thinks he's going to live forever if no matter what a he does, okay? but he could have been in for a big surprise in that case. cheryl: well, he's in big trouble with the park services. i mean, he's nation, like -- >> a court date. cheryl: yeah, he's going over to court like this. which is good. >> in a weird way, it's probably good to make an example because they have the money to afford the legal bills, and lesson to everyone else. do not cross the barriers, especially in national a parks, because your with open safety is at risk. cheryl: and don't be so is arrogant that you think you can walk right up to the rockefeller christmas tree just to get your selfie because you're hugh jackman. i don't care how many broadway shows you've been in. john, tiana, thank you so much for being with me, watching this special edition of "mornings with maria." "varney & company" is up next, and ashley webster is in for stuart. ashley: good morning, cheryl. yes, 007 in hot water, literally

this time. [laughter] i'm ashley webster -- i was waiting for that -- in today for stuart varney. an 8,000 strong migrant caravan continues to get closer to our southern border. we've been following it every step of the way. secretary blink. meeting with mexico's president to talk about the surge. the question is, did anything come out of the meeting? well, we're going to get into that. but how about a sobering stat for you? migrant border crossings this year outnumber the population of 17 states. wow. house republicans, meantime, expanding the biden impeachment inquiry. they want to know whether the president had anything to do with hunter defying that congressional a sweep that. we're going to tell you what -- subpoena. we're going to tell you what they are saying. let's get to the markets. we could be looking at a ninth straight week of gapes. looking a little flat ahead of the opening bell. the dow and s&p just slightly lower, the nasdaq about a telephoneth of a perform take --

tenth of a percent. the 10-year treasury is on the rise but still only at 3.82%. take a look at the 2-year yield too just as a comparison, up at 4.a 25%. bitcoin, that has been, what, right at 43 ,000 for quite some time and now it's down a little bit, $837 at $42,800. well, guess what in if you want to watch the ball with drop in new york city from a warm spot in a restaurant, it's going to cost you a little bit. the cheapest seat, for example, at applebee's is going to cost you $6550. at applebee's -- 650. we've got an all a-star the lineup, chris bedford, mark daniels, douglas murray to name just a few. it is thursday, december the 28th, 2023, and guess what in "varney & company" about to dip.

♪ ♪ so shut up about politics. ♪ you punch left are, i punch right ♪ ashley: well, as you can see looking down sixth avenue from about a 47th street looking north, it is wet in the big apple this morning. but it's actually not that cold. it is he's the 28th but not snow, rain. there's still people slushing about in the big city this morning. let's take a look at the 2024 election, get right to it. pennsylvania senator john fetterman isn't worried about a biden's tanking poll numbers. he says there's a lot of politics between now i and the election. that is true. he even told democrat strategist james carville to shut the blank up about the polls. hmm, it got a little heated. chris bedford joins me now. chris, is mr. fetterman right? can biden turn around these

polls, or is he just trying to live in fantasy land a little bit? what do you say? if. >> i've been kind of surprised how much i've liked fetterman's honesty since he's got to washington. he's bucked a lot of different trends in the democratic party, and right now there are a lot of democrats trying to throw biden out, and we are a long way away from the election. we've seen the american political memory, things hard the expected -- that are expected, change so rapidly that fetterman really could be right. but the white house does fate a couple major problems. -- face a couple major problems. democrats, republicans and independents alike really concerned about the president's age, and it's because of the way he shows his age. and so far the white house has just tried to trot out talking points, and those haven't fixed the problem. another issue is that the israel is now talking about invading lebanon, and that's something that would actually basically assure that this war is still going on when democratic voters go to the poll.

that'll depress a lot of the voters who want to come out for joe biden and could be a real risk for him in the election. ashley: and let us not forget while all of this is going on, potentially s calculating in the middle east, mr. biden himself is on vacation. it's like nero fiddling while rome burns a little bit. it's not a good opt you can, is it? >> no. biden not being involved is not a good optic, although i think the american people will give their presidents a little breathing room on christmas. the limits of more than power here have been -- of american power here have been on stark display and also the fissures in the democratic party that have been ignored for years and years are on stark display when you see things like christmas tree lightings getting shut down by left-wing protesters. that's something he's going to have to contend with when he comes back to to d.c. ashley: the house gop wanting to know if president biden was involved in any way in his son

hunter 's decision to defy that congress aal subpoena. they say it could, could constitute an impeachable offense. what say you? >> well, it's a pretty serious matter here right now. two of donald trump's associates, steve bannon and peter navarro, are facing prison for their con testimony of congress. if the white house was involved in something this serious at the same time its political opponents are being prosecuted and if potentially sentenced to prison, that's a serious is matter. i know a lot of people who have been trying to pooh-pooh this and push it away, but the white house potentially working with hunter biden, being aware of his plans, that's certainly worth investigating. ashley: well, i think it was said, was it not, that the president was aware of what his son was going to do, so is i think that's where this perhaps investigation is rooted, that he had prior knowledge. and and who know knows what involvement he had. >> yeah. they came out and said at least he was aware of what his son was going to say.

they might try to argue they were expecting him to say that in testimony as opposed to a speech there, but we know that eric swalwell who rented the spot that hunter biden used was somehow involved in this. we know the congressmen who were working with hunter, essentially, on this. and the republicans deserve answers from hunter biden. he shouldn't be protected. you wouldn't see that the other way around, you wouldn't see that for the sons of maybe donald trump, for example. but at the end of the day, it's not really about hypocrisy here which you see all the time, it's about a hierarchy, who's in control. ashley: yes. >> i don't really see the biden doj arresting hunter. ashley: no, maybe not. what about the effort, the investigation into joe biden himself and the impeachment talk? does that have legs? and where does it go, do you think? >> it does have legs. democrats have been saying are repeatedly since the beginning it didn't have legs, and republicans have proven -- blown lu their talking points bit by

bit. the first thing they said was biten never spoke to his son, and then he wasn't involved with his e son, and now we saw hunter say in his speech there was no financial involvement which is a very significant denial. republicans have been pushing this along, the investigation gives them the power to go after bank records, and if there's evidence there and evidence of involvement with corrupt foreign actors, then that's going to come out. ashley: it does seem like the biden story changes a lot. be interesting to follow. chris, a lot of ground covered, great stuff. thank you so much. >> thank you. ashley: appreciate your input. moving on -- thank you. new polling shows that americans are losing faith in our elections. that's not good news, is it? many voters don't even trust the republican primary with 311% saying -- 3% saying they have little to $311 -- 3 11th saying they have little to no faith. again, 31 percent say they have little to no faith in the reported outcome. that is the state of our

elections and the faith in them right now. let's take a look at the markets. as we said, we're continuing our rally, modest though it may be, into the end of the year. it's the been quite a fourth quarter coming off a rebounding of the third quarter. let's bring in adam a johnson. great to see you with, adam. you're going to be with me for this hour and i appreciate that. and i've been asking our analysts all week long what is your market outlook as we head into 2024? >> i think we're going to see new highs in the stock market, ashley. and i'll tell you why. it goes back to something we've been talking about, you and i, for a long time, the two es of earnings and employment. i know it's not perfect, but you know what? we have the most number of people ever making the highest gross-adjusted income ever and spending the most amount of money ever. that is good for the economy. it's certainly good for corporate earnings. so i think the two es of orings and employment are our two best friends. again, it's not perfect, ashley, but for me as an investor i am

fully invested. i'm a growth investor. you know me, i'm an optimist. i think american if ingenuity is alive and well in spite of everything that's happening or not happening in washington. i'm very confident in corporate america and, by the way, the fed's ability to engineer this soft landing. the numbers are looking good. ashley: oh, you -- yeah, you believe they can do that. we were wringing our hands for so long about, oh, it's going to be a hard landing, we're going to have to pay the piper after all these years of cheap money. do you think they've managed to actually navigate us into a very mild recession at a most? >> yeah. i mean -- [laughter] reference aring the story you were just talking about where even now republicans don't trust elections? i feel like i have more faith in the fed right now than i do in what's happening in some of the states, and that's an unfortunate at the same time. but it's -- at the same time, but it's the traffic court -- it's an unfortunate truth.

the fed kept rates at zero because we were trying to flood the economy with money to just get some life back into it after we'd all been locked down. but they hung around too long. fine. they recognized that. inflation shot up. but think about this, ashley. the consumer price index which, you know, the target is 2%? went as high as at 99.1%. -- 9.1%. it's now 3.1. i know that's not 2, but it's a long way down from 9%, and that's why i think people think we're bicycle to have rate cuts -- we're going to have rate cuts. if you ask me my view for 2024 at least for the markets, politics not so much, but for the markets i'm quite positive. [laughter] ashley: you are, indeed, and you always are. i appreciate it, adam, thank you. stick around, we've got plenty more to talk about, of course. coming up, blink rain if mayorkas, oh, they met with mexico's president about the growing migrant crisis. but congresswoman nancy mace, well, she's not having it. take a listen. >> blinken's visit to mexico is

all about paying lip service to this issue. we are seeing independents, republicans and democrats getting very angry about what they're seeing at the border. ashley: just paying lip service. she's not the only one thinking that. the question is, did the meeting change anything? we'll get into it. then to the mideast. israeli forces have founded central gaza a by land, sea and air. palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths. we're going to have the very latest right after this. ♪ ♪ they're waiting for you. hey, do you have a second? 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 it's time to feed the dogs real food, not highly processed pellets. the farmer's dog is fresh food made with whole meat and veggies. it's not dry food. it's not wet food. it's just real food. it's an idea whose time has come. (sfx: stone wheel crafting) ♪ the biggest ideas inspire new ones. 30 years ago, state street created an etf that inspired the world to invest differently. it still does.

what can you do with spy? ♪

hi, i'm jason and i've lost 202 pounds on golo. so the first time i ever seen a golo advertisement, i said, "yeah, whatever. there's no way this works like this." and threw it to the side. a couple weeks later, i seen it again after getting not so pleasant news from my physician. i was 424 pounds, and my doctor was recommending weight loss surgery. to avoid the surgery, i had to make a change. so i decided to go with golo and it's changed my life. when i first started golo and taking release, my cravings, they went away. and i was so surprised. you feel that your body is working and functioning the way it should be and you feel energized. golo has improved my life in so many ways.

i'm able to stand and actually make dinner. i'm able to clean my house. i'm able to do just simple tasks that a lot of people call simple, but when you're extremely heavy they're not so simple. golo is real and when you take release and follow the plan, it works.

ashley: israeli forces continue their campaign into gaza with strikes from land, air and sea. trey yingst joins me now this morning from tel aviv with the very latest action. trey, what do we know? >> reporter: i do want to start with the latest out of the west bank where overnight we understand israeli forces launched raids against palestinian militants and infrastructure. reports do indicate the raids targeted ten pratt cities, notably -- separate cities, notably ma mall la -- rah a mall la. a money exchange shop was also targeted. further south in the gaza strip it is day 83 of the war between israel and hamas, and after expanding ground operations, the israelis are facing fierce resistance. 167 israeli soldiers have been killed since the invasion began with thousands more injured. the discuss reillys are using infantry troops to clear new areas, but each day hamas and islamic jihad use whering rpgs and roadside bombs. as the conflict continues, the

humanitarian situation in gaza is deteriorating for the more than 2 million palestinians living there. the war is especially challenging for some of gaza's most vulnerable residents, nose like a deaf woman whose daughter has autism. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: war is very difficult can. i see people upset, and it's hard for them. i struggle a lot from the war. there's the hardly any food, and it's challenging to find supplies. the united nations estimates 1.9 million palestinians are internally displaced, many living in tents near the southern city of rafah. civilians line up to wait for their next meal. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: the food here is far from enough to feed so large a number of people, this man explains. i got my food today but sometimes i am not so lucky. >> reporter: on the humanitarian front, 115 aid trucks entered the gaza strip

yesterday. now, the israelis say that the united nations actually asked them to close down one of the inspection points just temporarily because they couldn't keep up with the flow of trucks having gaza. ashley? ashley: all right. trey, thank you very much for the latest there. let's bring in retired navy commander kirk lippold who joins us this morning. commander, israel's netanyahu says, look, the war will not end until hamas is destroyed. we've heard that from the very beginning, but i've asked this question many times, is that doable in your opinion? >> i think i it's doable. the biggest thing they're going to need, ashley, is the time9 and the operational space to be able to conduct this conflict in a manner that benefits israel at the end. while it may be tragedy thetic that hamas is using -- tragic that hamas is using the palestinian people as human shields and is placing weapons in areas where they mow the israelis are going to target and and hit, the results in civilian

casualties, it is an unfortunate consequence of war. hamas chooses toen danger these people. israel does not target the civilians. ashley: the next one for you, commander, u.s. forces were again forced to defend themselves from attacks with by the houthi rebels. it's a daily occurrence, it seems. central command reporting that the u.s. destroyed swarms of drones and missiles in the red sea. look, u.s. forces have faced at least 10 is 6 attacks at last count in the middle east $016 -. in your opinion, has our response been strong enough? >> our response has been absolutely inadequate. i think the american people realize that, unfortunately, the biden administration deterrence has failed. they have done nothing to deferer the these -- deter these attacks from the iranian proxies whether they've been in iraq, syria, lebanon or yemen with the houthi rebels. and at some point, the united states is going to have to start making hard decisions to hold iran are accountable. that does not mean we have to go

kinetic. that means that we should, first, let's consider punishing sanctions. after sanctions, a maritime regime where with we start inspecting effervesce el leaving iran. -- effervescing leaving iran. we have to shoot the archer, not the arrow. we have to hold these proxy groups accountable. justifies cally, we cannot afford to be spending $2 million with every missile we shoot to take down a 2500 drone. it does not make sense. and while a lot of people would say, well, that's the military industrial complex at work, that's not a reality. that's a biden administration decision that is costing the american people precious tax dollars that could be better used by striking the places that are actually shooting at us. ashley: if we do not take the steps that you just outlined, what are the chances, do you think, of this conflict escalating? >> i think the conflict is going to escalate. the united states maw be doing

everything in our -- may be doing everything in our power not to escalate9 it at this point, i think that's do give israel the time and space as i mentioned before that they need to utterly destroy hamas which i think is a legitimate and achievable goal. but at the end of the day, we are going to have to hold iran and their approximate if city groups accountable for what they're doing to destabilize throughout the region. that is a going to take time, it is going to an international effort. but at a the end of the day, the united states must be the leader in the region to make that happen. ashley: i think that's a good place to leave it right there. commander, thank you so much for your expertise and insight this morning. it is very much appreciated, thank you. >> thank you, ashley. ashley: all right. now this, by the way, israel's netanyahu responding to turkish president erdogan after erdogan compared him to hitler. netanyahu fired back on x accusing erdogan of genocide writing with, quote, erdogan --

who is committing genocide against the kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime -- is the last person who can preach morality to us. fiery stuff from two key players, of course, in the middle east. all right, let's take a look at the markets very quickly. we are flat to slightly lower although we managed to eke out some small gains yesterday. what's going to happen in the opening bell? well, stick around, it's coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪

hi, i'll have the avocado toast... minus the avocado. so, toast? yeah. everything is so expensive these days. hey, chevy gets it. that's why they're keeping prices down to earth. like on the most affordable ev in america. ♪ a super strong and capable chevy truck. ♪ and a high-tech chevy suv. ♪ why is chevy making affordable vehicles, connected by onstar? so together we can do more.

(baby cooing) - [joe] sacrifice. surrendering your desires for the sake of someone else. sometimes sacrifice is tedious. sometimes it's rewarding. and sometimes it takes everything you've got. (man yelling) - i love you guys. - i love you too. - be careful son. (rotors whirling) (beeping) - [joe] sacrifice.

surrendering your desires for the sake of someone else. sometimes it's tedious - [father] you're doing so great son. - [joe] sometimes it's rewarding. sometimes it gives you back more than you could've ever imagined. the sacrifice they made for our freedoms is priceless. will you please join me in making a small sacrifice for them by supporting disabled american veterans? call and give $19 a month, just 63 cents a day. to help a disabled veteran who sacrificed for you. there's never been a greater time to show your support for our nation's greatest heroes. get this memorial dav blanket when you call and give just $19 a month as a reminder of the sacrifice our nation's greatest heroes have made for you.

your gift, no matter how small helps veterans and their families get the benefits they need and deserve. please, call or go online now. if operators are busy, call again. or give right away to helpdav.org your gift today honors their sacrifice forever. ashley: all right, just two trading days left before we head boot new year. just ai head of the opening bell, the nasdaq up slightly. d.r. barton, great to see you. look, i'm asking all the market guests the same question that i'm going to is ask you because that's what we do. your market outlook for 2024, can we keep this momentum going in the new year? >> you know, a lot of studies have been going on, ashley, for decades about what really can

beat the markets. and and we've only found a couple of things. if you're a really gooding tock picker and can pick -- stock picker, then you have a chance. but the other thing is momentum. we've got plenty of momentum. eight a straight weeks of up markets coming into this, coming into this christmas holiday, ashley. and what we've seen going all the a way back to 1950 is that after an 8-week up period you might think the market wants to pull back, but after 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, the market tends to go higher, even to 12 months later, a year later we typically see the markets up 90% of the time after a long, strong streak. so stay with the momentum. ashley: history is on our side. i always like that, d.r., i was

talking to adam earlier, and adam is optimistic for the new year. we talked about the fed delivering a soft landing. can we get inflation if under control i without cratering the economy? does it seem more likely now? >> i love the exact way that you phrased that. i think it seems a lot more likely, and you saw that in my notes, i'm sure. ashley: yes. >> it's interesting that what we've seen in the optimism among some of the things that i haven't mentioned, the consumers, the employees, the people out there working. they're feeling much more comfortable switching jobs now if needed, and and there's another big place that makes people feel comfortable for a soft is landing, and and that is money market funds. people are put a ton of money into money market funds because of the high interest rates. as a interest rates drop down, they're going to want to put that money to work, and and i think that's going to be a place that can support both the stock market and the economy.

ashley: very good. i've got about 45 seconds, d.r., a stock pick you brought to us is called fastenal, i believe? what is it and why do you like it? >> yeah. this is another one of those investing in the real world. they just made new all a-time highs, again, another momentum play. they are really a literal fundamentals and bolts company. -- nuts and bolts company. they make everything that fastens stuff. when you need to connect something to something else e, fastenal is the company that i turned to when i was in the engineering and a big fortune 10 company, and now people keep doing it. they're going up. [laughter] i think they are a good buy for the long term. ashley: the ultimate nuts and bolts company, i love it, d.r., thank you so much and happy new year to you. we'll see you in 2024. or all right. we are ringing the bell. two days to go of trading year, that is, and we're off and running. or here we go on this thursday,

december the 28th. it's billion a strong year for the markets -- it's been a strong year for the markets. there you go, right out of the chute the dow is up 35 if points, good for about one with-tenth of a percent gape, chevron and walt disney the laggards a, but overall it's on the plus side. let's take a look at the s&p 500 that is flirting with record closinger story. it's very close. -- territory. we're going to see whether it can manage to do that today. there you have it, the s&p up about 7.75%, and then we have the nasdaq up about a thursday of a percent, so up across the board. modestly so is. that's what we've been seeing this holiday-shortened week. take a look at the big tech names, meta, apple, microsoft, amazon, alphabet all moving higher, meta up nearly three-quarters of a percent. all right, let's start with amazon. they are going to start charging an extra that fee now for those

who want to watch videos commercial-free. that begins january 29th. members are going to have to pay an extra $2.99 per month for the ad-free option. they just add up, don't they? a little bit here, little bit there, and you start spreading that out over the streamers, it starts to add up. what do you think, adam? good move by amazon? >> yeah, i love it. that's not to say i hate ad as, i just don't want to be interrupted when i don't want to be interrupted. imagine if on fox news there were boards that would show all the movers and you could put in your own names, so you always stay there on fox business, you get all the information, you get your stock picks, everything else. i'd pay a premium for that, ashley. ashley: what a terrific answer, well done, adam. extra high marks for that. >> thank you, sir. ashley: all right, let's move on. china's ev car maker bid is poised, by the way, to take over tesla as the world's leader in

ev sales. look, their models, adam, they're far cheaper than tesla models. so my question to you is more broad with. you have, you know, a lot of hands in the game of the ev market or not? >> you know, ashley, every stock that i have picked in clean energy has been a loser, and and the the reason i believe -- yeah, no. the reason i believe is because government's gotten involved. they have tried to incentivize company to get all of us to buy into the clean energy movement, and subsidies don't work. you know, it was fine when interest rates were zero, ashley, but as interest rates went up, you realize all these companies didn't generate cash flow, today couldn't stand on their own, so they started getting sold off. i've lost money on every clean energy stock i've bought. fortunately, i had some a.i. stocks to offset that but, no, i'm not involved in electric vehicles, i'm just not. by the way, i have a gas-powered car. i love it and i'm certainly not going to sell it. ashley: i'm right there with you. talking of which, general motors

is suing the city of san francisco. the car maker alleges that it was charged a higher tax bill than was warranted. they claim they were basically overcharged for the cruze department, that's the ev department, saying that the division is actually based in detroit not san francisco. gm, by the way, wanting more than $00 billion -- 100 million back. let me ask you, do you own any of the traditional car makers, adam? >> i do. i do own ford. i don't own gm. my clients own ford as a well. it was trading at 6 times earnings with a 6% dividend yield. that's too juicy to pass up x that was a result of the uaw struck where it was left for dead. ford can certainly afford to pay the additional $7000 per vehicle to get -- 700 per vehicle to get the uaw workers up to where they wanted to be. that's ancient history in the rearview mirror and, yeah, i'm very comfortable owning ford.

as far as san francisco goes, that's the typical democratic state-run money grab where everyone wants a piece of the action. look what they've done to google, facebook, etc. follow the money, that's what democratic states do. they've got to try to find revenue sources to plug all the a holes as a result of their excessive spending. ash a ash san francisco is like the sister state of the withdrew people union. they want to tax everything, fine everyone -- >> yes. ashley: it is just one huge money grab request, you're right. >> it really is. ashley: let's move on. you can buy a wendy's junior bacon cheeseburger for just one penny. that's a good deal. but the catch? you need to order through the app or online and i think, adam a, that stu's favorite burger is at wendy's. so i guess if he was good at technology, i could see him try are thing to get this deal, but all e not put my money on it. i wouldn't even put a penny on it because he does struggle a little bit. >> i could see him going for the bacon double cheeseburger option

where i'm happy to join him with lettuce, toe e nato and mayo. extra cheese, if you please. ash erik it's fun when stu isn't here. somewhere he's laughing, i hope. >> he's a good man. ashley: by the way, adam a, you've got some stock picks for us, which is great. salesforce, what do you like about this company? >> salesforce is one of these company -- stocks i call the junior gappings. this is -- gappings. this is a junior fang because i think it's one of these stocks that is a, in breed, right? salesforce.com is number one for customer relationship management. there are five activist investors that are involved in this stock because they saw the potential to improve cash flow, and they're doing that. in fact, they doubled cash flow in three years. they're e doing that by charging subscriptions on the back end. and now they're starting to introduce artificial if intelligence into all the algorithms that help companies mine if sales opportunities. so, yeah, very enthused about

salessing force.com. it's up 15% over the past six months, i think it's going to keep going, stu. ashley. ashley: it's got leggings. that's all right, that's a come prelim. palo alto, adam, you also like this stock. down again today, but 295, you like it at this price in. >> yeah, i sure do. and again, it's another one of these junior fang stocks. palo alto stock, i love best in breed. it's hard to go wrong when you buy the number one stock as an investor. number one, it's number one in skypeer security. -- cybersecurity. the company was founded back in 2005 with a novel concept, let's make all the apps connected and safe in one environment across a network whether you're working from home, whether you're working in your office, whether you're wok, in ya -- working in japan, new york, etc. they are brilliant at what they do, and i love a best in breed company. the stock just goes like this. i know it's expensive at 50 times earnings, but it always

trades at 50 times earnings because it's the growing at 25-30% yeah, like palo alto as a well. best in breed, ashley. ashley: fantastic. thank you so much, adam. all right, stick around as a well. coming up, you've seen the hit movie leave the world behind. have you seen that in i watched it. interesting. let's take a sneak peek. roll the tape. >> ongoing cyber attacks. >> i knew something was coming. the truth is much scarier. >> what is the truth? ♪ if. >> there is no going back. ashley: definitely eerie because you could actually see this happening. a cyber expert says hackers could, indeed, cripple america and turn the movie into reality. dhs secretary mayorkas says the meeting with mexican officials about the surge in migration was, quote, very productive.

so we always ask what came out of it? we're going to have that report next. ♪ you got this. let's go. gobble gobble. i've seen bigger legs on a turkey! rude. who are you? i'm an investor in a fund that helps advance innovative sports tech like this smart fitness mirror. i'm also mr. leg day...1989! anyone can become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq, a fund that gives you access to nasdaq-100 innovations. i go through a lot of pants. before investing carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com.

♪ ashley: secretaries blinken and mayorkas traveled to mexico yesterday to speak with president obrador about the crisis at our southern border. nate foy joins me now to talk about it. nate, look, talk is cheap. has anything tangible come out of this meeting? what do you say? >> reporter: i wouldn't say tangible quite so far is. both sides say it was a productive meeting. secretary of state antony blinken said the u.s. and mexico will continue working together to manage the crisis which as you know so far has seen record-breaking numbers for all legal migration. the southern border's on pace for the most migrant encounters ever in a single month with

roughly 252 20,000 -- 250,000 so far in december. blinken rain secretary mayorkas discussed reopening ports of entry and fighting the flow of fentanyl coming into the united states. texas governor greg abbott continues sending migrant buses and planes now i to sanctuary cities. in response to that, new york city if mayor eric adams issued ap executive order wednesday requiring charter bus companies to communicate9 with the city3 2 hours before arriving. it also limits dropoffs to one single location between 8:30 a.m. and noon on weekdays. here's mayor adams. >> this is a national problem. this has only been exacerbated by governor abbott's cruel, inhumane politics and that requires additional national solutions. the federal government must take respondent and lead on this humanitarian -- responsibility and lead on this humanitarian crisis. >> reporter: bus companies will also be punished for failing to comply with that. meanwhile, the mayors of chicago

and denver also criticized governor abbott during a virtual meeting yesterday, but brandon judd says their criticism is misplaced. >> as long as they continue to deflect and as long as they continue to not tell the truth, then biden is given a pass. and until he is called on the carpet, he's not going to do anything. so these mayors need to clearly say this problem is, is a federal government problem. it's not a greg abbott problem. >> reporter: the mayors of chicago, denver and new york city all said yesterday that more federal action is needed to address this crisis. ashley? ashley: all right, nate, thank you very much for that. let's head now to cocheeps county, arizona, where sheriff mark daniels joins me. sheriff, great to have you with onboard. what can this administration and mexico do right now to help relieve the migrant pressure at the border? >> well, they need to address just like america trying to do -- when i say trying to do,

i'm talking about the sheriffs, the mayors and state governors here like governor abbott and others trying to fix the border. but they need to step up and be a partner. i've always said they need to be a partner with us. the problem is, america needs to step up in washington d.c. this president, his administration and congress needs to secure this border and quit deflecting to mexico to fix it. it's our problem first, not mexico's. ashley: you know, there's an arizona rancher sounding the alarm on the lack of border patrol on the arizona border. listen to this and then i'll get your comments. >> we have cartel scouts op our mountains. these cartel9 scouts really have control of everything. their job is to know where the border patrol is at all time and route their people around any border patrol. however, we we don't have any board or patrol anymore.

it's a national security issue because i'm very concerned that terrorists are coming across the border. ashley: you know, that seems to me to be, sheriff, a very valid concern. cartel scouts. a huge security problem on so many levels. this should be cause for alarm, shouldn't it? >> it should, ashley, because what jim shelton, the rancher -- and i know him very well -- and what many other ranchers and community members on this board recognize -- border recognize the fact this border's not secure. this is an intended consequence by this administration to open up our border. we've set aside national security and public safety to deal with that and and to have these intended consequences x. until we prioritize the border and secure it, it's going to get worse and worse. right behind me on these mountains back here there's a scout that sits there and watches every day. we watch hum, he watches us. until this changes in washington, d.c. and this

president prioritizes it, it's not going to get better. americans are vulnerable. and you were talking about finances earlier, i'll say this simply, this is one of the worst investments this administration's ever made, is this border. ashley: sheriff, we'll have to leave it there but thank you for taking the time to talk to us. we -- the crisis on the border is not going away, and in fact, it's only getting worse. thank you so much, sir. appreciate your time to talk to us. >> thank you. ashley: all right. thank you. now this, the mayor of chicago, brandon johnson, was asked if he feels biden is ignoring his city over the migrant crisis. check out his ponce, listen. his response. >> let me just make this very clear, what i have said repeatedly is that we have to have coordination. since taking office, we've had an uncoordinated approach, and what i've worked to do instead offing having chaos is provide some structure and calm around this situation and without significant federal support, this is not sustainable. ashley: it is not. chicago reportedly has received over 26,000 migrants in 2023, a

lot less than new york city, but city resources are stretched thin. mayor johnson says the administration is just not hoping. ad -- helping. adam, i want to bring you in on this. these migrants are putting such a strain on blue city economies. we're seeing it across the country. how much longer do you think they can stand this? >> well -- sustain this? >> well, they can't. and that's why you actually have a democratic mayor crying out for help. you heard him, mayor brandon johnson of chicago, saying this is unsustainable. it's why two weeks ago you actually had the arizona governor, katie hobbs, a democrat, call up the reservists, the national guard, because the federal agents are not able to control the border. and she said so we, as arizonans, are going to control the border. i mean, isn't it amazing that you've got these democrats basically calling out the white house saying what you've done has failed. joe biden has turned the border crisis into an american crisis, and it's something we're all dealing with. and we didn't need to do it.

ashley: yes, indeed. >> all we needed was a wall. ashley: all we needed was a wall. that simple. adam, thank you very much. all right, coming up, more than 6222,000 migrants -- 6 22,000 migrants have been dropped off in san diego county in just the last three months. how has that changed the city? city supervisor jim desmond is going to answer that. following a bumpy year for the electric vehicle is industry, well, more potholes could be ahead in 2024. evs are losing steam with buyers, and automakers are starting to trim production. we've got the report next. ♪ i'll drive you like a fast car. ♪ go, go, go ♪ they're waiting for you. hey, do you have a second? 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 this is your season to smile -- to raise a toast and gather together, to wrap up the fun and round up the gang. to help get you ready, your aspen dental team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic anniversary savings event. right now, new patients without insurance get a free full exam and x-rays. plus, everyone can get 20% off their treatment plan. but hurry, because while the season won't last, the memories you make together will. aspen dental. book today.

♪ ashley: car buyers certainly not buying into the push for electric vehicles, 2023, well, was a rough year for the industry. jeff flock joins us this morning. jeff, has the lack of interest in evs hit the value of them? >> reporter: i think it has in some ways, ashley. and, you know, just to be fair, you know, it's going to be a record sales year for evs.

and at the charge points you see, look at this, yeah, all the cars are out there. we're going to sell more than a million purely electric vehicles this year, but that's nowhere near what the folks thought it was going to be. and there's a couple of factors in that. reliability is one. consumer reports has been study thing evs along with other vehicles and finds 79% more trouble with evs than regular vehicles. deappreciation, they're depreciating faster, evs losing half of their value over 5 years compared to about 38% of value lost by other vehicles. the worst evs? well, the tesla model s is losing value faster than any other. chevy bolt and the nissan leaf also losing more than half their value, so not so good. the experts say people that think evs are cool have already bought one, now they've got to kind of private on their own. listen. -- prove it on their own. >> these vehicles now are going to have to stand op their own

merits, and their merit can't be they're an electric vehicle. they have to look good. they have to be price competitive. they have to have good range. they have to be refueled/recharged relatively quickly and easily. >> reporter: and, ashley, it's not just the vehicles that are losing value, but the companies associated with that like the charge points. the charging networks, those stocks are down. look at year to date, a lot of them down 50, 60, 70% year to date. going to be a tough year. we'll see. ashley: yeah, yeah. hasn't quite caught on, as they say. jeff is, thank you very much. adam johnson, very quickly, we talked about it earlier, do you think this push to electric vehicles came too soon? >> way too soon. they're not ready for prime time, and that's how the market is judging it. that's why so many of the clean energy stocks are down, ashley. ashley: amen. adam, thank you again so much for joining us for the hour. always appreciate your help and input. all right, still ahead, todd piro will be here, kiron skinner, corey deangelis e and douglas murray.

the 10 a.m. hour of "varney & company" is coming up next. ♪ if i said, hey, it's all right. ♪ because it's -- ♪ don't look back, live your life ♪ (sfx: stone wheel crafting) ♪ the biggest ideas inspire new ones. 30 years ago, state street created an etf .. that inspired the world to invest differently. it still does. what can you do with spy? ♪ ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't

know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.