times times ashley: thank you, producers. boxing day for some around the world. it is 10:00 eastern. as you look down south, a festive scene. i am ashley webster in for stuart varney, straight to your

money. the markets moving slightly higher, a shortened week, the final week of 2,023 and markets have been finishing strong indeed. the s&p has been up 8 weeks in a row. let's look at the 10 year treasury yield. remember when it briefly went above 5%? look at it now. it is up 4.9%, less money going into treasuries. more into equities upper basis point. oil moving higher, $2, 7549 a barrel and bitcoin earlier, $1000, 597. look at this. the hill reports the white house is deeply frustrated with the media focusing on biden's plunging poll numbers. instead of focusing on his economic success like

bidenomics. governor mike huckabee joins me, is bidenomics really considered economic success or is the media have it wrong? >> this is the greatest thing that ever happened since the invention of the coin but most americans have to ask themselves who do i believe? president biden who is known to tell a few things that didn't happen or do i believe my lying eyes when i go to the grocery store or the gas pump? it is amazing the biden team is upset with the media. basically the media gets it in at night. and the american people are not buying bidenomics because we are living with the reality of their own economics. ashley: do you think president

biden is going to make it to the 2024 election? >> he sure seems to think he is but i'm not sure he will realize he has gotten their. this is the guy at the podium who has to ask directions to get off stage right. maybe he makes it but somebody will have to tell him you did it, you made it all the way to the election day. let's hope there is where it ends on election day about another swearingen. ashley: based on more than 500 polls, everyone loves a pole, donald trump currently leading president biden by one. 9%. i'm surprised it is not more. with this election, trump, it appears, i say it appears, a day is a long time in politics, is way ahead on the republican side. is he running away with this election? >> is running away with the primary.

we are talking about the media. imagine what his numbers would look like if the media didn't consider him to be the reincarnation of adolf hitler, napoleon, genghis khan, and every other bad person who ever breathed. donald trump had a great presidency, covid disrupted a lot of it but if you look back at the economy, america's standing in the world, how peaceful things generally were a lot of americans if the media would tell the story honestly, flaws and all but tell that honestly, his record, he would be up about 20 points, not two. ashley: the economy was at a 50 year high, people forget that and covid hit and things went out the window but you are right. the iowa caucuses three weeks

away. nikki haley got a big endorsement from the koch brothers, but ron desantis's travel to 19 counties in iowa but they don't seem to be making any headway into trump's lead. >> both have gotten endorsement, desantis got the endorsement from governor reynolds, a wonderful thing to have. nikki haley, the numbers aren't moving. donald trump is by far over and above the popular choice for republican voters and a lot of it is because they believe he has the guts to fight back against the deep state. almost every american is aware there's a two tier justice system and it has got to stop. ashley: i want to get to this issue. hundreds of anti-israel protesters taken to the streets of midtown manhattan, they shouted christmas is canceled while carrying a blood red mock

nativity scene. you just returned from israel. why so much hate towards israelis and secondly, what did you find when you were there? what are they saying? >> into semitism has been around a long time but it is at a fever pitch and it is something all of us, i am a christian but i want to be very outspoken in saying i support the jewish people, i support the right of the jewish people for safe and secure homeland. the only secure homeland they should have is the one they had for 3500 years. christians have to be outspoken in that. it is tragic that in bethlehem people forget bethlehem used to be a christian city, 80% were christian, now it is 16%. the muslims have taken over, burned out, terrorized the christian businesspeople that used to be there. it has gone from a beautiful quiet community to a hellhole

like every thing else hamas has touched. what i saw last week was the unspeakable horror, things that are worse than we have heard that were done to israeli civilians. it was savage. absolutely savage. israel has no choice. they can't back off and say okay, we are going to mow the grass and maybe it won't grow back. they have to eradicate the absolutely heinous hamas terror activities and i wish civilians weren't getting hurt, we all do, but they won't as soon as hamas is finished and hamas is putting their civilians in the way of military targets like they do. these are evil people, this isn't a war of a couple different sides. this is evil versus decency and civilization. ashley: we will leave it right there.

all right. president biden's democratic primary challenger dean phillips has a warning, and donald trump is going to be president biden. most people know that. people are not being alarmist about donald trump are delusional. i've not seen one shred of evidence that president biden is positioned to be to donald trump. every single paul relative to his approval rating, intuition back home, conversation, everywhere. interesting. phillips who is polling in third place at 3% added that more people need to speak publicly and not privately about the threat trump poses in 2024. next one. georgia could be the toughest battleground test. and in recent election cycles.

to determine who ends up in the white house. trump has an early advantage strengthened by biden's lackluster support from black voters and other growing concerns. biden narrowly won georgia over trump in 2020 by less than 12,000 votes. we are moving slightly higher on this last trading week of the year, shortened week. let's bring in scott schelladdy. we are asking everybody, what are your predictions for 2024? >> for quite some time i have been wondering what is going to save our economy. the last time we had a balance sheet was during the dot.com bubble, the last part of the

90s. this time around it could be artificial intelligence which i can't in good conscience put my money into something that's up 240%, and looking at something, 20% of the year, amd in that space. if i want to get on that train that is where i would play it. that sector would be green energy. renewables, 10% more coal and if it doesn't get to that, in 2,020 one, i am staying away from a feel good trade as

thomas soul would say, things don't work with things that sound good but don't work. ashley: a new survey found employees who work remotely were less likely to be considered for promotions and raises but on the other hand more likely to have a good work/life balance. which is more important? you worked in the uk which is more the life balance in the work about what is your take on that? >> face-to-face communication, skype or whatever, at a minimum i tell youngsters, if your boss is in you should be in. lots of folks have been in the

business of that long, since you got out of college, there will be a time we see a downtrend in the economy and it has got to shed some staff. if they don't know who you are you are the first person to go and that would be a pretty bad balance between work and life. i would suggest, if your boss isn't in, maybe you don't have to -- if it is my son you are in all the time. to your point, between london and paris, our business went up. we had the center of paris and get in front of customers face-to-face. there was a definite bump in business. you can't do it on the

telephone but over a cup of coffee or beer, face-to-face allies win. ashley: wise words. scott schelladdy. happy new year to you. thank you. as massive layoffs hit jobs across the country a new workplace trend is helping workers, called career cushioning. that is when workers set up plan b initiatives like networking rights updating their resumes and profiles and applying for jobs. if they are to be downsized they are prepared for plan b. coming up, calls for harvard's president, claudine geyer, to resign, are growing. even a liberal ecologist from the washington post admits it is time for her to go. israeli airstrikes killed a senior advisor in iran's revolutionary guard.

iran's leaders seeking revenge. he says israel will pay. the migrant caravan, 6000 people, the group leader says that could more than double, to 15,000. by the time they reached the southern border, tom homan will be along to talk about that and more next. they're all expecting more. more efficiency. more benefits. more growth. when you realize you can give your people everything, and more. thank you very much. [applause] ask, "now what?" here's what. you go with prudential to protect, empower and grow. with everything you need to deliver, you guessed it... more. one more thing... who's your rock? learn more at prudential.com

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nasdaq. thousands of migrants joining a caravan in mexico headed towards the southern border. the caravan's leader says 15,000 asylum-seekers could end up joining by the time they reach the united states. william, what are border patrol agents doing to prepare for this surge? >> reporter: they are so overwhelmed there's not much they can do, they are processing people from one place to another. the administration is spending secretary blinken and alejandra mayorkas to try to convince mexico to do something. it is not just texas. migrants are overrunning agents in california as well. essentially you have a nonstop highway of migrant leaving central america welcomed by the administration. let's go to video in eagle pass.

a bus ticket a work permit, ultimately go on in force for 90% of those migrants. eagle pass, most of the border agents did not get christmas off. this tiny texas town was deluged by 10,000 migrants over the holiday weekend, they get their papers and get re-leased. it' s a gift from uncle sam. even so, some complained. >> reporter: >> translator: i was used to christmas dinner with my family, not spending it in the street. >> first christmas we spent away from home, not in the best way, to give the best to our children but this time it is our turn. >> reporter: it is their turn and migrants worldwide are joining this caravan, encouraged by us volunteers giving them meals and hotel rooms and cities where they could earn more money in an

hour, mexico says it is going to try to stop the caravan, women and children at the front, hard for the police unions, young men are adept at using side roads to evade the roadblocks, but i was told they were run out of money, in guatemala, many in mexico are saying you are offering carrots. why should we be the stick? that's what they will talk about tomorrow. ashley: thank you very much, very interesting indeed. tom homan joins me now. the question is how do we stop this massive influx of migrants at the border. to william's point in that report, you are just basically seeing them come because they get all these goodies people who live here and are born here

are not getting. >> why but they stop coming? they crossed the border to get processed and released to the city of their choice, cash for a dime, people at the hotel. 3 meals a day, medical care. how do you stop it? you enforce law. the law states in the statute, when someone enters illegally without proper documentation they shall be detained. it isn't maybe. catch and release, consequences, detaining people here. when they release them, they don't see a judge for 5 to 7 years. when they get approval they -- republican senators call up and say why deport that person? when they entered to move it, because he has two years, the judge's order doesn't mean anything. if that is the game we are playing you won't solve the crisis.

thousands of empty ice pictures at a fraction of the cost of these hotel rooms and you get are hearing in front of a judge that involves 35 days, not five years. ashley: it seems to me the sentiment among these people is they have a right to do this. i understand asylum-seekers say where i come from, if i go back my life will be threatened, these people are looking for better life. i understand that but there is a process. there are thousands, hundreds of thousands on waiting lists doing it legally. why should we allow these people to come to the border, break through the border into be expected to provide for them. i don't understand it. it is not a right. >> great point. people who call them asylum-seekers if you look at the data on the southwest border, 9 of 10 people claim

asylum at the southwest border don't qualify and get removed, 9/10. there are thousands of people around this world who really are escaping fear and persecution because of race and political affiliation. not counting the millions of people standing in line becoming a us citizen taking the test, paying the fees, doing background investigation, this administration is putting illegal first. ashley: i want to bring up this point. the state government in illinois provided 230 hotel rooms to migrants in need of housing in chicago. this is at the same time we had veterans who put their lives on the line sleeping on the street. it is all upside down, isn't it? >> normalizing bad behavior.

homeless veterans on the street, thousands of empty ice beds already paid for, thousands of them. shutting down ice facilities and forced to put on hotel rooms at 5 times the cost, this isn't about saving taxpayer money but not dictating them because when nine of ten are removed they won't be removed during the wind. but the next amnesty program rolling around. ashley: i love talking to you but as a consequence my blood starts to boil but that's the situation we are in but we have to keep talking about it until someone does something about it and you are one of those people so thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. let's take a look at this. this op-ed in the houston chronicle on christmas eve compares the migrants crossing

the border to marry and joseph. it says like joseph and mary and their children, 100 million people around the world are estimated to have been displaced this year, many of them on the move this very night. refugees and migrants are fleeing persecution, poverty, war and unspeakable violence. the op-ed urges washington to look at houston as an example of openness and good sense towards immigration and to balance security with humanity. just another point of view. and unaccompanied 6-year-old boy was put on the wrong spirit airlines flight landing hours from what was supposed to be his destination. we have that story for you. gas prices dropped to a yearly low last week but that may be a wrap for falling prices. what can we expect in the new year? he is next. ♪

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ashley: the last trading week of 2023. the s&p for the last 8 weeks in a row a lot of money coming back into the market from a quarter to 0. 4%, the dow, the s&p and the nasdaq. talking of numbers, the national average for a gallon of regular gas stands at $3.25. down from a month ago but still up slightly from this time last year, gas buddy's patrick theyhan is here, what do gas prices look like heading into 2024? >> we tend to see gas prices bottom out between thanksgiving and christmas and stop short of falling below $3 again for the second straight year, we are inching up. 2024 will continue the trend,

the difference between last year and this year is the national average has been $0.50 a gallon lower than it was, it's not going to be that good. we won't see the national average. we may not be done with cheap gas again. americans won't spend that much at the pump as they did this year. crunching those final numbers as we put covid in the rearview it looks like that will get better with lower prices. ashley: there are always the unknowns. you've got unrest in the middle east, opec is trying to do, demand is demand. so many factors, it's hard to get a real sense of where prices are heading because they could change in a moment.

>> get your dartboards out. that it is what it is like with geopolitical factors. the red sea is going to remain a wildcard, the federal reserve into get interest rate cuts in the year ahead will be something more difficult. all in all the us producing record amount of crude oil compared to where we were a few years ago is going to help us ride the tide and potentially offset issues keeping prices lower in 2024. neil: i want to ask about diesel prices, the big 18 wheelers that need to fill up with this stuff. it's around $4.01 a gallon. where are those prices going do you think? >> a question from mother nature. it is a warmer than expected winter, the price of diesel falling to $68 before where it

was a year ago, that's the good news for the economy, they are lower in 2024 thanks to mining enhancement and increasing refining capacity globally to continue to lead to lower diesel prices in the year ahead. ashley: i'm not going to hold you to it but that would be good. thank you very much. appreciate your insight. now this. conditions were mostly good this year for travelers flying on christmas but those flying southwest did see some disruptions. during the weekend, southwest canceled more than 400 flight and delayed 2500. they are blaming dense fog in chicago. as many people travel back home, 1800 flights have been delayed, 52 have been canceled

so far. and air passenger, released their report on the best and worst airports. we all have our opinions on this. the airport to top the list are minneapolis st. paul international airport, seatac, wayne county airport, phoenix guy harbor international airport. and the atlanta one, the other end of the scale. and denver international airport, and the report based their results on customer opinion on time performance and

food and shops. it's right out of a scene from home alone. not funny though. unaccompanied 6-year-old boy, traveling from philadelphia to fort myers, florida, the two cities, 160 miles apart. and >> he missed his fight. i have to check in tag so i ran inside the plane. its handover to philadelphia. my stomach was tight, i don't see you, here i go, i landed at the airport. i don't have anybody with me.

>> scary. a spokesman for the airline, under the care and supervision of a spirit team member, and we reconnect them. spirit did not provide additional details about the child or how that mistake happened but they said they did an internal investigation which is still underway. let's move on. some of the top streamers changing their approach to entertainment for young kids, pulling back on investments in children's content and instead posting content, and from 2 to 11, fell to 21% in september. youtube jumped to 33% over the same period. a lot of kids on youtube.

coming up, the number of homes considered affordable plummeted this year to a record low. the housing market get better or worse in the new year? tiktok accused of pushing anti-israel content to youngsters. grady trimble will have that report after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ [bell ringing] and doug says, “you can customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual.” he hits his mark —center stage— and is crushed by a baby grand piano.

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ashley: let's look at the markets. we are higher, the dow, the s&p and nasdaq. look at the 10 year treasury

yield, and 4%, 3.90%. look at the price of oil, $1.84. bitcoin moving slower, thousand, thereabouts. we are learning about the scope of influence on american youth. this is about content related to the war in israel. >>'s only blue people getting their news on tiktok the 6 planes why that demographic is likely to hold anti-israel views. the wall street journal ran a test, with several automated accounts registered as 13-year-old users within hours. what the journal called highly polarized content, much of it anti-israel.

here is tiktok's response. this was designed by the boss regional to produce a predetermined result, reflects the behaviors about real teens on tiktok. and report on the organization network contagion research institute, finds the apps owned by chinese parent company bite dance. and whether it is lined with, with the chinese government. content on china's diversion of tiktok is different from content on the us. >> if you look at the content here, they are wasting their time or or less, the more subversive element, to push propaganda on impressionable

young americans. >> tiktok his band on government devices, with one federal agency, a group says 900 employees at the irs could still access the apps across 2800 devices. ashley: very interesting. take a look at this op-ed in the wall street journal says, quote, charter schools keep winning students from union schools. they say charter enrollment has gone up 9% since 2019. the number of students in district schools fell 3.5% according to a new study on the national alliance for charter schools. report says families discovered choice and they like it. i'm not surprised. and outscored the subject -- standardized reading and math

exams. this is the third through weight during the last academic year. the gap was glaring between black and hispanic students, scored leaps, charter school, and the higher english, and the department of education. charter kids scored 13% higher overall compared to 50% at public schools. now this. a new study says strengthening our sense of smell could reduce the risk of dementia. congresswoman alexandria ocasio cortez getting criticized for her christmas message about the war in israel. what she said that is getting so much back lash. that is next.

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a jewish advocacy group launching a new ad campaign that targets northwestern university over at handling of anti-semitism on campus. good morning, kelly, what exactly does the apps say? >> the and is acting northwestern's president to define and denounce anti-semitism. it first aired over the ballgame with utah, basically accused them of supporting hamas. take a listen. >> time for president michael shields without the internationally accepted definition of anti-semitism, stop the hatred, stop making us live in fear. define and denounce anti-semitism. is that too much to ask? >> reporter: it is a 6-figure ad campaign created by alums for campus fairness, the group works at campuses across the nation, november 14th michael

scholl, the president, announced the school is creating the advisory committee on preventing anti-semitism and hate. i spoke to one northwestern alumnus who says he doesn't believe northwestern's president is anti-somatic but there's not a strong condemnation of the october 7th attacks and they need to feel supported on campus. >> something that needs to happen when all the aggression is going on. i don't know what the school is hoping that this will die off and go away. >> reporter: the university responded, quote, these are outlandish claims not based on facts including the claim that student and faculty groups resoundingly support hamas terrorism. acts that violate codes of conduct will be addressed and individuals held accountable under policies and procedures. northwestern does not tolerate anti-semitism or

discrimination, discovered tory acts, this comes as donors and alumni are calling for harvard's president claudine gay talked about anti-semitism on their campus but 700 faculty members have signed a petition asking the board keeps her on despite outside pressures, northwestern and harvard are two universities that are coming under fire for their response. ashley: thank you very much. jason rantz joins me to talk about it. we do not tolerate anti-semitism, should northwestern's president reside in your opinion? >> this goes a step further. when they say something isn't anti-semitic, that's the way they choose to define anti-semitism. a group of folks who believe calling for the genocide of jews which is, when you're screaming from the river to the

see that that is not deemed anti-semitic. let's understand we are talking people who like to redefine words to benefit their cause and a lot of that is going on. not just this university but something colleges dealing with for a while but it isn't at the forefront. there wasn't october 7th at the time. we've seen what's happening on college campuses and it starts earlier than that, these kids are taught the hate they are espousing on campus. unless you go to the root causes of that hate which starts in icicle and maybe earlier than that you will get this kind of thinking on campus and it is a threat to students who are jewish and don't want to side with groups like hamas. ashley: i totally agree. alexandria ocasio cortez likened palestinians to jesus during an online christmas post.

the story of christmas christ was born in modern-day palestine under the threat of a government engaged in a massacre but innocent, he was part of a targeted population being industry mentally killed to protect an unjust leader's power. mary and joseph forced to flee became refugees in egypt with a newborn waiting to one day return home. what do you make of that? >> this is all intentional. to redefine history, revise history to make your current political point it is inaccurate what she said. what she is doing is giving more ammunition to focus on the radical left to continue their push against israel, we are hearing that jesus was a palestinian jew, no he wasn't, he was just a jew from judeo. this idea that the land is not

the ancestral homeland of jews is historically inaccurate but the only way to win that argument is completely change history and that is precisely what it is. ashley: to get the facts just make a good headline. great to see you, thank you, speak to you again soon. still ahead, brian brenberg on president biden taking a swipe at the media. joe concha deals with growing calls for harvard's president to resign. doctor frank contessa talks about a new study that shows night owls, those who like to stay up late face a risk of clogged arteries. maybe it is what you eat late at night. the 11:00 hour of "varney and company" is next. ♪

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>> if everybody just keeps coming in doing a really respectable second place, at the end of it, you're going to be in second place. you're not going to be in first place. >> we have to hit back. every time you see one of our bases attacked and you see a key administration official come to