david: trade in the twinkies and you get the hat and cane. melissa: i am melissa francis. i am here and ready, here is what is "money" tonight. israel building up brings on the border, palestinians could be inevitable, we have every angle covered from here to the front lines. plus we will get some real answers of the fiscal cliff, one of president reagan's former advisors is here with the top three things that has to be done. and turning thoughts into profit. they're one of fully legal in two states, investors are clamoring to get in on the party. we have a fox business exclusive with the ceo who says his company is at an all time high since it went legit and it may

not be a good thing. even when they say it is not, it is all about "money." all right, first a look at the market headlines. wall street recovers from last, the dow closing up 207-point. all 30 dow components closed in the green. helped in part by solid housing reports. in some big news from one of the tech giants after almost 40 years with the company, intel ceo paul otellini will be retiring in may. his board says they have not yet chosen a successor. stocks closing virtually unchanged. and there could be a black friday blackout at wal-mart if workers threaten to strike in the busiest shopping day of the year. employees say the walkout over the plan to open at 8:00 p.m. on thanksgiving day.

wal-mart shares closing up slightly. now to our top story. is israel on the brink of war? the country is mobilized 75,000 reservists as they prepare themselves for a possible ground invasion against a terrorist group. tanks and troops are lined up at the gaza border and reports of more than 20 people killed just today. so for the death toll is more than 100. this report filed from the gaza border. >> this is a rocket that came through the concrete roof of a major school, high school and embedded itself down on the ground, this is a bench where students would normally sit. it is now peppered with shrapnel. like this, which obviously destroyed the bench, easily could have killed a student. we have the sirens going, we will keep going. this area was hit once before.

we will keep moving, we will grab this. keep coming this way. we are going inside, all inside, this is where it's really students would be hiding if of course they had been in school today. we just heard explosions overhead, and that was really close. we literally just got to the scene and the rockets you heard inside the bomb shelter, this is where the rocket hit. you can see the explosion through the cement wall. there is a horrible smell of explosives in the air. this is what it did to a concrete walkway. you can imagine what would have gone to to any person who didn't take shelter. only about 20 seconds or so to get inside. a kids bike mangled from the rocket. thankfully the kid is still alive to write it. melissa: wow, amazing.

israel has major political and financial ramifications worldwide, fox news middle eastern expert joins us with more on this. how close do you think we are to full scale war? watching the pictures and listen to that story and everything we've seen develop in the last few days, what do you think? >> we're close the first chapter of a much wider confrontation with tens of thousands of soldiers. the air force is ready, basically going after the headquarters. when hamas is sending missiles and rockets to areas, this is a prelude to the confrontation. the real question is will israel across that line and invade fully? or will hamas continue for a long period of time? there is no gain, they cannot occupy or even leave gaza.

a launching pad existing inside the gaza strip are taken out. melissa: what tipped them over the scale? the real question is do they go in, full scale war, what to the scale and where does that leave us? >> that is a very good question. most are focusing on what would push the israelis to do a move on the ground. it is not just the enemy that is in front of them. they know they have tanks, heavy materials, all the good technologies to do so, but they want to make sure. the united states will be with them. melissa: are we? >> president obama made a statement which any u.s. president would make, we're with you against hamas. he did not make a statement of who should go in. that is in the gray area. israelis are concerned, what would egypt do?

we have a muslim brotherhood leader, will he actually actively support hamas or just verbally? also to be seen. melissa: you stay behind all of this iran has a hand in this as well. >> they have been there the last five or six days, there is a consensus amongst analysts that if the iranian regime has been pushing radical, they give them all the support to start showing on israel. they will be retaliating and of course hamas will retaliate. iran is under sanctions, you and i have discussed this for many weeks. i want to pay attention to the israeli conflict. the ally of iran is under tremendous pressure. they want to draw attention to the gaza conflict. melissa: we have to focus on the money angle. what we're looking at right

here, we have invested in the iron dome. what does the world think of us investing in that, >. >> the capacity will be invented fast. but of course this costs money. the united states and israel have an agreement by which we ship technology, we send them cash, have a working relationship with them. the real question with regard to the economy is i that we don't support the israelis, with the other side can do is this. if this gaza situation goes out of control, and might have g. hottest already shooting against israel. and from the suez canal. that would be a terrible thing to happen.

with maritime medications would occur. melissa: it all comes back to oil and the suez canal as well. thank you for coming on. fox news is live on the ground right now, david, what are you seeing? >> as best we know at this hour, top ministries and the israeli government continue to discuss the cease-fire agreement so far no word on how far along they might be true t to reduce some f a deal, as the talks continue, so the bloodshed. a total of more than 1400 israeli airstrikes in gaza amongst most recent targets, the stadium where the militants were launching rockets, the militants using his vacation center.

but her palestinians killed, among them, 11 people were killed over the weekend. all members of the same family killed during a single air strike, israel said was result of targeting a home where a rocket mastermind worth the militants had been living. the fire power continues today. there have been 100 rocket attacks, roughly 50% of them little less than that have been intercepted, two of them hit schools and results could been catastrophic. there were no injuries because school is closed because of the ongoing conflict. also worth noting, there were no rockets fired in the direction. now let's go back live. off in the distance, the red light blinking, the iron dome

defense system. one of the batteries to shoot down the rockets coming in from gaza. don't genote that this is very . one of the accepted missiles after it exploded knocking out one of those rockets fired from gaza. if you look at this comment is all twisted metal now, couple of cameras on this in a great deal of electronics. these cost thousands and thousands of dollars, upwards of $40,000. the israelis say the iron dome system has actually saved millions of dollars of damage on the ground, more importantly it has saved countless lives. meanwhile, the policy efforts continue as do the plans and preparations for what ight be a ground assault if diplomacy fails. melissa: look at what you have in your hand, we're also looking at pictures of children crying.

it called for immediate cease-fire. try to help with negotiations, but from where you stand and what you're looking at, does it seem like diplomacy could prevail before things get worse? >> has a 50/50 shot. both sides are very close to an agreement. some said they have 90% of a deal done. not entirely clear what hamas into the proposals on the table. if you look at the chief speaking in cairo today, in part the peace talks arguably a great deal for the domestic audience in gaza suggesting some goals have been achieved, and if there is a cease-fire, perhaps lay the groundwork for that earlier today. not entirely clear.

the next 24-48 hours, it is almost certain. melissa: thank you for your report, please be careful. so here is our question of the day, wit will be israel-gaza conflict escalate into a ground war? would lovwe would love to hear u have to say. time now for the fuel gauge report, crude oil futures rallied today closing at a one-month high. tensions in the mideast drive in the cost up nearly $90 per barrel. we will keep an eye on that situation for the latest. iran announcing they have begun construction on a $10 billion pipeline that will bring natural gas to their key ally, syria. iran's state-run news agency says construction will be finished by the second half of 2013. drivers might get some relief at the pump just in time for thanksgiving. aaa reports the national average

for a gallon of regular gas has dropped by more than a quarter. $3.41. what a deal. aaa estimates 40 million people hit the road this holiday weekend. next on "money," we are creating headfirst toward the financial cliff. all that talk and no walk is not getting us anywhere. we were in the top economic advisors here with the three things president obama has to do to save us all. and the twinkie is dead, but who killed america's sweetest cowboy? i think it is the unions fault, but somebody is here to disagree with me. more "money" and no twinkies coming up. i always wait until the last minute.

can i still ship a gift in time r christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.

melissa: okay, we have some news breaking for you, moody's is downgrading france government bond rating. what they're saying is pain and negative outlook, saying the long-term economic growth outlook is negatively affected by a bunch of things including gradual sustained

competitiveness and long-standing service market. they're talking about france, but we will see. the fiscal outlook is uncertain as result of the deteriorating economic prospects. that is moody's on france downgrading their government bond. it was a good day on wall street, the stock market climbing across the board, dow closed up more than 200 points. even with the fiscal cliff looming over our head. so what gives? let's ask jonathan hoenig. fox news contributor. jonathan, have to ask you to react to the news breaking right now about movies. but the deteriorating economic prospects. it is that some to you? >> it was the euro, plunging on the news.

not to be too surprised. we've seen it blow up in greece and ramifications of the big spending high regulation high taxes even some more well-established countries like france. it is nice to see some green on our screen at home but a downgrade from france could ratchet back up by tomorrow morning as well. melissa: do you think we have had losses through much of this election as people realize if you make money in the stock market it to be taken away anytime soon? what do you think motivated today's games? speaker you are right, we've had some of the worst postelection selloffs ever. market dropped 5% in just seven days, we are seeing some bounce back in hopes of the resolution. there are claims of dollars on the sidelines that is not being invested in not productive

because of economic purposes but specifically because of political purposes the journal had an interesting article noting 40 of the largest companies in the country are putting up spending plans directly due to washington, d.c. i'm a little worried despite today's run-up you have more 52-week lows versus new 52-week highs. i'm not sure this will be enough to push us above 1400 dow. melissa: we are getting the news about france that puts any continuation of the rally in jeopardy at the same time talk about this later. looking down the road, clearly becoming europe's. if you feel like the market and economy going to helena handbasket but you have to take care to protect your company's assets, what do you do? >> don't be guided by your feelings. emotions are not tools of condition.

if you think with your head, not so much your heart. there is opportunity. lot of value-oriented areas in the market. names like canon, east w. j. is one of them to consider. we're betting against bonds, budding inflation will rear its ugly head. we're buying bonds that actually goes up with lost magistrates. more than anything, void the instinct to make all or nothing decisions when it comes to her portfolio. those type of decisions you will regret later on. i think it is a bad idea to put in your house certainly. whether it is beanie babies or nasdaq or anything else, all or nothing is doomed to fail. melissa: i feel better, thank you. president about tapping into some of the nations top executives hoping to get more

input on how to avoid going over the fiscal cliff, you president spoke to a handful of chief executives including jpmorgan chase jimmy diamond, apple can cook, costco ceo, i'm sure they'll have some great insight. but guess what, one of president reagan's top economic advisors says we have already fallen off the cliff, so now what? art laffer here with a few things president obama has to do right now. thank you for coming on. you heard everything we have been talking about so far. we hear about france being downgraded, is that where we are headed? >> yes, that is where we are headed. he was really great. we are moving in that direction, obviously. melissa: we're looking at a shot of him celebrating. i can see that. he really is good.

melissa: let me ask you, the three things president obama has to do right now putting politics aside to sort of save the day for us financially. these growth rates, they sound fantastic but how do you do that? >> you extend all the tax cuts, not just on the ones with lower income, but for all people. you really can't raise taxes and job creators and expect to get more jobs. honestly that is not the way it works. then what he should do is postpone all the obama scare tax increases and then cut government spending. those three things are the only way i know that would really increase executive growth to the u.s. a lot of this has already happened, people have shifted income out of 2013 and 22,000, which means we will drop off, it is going to happen. it shouldn't have. melissa: you say we have already

fallen off the cliff, what is your reasoning for that? we saw wal-mart paying a dividend this year rather than next year. but people can avoid that tax hike. speaker that is why spending is drop in capital goods with you 100% right off in expenses. who wouldn't buy the capital ahead of time and have it all done and have next year no new capital purchases? everybody's getting away money to their kids and grandkids, can give away $5 million per person. next year $1 million in the tax rate goes from 35% this year after the 5 million to 55% after the 1 million next year. i can go on and on and on. exercising stock options, selling off assets of capital gains and reinvesting. all those things are happening. unfortunately. they have been happening for quite some time.

i'm sorry to say a lot of it is baked in already. melissa: it feels like it. this comment a short time ago and i want to get your reaction to it. >> we're in a fundamentally different and better placed than europe, but let's not kid ourselves, it is a rollback from where we are on. we are here, knowledgeable, full warned. this could be political will do something. melissa: that is so depressing on the heels of breaking news about the fact france got downgraded by moody's again, a sustained loss of competitiveness. how do we break out of that? help me feel better about this. what can we do to break out of that? >> you do simpson-bowles and cut spending dramatically. low rate, flat tax. spending restraint.

sound money, really change the fed's attitude. and then you need to have re-trade. melissa: people say the reason why france is in his troubles because they have imposed austerity, everybody uses europe to make their argument. if we have to cut spending, the other side points to europe and says that is why they are in that mess. what is your answer to that? >> they are wrong. [laughter] they are wrong. two people, the world of two people. that is the whole world. if you give the former unemployment benefits, who do you think pays for them? government spending is taxation, pure and simple. the reason we have the great recession is because of the stimulus programs, not in spite of them. government spending has caused this economy. i keep trying to tell everybody that, but that is what happened

to the great depression, clinton was a great president because he cut government spending. melissa: we will make t-shirts that start saying that and we will start selling them. we have to get the message out. thank you for coming on. >> the french don't have a word for entrepreneur anymore. melissa: i love it, i love it. we will keep the t-shirt symbol. the twinkie taking his last breath. i say the union is responsible for the demise. our next guest is here to disagree with me. stick around for this one. the company stock is on fire since legalizing pot in colorado and washington. you ever have too much "money"? [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro.

melissa: earlier today host is having to think of to cour the r permission to officially liquidate its assets. the maker of cookies and wonder bread closes doors lest the management in the bakery union failed to reach an agreement. a short while ago we learned hostess and the bakers have agreed to mediate, but all is not yet solved in the twinkie world. are the unions to blame for all this? my next guest is back to disagree with me. i can't wait to hear your opening argument, seems pretty cut and dry to me. they went out to strike. they said if you do this, we don't have the money to continue. and that is exactly what happened. and welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me,

melissa. looking not just at yesterday's news, but take a look at hostess. huge concessions from working men and women and go into bankruptcy. let me preface this by saying i don't think the unions didn't make mistakes but let's look at management. the "chicago tribune" editorialized about the executives shortsighted and taken money out of the company. they have an older product, they haven't marketed it and yet we blame men and women for closing the plant? there's enough blame to go around. i hope through this mediation the unions with her two brothers and sisters that were able to negotiate a deal and they can work something out but i will not blame the demise of hostess on workers. melissa: the unions forcing him to do business in a way that wasn't profitable and in these discussions that is what it always comes down to. post is paid out $100 million in health benefits retirees into a fund for over half of the workers in the fund were not from hostess.

the union rules also, this is one of the things that drives people crazy. they were forced to deliver in separate trust bread and sweets to keep people employed. even when the trucks were going to the same place, so forcing them to operate in a way that helped make them lose money. >> that is the unions with the drivers. melissa: i'm talking about everybody. >> they were critical of the bakers union for going on strike, that is what i said to this union would get together with that union and talk about moving forward, i think that would work. but it is not true to say the union shut down hostess. they have been in bankruptcy since 2009, they have not innovated their products were done capitalistic things that have succeeded in the marketplace and are getting outrun by their competitors. that is what drove the market company down. melissa: now they're going to shut down and sell off the land piece by piece and someone else

is going to open up a business and make a key somewhere else and you can bet your bottom dollar they will do it without the union so at the end of the day to the unions do a service to their men and women that they're supposed to be representing? >> speak articulate a position o have to ask them for wages because the abuse of executives before them. that did not make the news when detectives were pulling money out and not investigated the company. i don't know anybody who reported on that. when workers stand up and say we want a fair deal, that is all over the news that the union has sunk the company. as a lot of fault to be thrown around. let's hope they can work with them as well. melissa: you don't disagree with me, you can say that on "disagree with me," that is the point of the segment. we hope you come back next week. we will find something else to fight about. thank you so much.

up next, marijuana has become a real cash crops in two states decided to make it legal. a ceo who is questioning whether his own company is worth what it is trading for. very interesting. piles of money and marijuana coming up. ♪

[ engine revs ]

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle that's just right for you, no matter which list you're on. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease a 2013 c250 for $349 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer.

melissa: we have some more breaking news, robert gray has more on the french downgrade story. what do you have? >> triple-a rating being stripped by the movies rating service. now coming out in responding to this, acknowledging the downgrade of france saying government reforms and repair the economy and says the economy is large and diversified, goes on to say the french debt is among the most liquid in the

euro zone and of course comes after the moody's downgrade again stripping france of the aaa ratings cutting it by one notch. we also heard from a citigroup currency analysts say it may not take too much. expected to take too much although the euro falling versus the dollar. in after-hours trading. back to you. melissa: robert gray, thank you very much. can a stock be too high? which is a dispense medicine based on fingerprint scans skyrocketed by a store and how to invest and legalize marijuana. searching 3000% last week from $4 such as monday to $250 before falling back to back $50 per share. if you could be great news for the companies and shareholders, but the ceo is a little concerned. with me now, welcome to the show. first of all what do you think is a fair price of the stock?

what do you think the right price is? >> thank you for having me, melissa. to answer honestly, don't know what a fair price is because it has been all over the board. we are not $2.4 billion company, but up above 200. we are uniquely positioned in the marketplace as leaders. really most successful industry consultant, and we have some very creative and technology that enables the medicine to be inventory control, stored and dispensed the safest, most secure. melissa: what we are seeing is obviously marijuana has been legalized in washington and colorado at the same time we have seen 500 of the estimated 3000 dispense rates nationwide have been shut down because of the large part because of problems dispensing medication.

you have a machine that allows people to get it with their fingerprints. do you think this is something that will catch on? >> i believe so. not just medical marijuana industry but also in the traditional pharmaceutical industry. we are poised to really offer some creative value and amazing economics for the additional retail pharmaceutical industry as well. anytime you can validate and verify and be transparent and control inventory, controlled substances that you really need to be significantly considered. melissa: how much interest do you have? do you see your business doubling, what do you have? it is difficult to value your business. >> we don't have a large float. all of the present coverage we have received has been obviously

even on your show today, "wall street journal" has made a few articles on our behalf or about us, should say, and all since the election. i believe medical marijuana and marijuana in general needs to be discussed on a national level because significant impact on the economy read from an honest discussion about what medical marijuana can do for the economy. it is healing all the way around. not just for businesses, but for taxes and everybody else. melissa: back to surgery or whatever it is you're doing, thank you very much. >> thank you. melissa: he may be new to politics they knows a lot about the world profession. a brothel owner turned county commissioner. bui bet you can guess what state that is in.

at the end of the day it is all about "money." can i help you?

i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office.

melissa: so here's something you don't hear everyday. a brothel owner is the new politician. he is the owner of the famous mustang ranch outside of reno and recently elected story county commissioner with an overwhelming 62% of the vote. the coniferous brothel owner to be elected to public office since prostitution was legalized in 1971. joining me now in a fox business exclusive. thank you so much for coming on the show. we want to acknowledge or accomplished businessman, you have a lot of different businesses, small fraction of it. do you really buy a brothel on ebay? >> yes, ma'am. i purchased it on ebay for the federal government 147,000 moved four and a half miles to a new location.

melissa: what kind of a return on that investment have you seen? >> it will be significant. yes, ma'am. i bought the trademarks which is quite valuable, but we didn't buy the property. the assets ranch was so famous as far as a trademark is concerned a lot of fun. melissa: you a very keen sense for this, but for voters at all concerned about the fact you were involved in legalized prostitution? >> state of nevada, brothels are very accepted industry, is only the outside world where people are fascinated with the legal side of prostitution, but really it had nothing to do with election. i ran a platform of business. i developed for communities of 2500 acres or larger, have done two of them in nevada.

i have been a harley dealer, construction, built the headquarters for at&t, my 40 years of business life has been in community building and i must tell you in nevada our brothel life and those that are well run and operated really don't get that much. melissa: are all wrapped up in this petraeus scandal. sex makes everyone go haywire. your opponents did not try to make any negative ads related to it? >> in the state of nevada it is legal, everybody on the outside of the state looks at the legal side of the industry. but in the state of nevada in story county and only in counties where it is legal, so no ma'am read i. it is not an inflamed issue.

melissa: it is hard for us to imagine somebody electing somebody who ran a production company or something. even though that is a legal industry as well. oh ticket and get attention. what is the number one thing you will do know that you are in office? >> it has the second-largest tourist center in virginia city. for mark twain came from. we are mining gold. huge reserves of gold and silver. at one time it was the wealthiest place on earth is moving back in that direction. indicate industrial center, which is the part i own and develop, largest industrial park in the united states today. that is where apple just associated and located here recently. we have fortune 100 companies, 130 companies, 12 million feet in eight years, i have done

those, that is why was elected as commissioner. that is how i'm going to take care of my folks. melissa: would announce a run for president, will you come on my show first? >> anytime, i love you. melissa: i hope you come back. this is a city officials may have banned public nudity, but there is some reasonable exceptions. thank goodness. all the details you need to know next. you can never have too much "money." you can have too much public nudity though, i think.

a to in time for a little fun with spare change. we are joined weight david asman and lori rothman. the city of san francisco is trying to ban nudity. can you imagine? necessary exemptions, preschoolers can still go diaperless. and san francisco has a run that can do naked that is still

eligible. [talking over each other] >> by the way, one of the people against this says the officials want to turn the city back into the dark ages of body shame and fear. [laughter] is by putting something between your rear end and the feet. melissa: that smart. a lot of people that we see in the video this should be ashamed. >> did you see the san francisco official names? this is a big joke in the article. why is it that the people who choose to be nudists are always

unattractive? melissa: i just don't know. it's never a good thing. next story. american stowaway $282 million of uneaten turkey at thanksgiving. that is about 204 million pounds of meat. >> not at my house. >> we eat the whole thing. >> how the heck do they know? are they going through my garbage? >> turkey is one of those foods that is delicious a diversified internet has diminishing returns. sweet potatoes and cranberries and all that. >> thanksgiving was all right. the reason why they do this, they say that for every pound of turkey, so many talents of carbon dioxide that you're