Well, at least Joe Biden's new puppy hasn't bitten him yet, that we know of, bleeds

start right now.

An awful week for the president, only getting worse right now there is a group of Russian

operatives inside Ukraine and according to a U.S. intelligence official, those operatives

are looking to create a false pretense for a Vladimir Putin to give the orders for

Russians to invade.

We're going to talk to the president's national security adviser, Ben, in a sign of just

how overwhelming the Omicron variant is, two of the country's largest pharmacy chains

are shutting down some stores because so many of their employees are out sick.

And the world's number one male tennis player may not even get a chance to play.

Novak Djokovic is once again on the verge of being kicked out of Australia, he's meeting

with immigration officials right now and is about to be detained.

Hello and happy Friday, welcome to the lead-up, Jake Tapper.

We begin this hour in our politics lead-in a bruising week for president Biden nearly

a year into his presidency, his surrounded by dead ends and crises.

The fate of his economic agenda is uncertain.

His push for election reform appears to be withering on the vine.

The U.S. Supreme Court swatted down his vaccine mandate for big businesses.

The pandemic is continuing to rage, inflation is soaring.

South Korea is firing missiles eastward, Russian troops are poised to move westward.

As talks to de-escalate tension around Ukraine went nowhere fast, as CNN's Caitlin Collins

reports.

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