety comes first. They gave him various scenarios. He said he would prosecute. He talked a good game. Now, whether he will do -- whether he will carry through with this is a whole other story.

I will say that I think the public pressure got to him.

SMITH: OK.

GASPARINO: And this is what journalism is supposed to be about.

You expose someone who does something insane, and they back off it.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: People came back to the city for a little bit. Now it's kind of emptied out again.

It's not the -- and this perception of safety they keep talking about, we got to get rid of that. We have to be safe on the streets.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: I got to leave it there.

GASPARINO: Well, they told -- but, just so you know, they told him that point blank...

SMITH: All right, good.

GASPARINO: ... Steve Schwarzman and the Deloitte CEO.

SMITH: We will see what he does about it. OK.

GASPARINO: Yes.

SMITH: And he's welcome to join us any time.

All right, Charlie, great to see you. Thank you.

So, do consumers need to brace for even more price spikes? Why something happening tomorrow could be adding to the inflation threat.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Well, you could soon be paying even more at the store, a new vaccine mandates set to kick in tomorrow for truck drivers.

And with trucker shortages already a problem, it could drive inflation even higher.

FOX Business correspondent Kelly O'Grady is at a truck stop in Vernon, California, with more on that

What are you hearing?

KELLY O'GRADY, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I'm hearing frustration.

I mean, these two vaccine mandates are going to make things a lot worse for truckers. Last weekend, Canada started preventing unvaccinated truckers from entering the country. Tomorrow, the U.S. is going to do the same.

And I want to dig into what that's going to do for prices for Americans, OK? So the current vaccination rate amongst you as truckers is roughly 50 to 60 percent. That nearly -- that leaves nearly half of the work force at risk. To address this, carriers are shelling out incentive bonuses to compete for vaccinated workers. And those costs are already getting passed on to consumers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM WARD, TRUCKLOAD CARRIERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: Not enough of them have enough of the vaccines to be able to deliver all the freight and the demand.

Freight rates are continuing to increase. Matter of fact, they're probably up about 30 percent over what they were here just a month or so ago. And we also are seeing surcharges and wage increases for labor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'GRADY: Now, one example of how that's trickled down is fruit. The cost to move fruit from California and Arizona already claimed 25 percent since the Canadian mandate went into effect.

If the U.S. mandate causes a similar trend, we could see price hikes on everything from cars to produce to even Cadbury chocolate, Sandra. I mean, Canada is one of our largest trade partners. That means more pain for retailers and more frustration for drivers. And less drivers means more inflation for Americans, Sandra.

SMITH: Kelly, you said higher chocolate prices. We're all listening.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: That just can't be. All right, all very serious problems.

Thank you so much, Kelly. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Earlier today, President Biden saying the growing economy is one of the main issues behind all the supply chain problems, which are adding to inflation. But is there more to that?

Let's get the read from former Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon.

Great to have you here, sir.

I want to pick your brain on this issue, because it is something that we're all dealing with, from a consumer standpoint, from a producer standpoint, all the way until it gets to the dinner table. We're all paying more for just about everything.

What do you see as the primary reason why we're all paying more for everything?

BILL SIMON, FORMER WALMART CEO: Well, over the last 20 years, our supply chain has been honed to a razor's edge, all the inefficiency taken out of it.

And then, two years ago, we shut it off. And then we turned it back on and expected it to function absolutely normally, with increased demand, I might add, and it just hasn't been able to respond to it. You add to that some self-inflicted wounds, some of the energy policies that have driven up the cost of fuel, you add to it some of the COVID issues, vaccine mandates, like the reporter just talked about, and we have -- we have a tangled mess of wires that needs to be -- that needs to be untangled now.

SMITH: I mean, well said. That's it in a nutshell.

It's complicated, and it's not. You look at, in some ways, how the current administration could get out of the way, as Larry Kudlow keeps saying, and some of these problems would solve themselves.

What do we do to get ourselves out of it? Is it up to the Fed, like the president said the other day?

SIMON: If we have to wait for the Fed to take action, they're -- it's going to take them the entire year to adjust interest rates.

We can't make it an entire year. Americans are literally in shock when they walk into a supermarket that they have walked into 1,000 times before, and there's no food on the shelves. And it's not just a few places. I travel a lot. And I have been in stores in North Carolina, in Arkansas, in Kentucky, in Florida, and shelves are empty everywhere.

It's a problem, and it needs to be dealt with right away. There are things that could be done. You could just get out of the way and the system will take care of itself over time.

If you're going to put things like mandates in place, you better be prepared to mobilize everybody in the military with a trucker's license to move freight, because you can't cut half of the truck drivers out and expect freight to move. It's just not going to happen.

So either get out of the way or do something.

SMITH: You have any predictions? Does this get worse before it gets better?

SIMON: I have the utmost confidence in the American consumer and in American industry. I think it gets better quickly.

I think we're going to look at things, and American ingenuity and the businesses that figure out and have figured out how to cope for many years will take charge and start moving freight. We got to get through some storms. We got to get through this current wave of Omicron that's sort of having a lot of callouts.

But I believe, in the next 45 to 60 days, provided that we don't have any new mandates or new changes from the government or a focus that hurts things, I think we will start seeing some improvements. But it's not going to be completely fixed until the wires get untangled and some of the policies that caused this are reversed.

SMITH: Yes, all big points.

I remember, under your leadership, always talking about how your customers, many of them live paycheck to paycheck. And when prices go up, it greatly affects those families.

Sir, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it.

SIMON: You bet.

All right, this is a tape, by the way, of President Biden leaving for Camp David earlier this hour. He just arrived there, we are told. And he will be meeting with his national security team, as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate.

Complete coverage on "Cavuto Live" at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow.

Thanks so much for joining us. You can catch me weekdays, "America Reports," 1:00 in the afternoon.

And now here's "The Five."

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