thank you and happy holidays, everyone! maria: welcome back. chinese dictator xi jinping just back from what he was calling a milestone meeting with saudi prince mohamed bin salman after telling arab leaders on friday that he wants to buy oil and gas with the chinese yuan instead of the u.s. dollar, furthering his goal to internationalize the chinese currency and replace the dollar as the reserve current city of the world. this after currency of the world. this after biden brockered an exchange this week sending man known as the merchant of death back to vladimir putin in the middle of war on ukraine. the swap has been widely criticized because it did not include paul whelan who russia has kept locked up for the last four years on claims of espionage. joining me now to address all of that is retired four-star