regulation? the costs are going to be embedded in everything. so, mark tepper, here we are talking about the cpi which was elevated up to 3.4%, and part of it is because of all of that spending, $6 trillion in borrowing last year and spending by the democrats and the white house. if we do see further regulations layeren to top of all of this, aren't we going to see more inflation? >> thank god my name is not jay powell, because the fed has one heck of a challenge in front of 'em. they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. a lot of this debt has to be refinanced at higher rates, unfortunately. maria: all right. everybody, thank you so much. real quick on markets here, we have 30 minutes before the opening bell sounds. the dow industrials right now, completely negative, giving up an earlier rally. same with the dow, the nasdaq and the s&p 500. thank you, doug, congressman dan meuser, stephanie pomboy, mark ten or, mike lee and cheryl casone. great conversation, everybody, thank you. we hand it over to "varney & company." stu, take it away. stuart: good morning, maria.

good morning, everyone. here we go. in the last 12 months, consumer prices rose 3.4 percent. that is an uptick. the core rate, which excludes food and energies up 3.9%. and that is a town tick. down tick. the federal reserve pays very close attention to that core rate which has moved lower. important stuff. a subdued response on the stock market. the dow may be down 800 or 90 points -- 80 or 90 points, nasdaq down 40 points. i call that sub subdued. interest rates, they've moved higher, significantly so. the yield on the 10-year treasury at 4.07%, and the 32-year treasury -- 2-year moving up to 4.38%. modest gains for enter rates. interest rates. here's a financial blockbuster. the sec has okayed a batch of bitcoin etfs. this makes bitcoin trading easier and is likely to expand ownership of cryptos.

bitcoin is $47,000 this morning. look at etherium go. four days to the first test, the first vote in this election year, and the political news is flowing thick and fast. i stayed up late and watched trump's town hall on fox, amazing. he was relaxed and comfortable, he answered any and all questions. to me, he seemed to be doing what many republicans want him to do; that is, keep the policies that were successful, change the style that upset so many people. chris christie, he's dropped out of the race, and he was caught on a hot mic disparaging his two rivals. he said haley would be smoked and desantis was petrified. question: who gets christie's votes? desantis and haley debated. they went after each other. they called each other liars. nikki haley will join us at 9:40 eastern this morning on this program. more on politics, hunter biden goes to court in california today facing criminal tax charges. he stormed out of a congressional hearing wednesday.

here's the question there: are hunter's contentious appearances hurting his father politically? donald trump appears in a new york court this morning. he will not be allowed to speak in his own defense. will that increase his support? on the show today, the president holds a a series of private lunches with big donors and top supporters. he's trying to reassure them that he is up to the job. and hertz, the car rental people, delivers a big blow to the electric vehicle push, people don't want 'em and repair costs are much higher than expected. it is thursday, january the 1 19th, 2024. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ let's get it started, let's get it started in here ♪ stuart: am a i hoping for that? >> i'm fired up, and we are e

getting it started. stuart: adam johnson, a hot mic, ladies and gentlemen. [laughter] adam johnson will do it for you. let's get it started, is the music. it's thursday morning. i'm going to start with the latest read on inflation. we got the numbers. lauren, take us through it. lauren: inflation is sticky. back to you. no, it's holding the3 handle. you just can't get below 3. up 3.4%, as you can see on the right, and switch to the core rate, 3.9%. that's actually good news, in quotes, because the it's the lowest since may of 2021. moving in the right direction, this is progress, but inflation is still there. the big story is rent. rent was half of the inflation that we saw in the month of december. where else is inflation -- look at this, transportation up nearly 10% in the past year with. shelter, there you go, up 6 if.2. food, 2.7. clothing, up 1%. energy actually fell, that's good news. so, again, we're moving in the right direction, just not fast

enough for the consumer. but what about for the federal reserve? jay powell's north star is still 2 inflation. how long will it take to get there? stuart: but the core rate ticked down, and the federal reserve watches the core rate as opposed to the headline rate. lauren: but it's nearly double the target that they're expecting. but then look at it like this, all of last year in 20 2020 -- 2022, inflation was 6.5%. we went from 6.a 5 to 3.4% -- >> and, by the way, at the high, 9.1. so we have come a long way. stuart: so what do you think is the impact of these inflation numbers on market? kind of neutral? >> yeah. i think you characterized it well when you said -- what was the word you said, it's sort of, you know, moderate, you know? futures down a quart of a percent. it's not ideal. i'm long growth stocks. growth stocks need lower rates, so i would rather have seen a softer number, but this is a number we can live with because it'sly, as you point out, going the right direction.

and all the gains have been in shelter. stuart: you've got to tell me about the other big news story in financial markets, and that is bitcoin. >> yes. stuart: several etfs have been approved. they start today, i believe. >> yes. stuart: and bitcoin is at $47,000. this is a bug deal. >> which is a 2-year high. i've been long coinbase. i lived through some pain because, you know, a year ago i was down a lot on that. it's come roaring back. i think coinbase is the last man standing. interestingly, it's doing all the back office work for blackrock which is going to have one of these etf ifs. so every client of blackrock, and that's the largest money manager in the world, effectively who wants to trade crypto is going through the coinbase platform. so, again, i'm long coin bathe. i'm thrilled with this -- coinbase. i'm thrilled with this etf move. it democratizes bitcoin in that it makes it more available to more people, i think that's a positive. stuart: that's a big story. makes it more available to more people. it's easier to invest through an etf, so a lot more people will

get in, and the price is up. >> correct. yes. stuart: let's move on. you're staying with me for the hour. >> yes, please. stuart: we're going to get to politics. my bread and butter. fox hosted a town hall with donald trump just night. here are just some of the highlights. roll it. >> i am not going to be a dictator. i'm going to manage like we did -- we were so successful that the country was coming together. i think the economy is horrible except the stock market's going up, and i think the stock market's going up because i'm leading biden in all of the polls. every poll. every single poll. i think there will be a crash if i don't win. i'm not going to have time for retribution. we're going to make this country so successful again, i'm not going to have time for retribution. [applause] and remember this, our ultimate retribution is success. stuart: david avella joins me now. david, how would you characterize trump's performance last night? did he move the needle in his

favor? >> donald trump's smartest comment last night, stuart, was that he has decided on who his vp pick is going to be. i'm assuming it's not you with, but we could make news this morning, stuart, if it is you. assuming it's not you, what that message says is that this is the inevitable. i'm going to be the nominee. i'm already down the process in picking my vp, in getting ready for the general election. it's something that none of the others have even, could even laughably say and not be laughed at to think about that. and then you get past that, he is in 2016 mold in that he's back to -- mode, in that he's back to let's secure the border, have energy if infence and focus on our economic woes here in the country. it was vintage donald trump last night. stuart: to mentioner it seemed like he was doing what a lot of republicans want him to do; that

is, hold on to the policies that were so successful but change the style the which so many people objected to. you see it that way? >> you and i are in agreement, as typical. [laughter] i mean, president trump last night was on message and presented it in a way that at least in this republican primary it's going to get those who might still be wavering on whether they're going to support president trump, it locked up a few folks. there's no question about that. stuart: well, chris christie has dropped out of the race. who gets christie's votes after he bad-mouthed haley and desantis? >> well, mary an williamson and dean fill are probably -- phillips probably the big winners in new hampshire, much of christie's support came from democrats and independents that could come in and vote in a republican primary. as far as where republicans go, right now as a we were just talking about trump has this

almost inevitableness to him. and americans like winners. and that's not to suggest all christie's votes are going to go to donald trump, but the majority will go to donald trump. and nikki haley will get some, ron desantis will get some. but this, there is every indication that donald trump is going to be the nominee, and no one has any numbers that would suggest otherwise. particularly when you start digging down deep and looking at how committed voters are to their choice. stuart: do you have any idea who trump's vice president might be? he says he's got somebody, he's picked one. there's lots of speculation about who it might be. do you want to speculate with us this morning, david? go on. try your hand. >> this is -- [laughter] something we do every four years in politics, stuart. you know, who -- nobody would have picked mike pence. nobody would have picked joe biden. of course, my favorite is always the joke that goes around, stuart, that it was dick cheney

who went to george bush and said, you know, i've reviewed everybody for you, and i think i'm the best pick. no one would have thought that. no one employees who donald trump's going to -- knows who donald trump's going to pick. i wouldn't be surprised if you see donald trump announce his vp selection in february after you get through the first three, after you get through super tuesday and then he announces his vp pick. stuart: we shall see. david avella, thanks for joining us. lauren, your thoughts? lauren: tim scott as vp. going into south carolina, and that is tim scott's state, and he is a minority, and he's loyal to president trump or at least he hasn't aggravated him enough on the campaign trail. we were talking a lot about potentially being lee seld een because president trump said i want to have a rally at madison square garden. i want to flip new york state red. i made so many phone calls about this yesterday, stuart. he just cannot do. that he can come close, but he can't do it, and lee zeldin

wouldn't get him the rest of the country. stuart: okay. what do you think the market is i saying after trump's performance last might? what would the market say about a trump second presidency? >> my interpretation, first of all, of mr. trump's performance last night, and i'll call it performance, he was on stage, was very presidential. in that sense i think he's maturing and growing into the role. as you pointed out, he sounded very focused, smart and calm. and calm is not usually a word that we would associate with donald trump, but that's the presidential aspect. and i think that's appealing to people. it was appealing to me. and i think that will ultimately be appealing to the market. markets want to see strength, they want to see someone in command. that's the opposite of what we've seen with joe biden. lauren: but today he's in a new york courtroom. he's not in new hampshire, he's not in iowa. >> true. lauren: he's not in south carolina. he's the incumbent in a seven, so maybe he doesn't need to be, but that victim message, that works for him. as long as he's in the courtroom, he's the victim, and voters like that. they feel like a victim in the

biden economy. stuart: he's been flying all over the country, he a appears in des moines, iowa, last night for an hourlong interview on fox. this morning he's in a new york courtroom. think of the energy it takes for a 77-year-old guy to do that kind of thing. >> and that, by the way, is part of leadership. lauren: pushing 80. he'll be 80, i believe, if he's reelected. stuart: he's 77 now -- lauren: yeah. stuart: pushing 80. lauren: he's doing great for his age. unlike some other people. this has nothing to do with you. [laughter] >> and by the way, you know, people can talk about being too old. it's not -- a number is only a number. joe biden is an old 80. donald trump will be a young 80. and, by the way, you will never be 80, mr. varney, okay? stuart: oh, gonna croak before i get there? >> no, you're perpetually youthful and toured up. you're all fired up this morning, you've got me fired up -- stuart: moving along.

okay, look at the market, please, look at the market. the dow's down about 40 points premarket, minor losses for the s&p and the nasdaq. i'd call this market flat. coming up, first lady jill biden says despite the difficulties of the campaign, joe running for a second term is, quote, worth it. roll it. >> as joe says, democracy, our freedoms are what's on the line. and so americans have a choice. you know? they can have strong, steady leadership, someone fighting for democracy, or they can choose chaos and division. stuart: well, that sounds like fear-mongering to me, how about you? house republicans advanced a contempt of congress resolution on hunter or biden. the whole house is needed to pass the charge. we'll deal with that next. do they have the votes? we'll be back. ♪ ♪ pass it on, pass it on to someone else ♪

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stuart: all right, consumer prices in the last 12 months up 3.4%. that's an uptick in the inflation rate. the markets taking it in stride. futures for the dow industrials down a mere 13 points, virtually dead flat on the s&p, and the nasdaq's now turned positive. that was not a bad inflation report. now this, a vote's expected on hunter biden's contempt of congress charge next week. chad pergram on capitol hill. chad, what's the plaitest on that vote? -- latest on that vote? >> reporter: the embers of hunter biden's raucous appearance before the oversight committee are still burning today. republicans are beside themselves about hunter biden just showing up as members

planned to cite him for contempt of congress. >> what a do you think his intent was? to kind of mock the republicans, i'm going to show up, ooh, ooh, ooh, with my goons to my left and to my right and look at the republicans on the panel that want to ask him questions. he should have had his ass over to the judiciary hearing. >> reporter: hunter biden ducked a subpoena last month for a closed door interview. that's why the oversight committee wanted to slap him with contempt. but democrats accuse republicans of not playing fair. >> there are three current members that actually serve on that committee that were issued subpoenas by the last congress, and they defied those subpoenas. i think we've got to apply the rule equally. i'm willing to vote is, i'm still willing to vote, mr. chairman, if you're listening. i'm still willing to vote to hold hunter in contempt. >> reporter: hunter biden still wants to appear for an open hearing, but that likely will not happen before the house

voted to hold him in contempt next week with. democrats just wanted the committee to question hunter biden yesterday. the gop said that did not work. >> we have rules, and they know the rules. so we're doing everything by the book. this has been very transparent. we anticipate on publishing a report at the end. i would anticipate there'll be criminal referrals in that report. >> reporter: hunter biden just left as marjorie taylor greene began posing request questions. staying to field questions under those circumstances could have added to hunter biden's legal problem. stuart? stuart: yes, indeed. chad pergram, thanks a lot. lauren, i'm curious here, what's the white house saying about biden's -- hunter biden's surprise appearance yesterday e? lauren: they punted. karine jean-pierre, the press secretary, she will not answer the crux of the matter which is did joe biden, the president of the united states, know about his son's pr stunt yesterday with. did he know about it?

watch. >> reporter: and hunter biden on capitol hill today, how big of a headache is that for you? [laughter] >> hunter biden is a private citizen. he is not a member of the white house, as you know, and i just don't have anything else to share. >> reporter: but the last time he was on the hill, you said the president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say. >> i did say that, and what i'm saying -- >> -- president biden does not help him with his business deals, but he does help him skirt congressional subpoenas? >> that's not even true. that is a jump that is incredibly disingenuous in that question. lauren: was the white house informed in advance of hunter's short cameo on capitol hill? if i think it's an honor question, and peter was not the only one asking it. the mainstream media was asking those questions too. did joe know or encourage hunter biden to defy that congressional

subpoena? he has long said respect the process. stuart: the president's in a bind, hunter widen's in a terrible -- hunter biden's in a terrible bind. and i think some of the -- i hate to use the word slime, but some of the slime rolls off. >> yeah, guilt by association. of course. that's the whole story. a hats off to peter doocy who, by the way, has been doing an outstanding job of trying to get to the bottom of so many issues and holding kjp accountable. i mean, yesterday, by the way, kjp tried to say inflation was only 2. he said, no, it's not. and, of course, today we learned it's definitely not, what is it, 3.2%. and 3.8 on core. yeah. so for kjp to stand there in the white house and say inflation's 2% and mr. biden has done a fine job at bringing it -- no. you've got to hold these people accountable. stuart: it's hard to do that, isn't it? >> yeah, it's hard, but peter doocy does a great job. stuart: politics is just fascinating at the moment hunter

biden, the president, the election, trump, haley, desantis, new hampshire, iowa. i'm so glad that we've got this program on the air. lauren: where is the average viewer though? what are they concerned about? are they talking about what just happened yesterday? or are they -- you know, what matters to the viewer? i think it's the economy, inflation, and i think it's the border -- stuart: yes. all of the above. but it's the image of the presidency which is really not looking good at this moment. lauren: yeah. stuart: that's my opinion. that's what voters are looking at now. here we go, dow industrials down maybe 7 in advance of the opening bell. slight gain for the s&p, 21 points up for the nasdaq. okay. the opening bell is next. ♪ ♪ i'm a brand new man ♪ people are excited about what ai will do for them.

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the highs when it reached $200. i believe that over the next six months, nine months we're going to have a chance if we're patient to jump in between 160, 165. and i think if we get down there, stuart, it's like a fire sale. it's like buying the biggest company in the world at a discount. and i think patience will be rewarded, because i think there's more good things coming from apple that we don't even know on the services side yet like around health and other things that are going to be huge money makers way town the road for that company -- down the road for that company. stuart: your stock pick today is heinz, the ketchup people. there's a lot more to it. why do you like 'em? >> yeah. we've got -- remember are, it's khc is the symbol, kraft heinz. so they have a lot more than just the condiment business, although that is certainly their biggest seller. they're into cheese, they're into ready-made meals.

we've been so excited about the high e tech stocks where most of the money has been flowing over the past 12-15 months that we have to balance a portfolio out with a good consumer staples company. i think kraft heinz going off a 4% dividend, people are not going to stop eating ketchup and cheese, so that's a good place to see some continued growth even if the big tech names have a little bit bumpier ride first half of the year. stuart: okay, kraft heinz, $38 a 145eur now. where's it going? >> i believe it's not just going to be a monstrous grow, you know it's already gone up 20%, but i think we could see a good 10% return with a 4% dividend over the next 12 months. stuart: okay. i would take that. d.r., thanks for joining us. the market is about to open when one of those ladies pushes the button. do it. there you go. okay. the market is open, and we expect a very modest gain, and

that's what we've got. look at that, dow 80 points higher in the early going. i'll repeat myself here. 33.4% -- 3.4% inflation at the consumer level. that's a slight uptick. dow up 88, and the majority of the dow 30 are clearly in the green. they're going up. how about the s&p 500? if that, too, has opened slightly higher. that's not a huge grain, but a quarter percent if on the upside. and the nasdaq composite also opening higher today. you've got a gain of 52 points there. bottom right-hand corner of the screen, the dow is now up 100 points. there's a turn around. show me big tech, please. all of them higher. microsoft, whoa, up $4. 3.if 87. -- 787. apple -- 387. meta, 3711. big tech going up -- 3711. my question for you, lauren, how close is microsoft to overtaking apple as the most valuable company? lauren: this is a new record high for microsoft right now, by the way, and the answer is $40

billion. stuart: that's it. lauren: that is it. they're both near $3 trillion, and $40 billion is the difference. it's not a question of when microsoft if becomes the mvp, right, in companies, it's not if, it's when. stuart: really? you're sure of this? lauren: i think so, because apple's revenue has stalled, right? there's iphone saturation worries here at home, worries in china. the catalyst is what's going on sale in early february, this $3500 vr headset. only rich people are going to buy that, and all the analysts are saying it's immaterial to the bottom line of the company. and then the you have microsoft, early adopter of a.i., and it's a winning trade for them thus far, or winning investment. stuart: by the way, microsoft -- i see the dow at 37,740. is that an intraday high? i think it is. lauren: it is. stuart: it's certainly very close. lauren: 37,8011 is the intraday

high. stuart: i'm really interested in this story from hertz. they are selling most of their electric vehicle fleet. i call that a huge setback if for biden's green ev push. lauren: i always tell the story i go to san francisco in the middle of the night, they don't have the car that i rented, and i had to get in a city i didn't know in the middle of the night night the a tesla. i know that's exciting for some people, let's rent something fun and new that looks so cool. i was so scared. i couldn't use the car, i didn't know when i would need to charge it, how i would charge it or where i would charge it. so why would you put evs when people are on vacation in the hands of drivers who just want to, like, enjoy themselves and not have to worry? it didn't work out. stuart: not. they thought it was going to grow can, and it didn't. stuart: they're selling one-third of their battery electric fleet or 20,000 vehicle. customers aren't ready. and it was too extensive to -- expensive to fix them. stuart: is this a huge blow to the ev push? >> yet another block that has been pushed out of the wall

that's been knocked out of there. two weeks ago ford announced they're cutting their electric the pickup production in half, right? lauren: yeah. >> so, yeah, this is finish. stuart: how many people who two to the iowa caucuses go in an electric vehicle when the temperature's -10? lauren: the battery would just sap. >> it just saps it. stuart: you've got a problem right there. bitcoin rallying after finish it's called the spot etfs, they were approved. i'm guessing that crypto stocks have done well as well. lauren: crypto celled, that's what i'm calling it. -- crypto cred. coinbase, and one of the reasons you like them, the custodian of 8 of the 11 bitcoin etfs that were approved by the sec last night. that's fees coming in. coinbase was up almost 400% ed last year with, up again by 2% right now. is this a landmark event? absolutely. billions of dollars will be coming into the market. but is this significant? i'm going with, no. there's still little use case for cryptocurrencies, and i

don't think an eetf changes that. stuart: it's an alternative investment that's now made much easier. lauren: yes. stuart: come seem -- some people will be attracted to that. i still think it's a gambling chip, but people will be attracted to it. have i got it wrong? >> no, i would agree, because we haven't yet made the jump where there is institutional buy-in. if the bank of mitsubishi in tokyo needs to transfer $100 million worth of yen to the new york branch and convert it to dollars, you need $100 million worth of yen in tokyo and $100 million dollars. the bank frees up half the the capital, but we haven't made that jump yet. stuart: yeah. but it looks like it's coming. >> i think so. stuart: we've got an energy merger. lauren: chesapeake buying southwestern. chesapeake will be the largest producer, if all is approved, of natural gas.

obviously, the u.s. exports a lot of it. europe needs it because russia has been essentially under the off or frozen. why are we seeing -- aren't we seeing southwestern energy rise when they're being bought? the stock went up a lot last week on reports of this deal. stuart: buy on the rumor, sell on the news. that old expression. adam, you have bought along a stock pick, and it's -- i'm not surprised, nvidia. >> oh, yes, of course. new highs beget new highs. we talk about this a lot, and i bet people are getting sick of it. but here's what i want to point out. the stock making a new all-time high today, there it is, 551, and yet it only trades now at 26 times earnings. remember about a year ago people said, oh, my gosh, it's trading at 80 times earnings, you know? an 80 pe. earnings have gone up 300%, so it's grown into its multiple, now only trades at 26 times which is, arguably, cheap. stuart: where do you see it going? >> oh, i think 675. that's my new target, and probably when we get there, i

will sell some because that's just discipline, and i'll probably raise my target and hold the balance. stuart: unity software. i saw that thing tank a couple of days ago. why do you like it? >> because it's actually come roaring back, and i'll tell you why. this is a company whose software is used in 70% of the online games. a new ceo has come in and is restructure thing it. it tanked because they're laying off 25 of the employees, and they're also changing the way they get paid. but i think it's a net positive. instead of making so much money up front, they'll take less money up front but more on the back end from the gamers when the gamers sell the games to people who play them. stuart: tennessee senator marsha blackburn into abusing a plan that would give the states the power to secure the border. not the feds. i can see a huge court battle over that one. the senator will be here on the program. and chris chris christie caught on a hot mic if trashing his competitors right before

dropping off the race. watch this. >> look, she spent $16 million so far, she's on tv. $59 million by desantis and we spent $12. she's punching above her weight, and she's going to get smoked, and you and i both know it. stuart: would she want christies' endorsement after that? nikki haley is here after this. ♪ ♪ trading at schwab is now powered by ameritrade, unlocking the power of thinkorswim,

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♪ stuart: the the iowa caucuses are just four days away, and republicans are town to five candidates after chris christie suspended his campaign. bill melugin with us now. we had a lot of political action

last night. take us through it, please. >> reporter: stuart, as you mentioned, we're just four days out from the iowa caucuses, and front-runner donald trump isn't able to be here on the ground in iowa today to campaign because stuck in new york city for a hearing in one of his civil cases for that civil fraud trial. a case his supporters say is politically motivated. now, trump was here in des moines last night. take a look at this video. he participated in a fox news town hall with voters who got to ask him questions. the former president saying he's not really concerned about the other candidates in the race. he feels voters no who we are, what he's brought to the table. he did promise to carry out the biggest wave of mass deportations in history if he's elected, and it sounds like he knows who he has in mind for a potential vp pick. take a listen. >> if well, i can't tell you that really. i mean, i know who it's going to be -- >> you could give us a hint. >> we'll do another show sometime. >> what about any of the people who you've run against? would you be open to mending fences -- >> oh, i will, i will.

i've already started to like christie better. >> reporter: and then last night if on another network florida governor ron desantis and former u.n. ambassador nikki haley, they went at each other in a debate that got very heated at times. they were ripping into each other. haley was mocking desantis for not polling strongly and going after him for the way his campaign has been spending money. desantis fired back at her for flip if flopping on positions and called her a, quote, mealy-mouthed politician doing her donors' bidding. here's some of their ec exchange. >> if leadership's about getting things done, how did you blow through $saw 0 million in -- 150 million in your campaign? you are not a manager. new york now i'm going to say -- [inaudible conversations] >> i think i have the floor. >> governor desantis -- [inaudible conversations] >> governor desantis, governor haley has floor. >> what is more important here -- >> governor haley, it's governor haley's time. go ahead. >> i think it hit a nerve.

>> if she says she's never said something, that definitely means she's said it. and then she'll say you're lying, you're lying. not only did she say it, she's on videotape saying it. >> reporter: and. chris:ty announce ifed he is dropping out of the race saying he doesn't see viability moving forward. a chunk of his voters are expected to go to nick key haley who has been polling very well in that state. back to you. institute bill melugin, thanks very much, indeed. republican candidate nikki haley, good to' you. >> good morning from iowa. stuart: if i may, i'd like to get right to the issues with some rapid fire questions and answers, if i may. first, if you're elected, which taxes would you cut? >> we'd definitely make small business tax cuts permanent, we would cut taxes on the middle class, and we would eliminate the federal gas and diesel tax. we would start there. i think that's hugely important.

small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy. we need to start acting like it, and we need to make sure we row the middle class to -- stuart: which taxes? you say middle class taxes. which taxes on the middle class would you cut? >> you want to cut their income taxes. yes. stuart: okay. next one, how would you please the border? -- close the border? >> first of all, i think we have to defund sanctuary cities. i passed the toughest el lisle -- can illegal immigration law in the country with e-verify. we have to do that nationally. every business has to show they're hiring people in this country legally. we'll put 20,000 border patrol and i.c.e. agents on the ground and let them do their job. we will go back to the remain in mexico policy because no one should even step foot on soil, and we'll go to catch and deport. stuart: will you deport those people already here illegally? millions of people. >> absolutely. absolutely. you have to stop the incentive. you can't let them cut the line when people are trying to come here the right way.

stuart: what's your green policy? specifically, would you reverse biden's push for electric vehicles? >> we absolutely need to roll back all of biden's green subsidies including what he's had the epa do. right now the epa cares more about sagebrush lizards than whether we can afford our utility bills. all these bailouts he's done for electric cars, he's forcing people to buy electric cars by 20 pa.. -- 2035. we don't even have the infrastructure for it. electric vehicles are heavy. our roads and bridges wouldn't even be able to handle it if we did it. secondly, 70% of the batteries in electric cars come from china, our number one national security threat. so that's not smart. but thirdly, the biggest reason is don't push people on what they have to do and how they have to live. that's the problem we've had with government the past 8, 10 years is they now think they know better than the people. that's the wrong way to go. if we want to improve the environment, let's transition,

let's partner with the producers on how the best ways are to go about that, and let's hold china and india accountable. stuart: governor, i'm going to roll a clip from last night's debate. watch this, please. >> we don't need another mealy-mouthed politician -- >> rather than have him go and tell you all these lies, you can go to desantis lies.com. >> i debated the governor of california, gavin newsom. i thought he lied a lot, nikki haley -- >> drake university, don't turn this into a drinking game, because you will be overserved. >> she may even be more liberal than gavin newsom. >> his campaign is exploding. stuart: okay, governor. [laughter] who wins when you're calling each other liars and you're talking on top of each other? who wins? >> you know, debates are scrums, and the reason that they're, you know, or as a you get closer to, you know, actual voting day, it's tough to get through that. but that's why we put the desantis lies.com can up there, because literally he's been on t spending millions of dollars with dozens of lies.

and we have fact checkers that have called him out for those lies. so on that web site we go through each lie, we show how the fact checkers said he was wrong, and we thought that the people needed to know that. look, debates are fun, they're a scrum. at the end of the day we're, you know, boxing it out, but we're going to keep fighting for every iowan's vote. stuart: i'm interested in the viewer's point of view. there's a choice here. you could have watched trump appearing alone and instead of a scrum of a debate, you've got trump saying whatever he wants to say appearing calm and moderate. you could say that he won last night's tv appearances, couldn't you? >> well, i could say that i won it two nights before that when i did the town hall and i was doing the one-on-one with bret baier and martha maccallum. look, i mean, debates, when they ask you to do it, that's what you're going to get. at the end of the day, it's hard for people to know, that's why we've been and done over 150 town halls answering every

question, shaking every hand, it's because we want to build the relationship with voters. it's important. they need to feel like they have trust. and they're worried about real issues, and that's why we continue to touch every hand. stuart: governor, i am afraid i'm up against one of these hard breaks, but thank you very much for being on the program. much appreciated, thank you. >> thanks so much. go to nikki haley.com. [laughter] stuart: i knew that was coming. okay, or here's what's coming up for you. the biden administration is defending their push for electric vehicles. the white house announced a $60 million grant to build a -- 600 million grant to build a charging network. are people buying it? if full report next. ♪ charge me up once again. ♪ i'm dancing in your danger zone. ♪ so wired up -- ♪ ♪

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♪ stuart: a ah, the white house announcing a $623 million investment in green energy. gerri willis with us. okay, $623 million, what are they spending that money on in. >> reporter: charging stations, what else? yeah, it's the government's responsibility to pay for that, obviously. stuart, they're taking that money to build out charging stations for electric vehicles. the goal is to nearly triple the number of chargers across the

country. u.s. department of transportation secretary pete buttigieg feels very strongly about the u.s. leading the world in evs. listen to this. >> uh-uh take very personally the importance of the fact that america, who led the world in the automotive revolution, now that we're in the midst of the second automotive revolution it is critical that america do so once more. >> reporter: the money coming from the $2.5 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year. the administration's claiming they're on track to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030. right now only 17,000 charging -- 177,000 charging stations. automakers are struggling to keep pace with installing chargers, and,s perts believe many will fall short in 2024. despite noting that ev prices are coming more in line with price tags on conventional cars, this morning top officials from the administration if pushing the tax incentives americans can receive at a senate hearing this

morning. fewer models are qualifying for credits under the rules taking effect this month. even energy secretary jennifer granholm's car she took on her everything e v tour, the electric cadillac, doesn't qualify for tax incentives anymore. americans continuing to worry about a how practical evs can be regarding battery life, range, and tesla, of course, stu, just last week lowered its own range estimates for teslas. if. stuart: you got it. thank you, gerri. quickly -- >> yes. stuart: the ev push, dying. >> it certainly feeling -- feels like it. i was long charge point, i sold it at 15, i thought i was an idiot, now it's at 2. stuart: and hertz is selling most of hits fleet. >> and ford's cutting production of the pickup truck. stuart: thank you very much, indeed. still ahead, tennessee senator marsha blackburn and ben domenech. the 10:00 hour of "varney "is next. ♪ i'm on my way, driving at

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because a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation. mara, are you sure you don't want -to go bowling with us tonight? -yeah. no. there's my little marzipan! [ laughs ] oh, my daughter gives the best hugs! we're just passing through on our way to the jazz jamboree. [ imitates trumpet playing ] and we wanted to thank america's number-one motorcycle insurer -for saving us money. -thank you. [ laughs ] mara, your parents are -- exactly like me? i know, right? well, cherish your friends and loved ones. stuart: donald trump fresh from his debate last night is appearing outside the new york state courtroom before closing arguments begin. >> all she think about his get trump. it is not the way states should

be run. estate that is in big trouble. the people that play -- pay taxes are people that don't pay taxes, that's not what you want. we have a news conference today, don't know the time. we give a news conference. if it is not they don't want to speak too much. thank you very much. stuart: donald trump walking into the court room where he will not be allowed to speak in his own defense. down and wall street, he will be able to say what he wishes to say. coming up on 10:00 eastern time, starting with your money, what' s happening as we speak.

we've got a modest loss for the dow industrials down 58 points, the nasdaq holding on to a 5 point again. the 10 year treasury yield, where is that, right at 4.02%. the price of oil $73 a barrel and bitcoin, they okayed a batch of etfs using bitcoin, gone up to $48,600. now this. the president wants to reassure his supporters that he's up to the job. how does he do that when his public appearances have been less than reassuring, the washington post reports he's holding a series of private lunches with top donors and supporters. he has to handhold the powerful. jeffrey katzenberg is co-chair of the campaign that's holding these, 4 to 8 attend, those with money and political c