foxbusiness.com/"risk & reward." thanks for joining us today. melissa francis is here. morn any starts now. melissa: absolutely. dictators two, america, zilch? values we cherish thrown by the wayside for what? russia's economy is in sham peltz. it is not stopping vladmir putin pouncing on america's weak moment. his three-hour long news conference lambasting the west as his popularity in russia soars. very same fed policy driving markets to new highs, we're up 300 points now, driving a divide between the haves and have-nots. even when they say it's not it is actually always about money. melissa: deja vu all over again with another very impressive rally on wall street right now.

is consist was this time yesterday the fed was not in a rush to raise investors -- interest rates. crude reversing earlier gains after jumping 3%. the yield on 10-year jumping to 2.21% from 2.14 late yesterday as demand for safe haven government debt declined. look at that. market the rallying in the wake of a banner day for dictators the world over. starting in cuba, where president obama out of nowhere through in the towel for 50-year battle for human rights and handing over spies as senator marco rubio said in exchange for nothing as we prove we are literally the worst negotiators of all time. on the other side of the globe other brutal dictator also completely vindicated. kim jong-un, now the biggest

power broker in hollywood. he controls sony pictures. he shuts down release of what can only be described as a really silly movie. the strongest military force on the planet, really? can't protect a movie theater where a ridiculous comedy is playing? our culture, our values, freedoms, even capitalism itself handed to dictators on a platter making america the laughingstock and easy target to hackers, terrorists and despots everywhere. here now, bret baier host of fox news's "special report." tell me where i went wrong with all of that? >> melissa, you share views of a lot of people in washington and i think definitely across the country who are frustrated a little twit how the government and our government responded mainly to the sony picture thing. first of all the that the movie was able to be shut down and there hasn't been a definitive response from the administration or at least they haven't ow lined that is pretty striking.

it is not the government's job to tell sony what to do and not do but it is it is interesting that the response has not been more significant. secondly, let me just say about cuba. it is much more mixed on that front. there are cuban americans in florida, younger, mostly, who welcome this shift. many are opposed to it including senator marco rubio and others who say i ace sad day for democracy and freedom. a sad day than the sony situation which is pretty cut and dry. melissa: what was the benefit to the u.s.? i understand we got one innocent american back although they say that wasn't part of the deal. but what is in it for the u.s.? because we do look so much weaker it feels like from here? >> i mean, two, one spy, who worked for the u.s. was released and also alan gross, the aid

worker. on the big picture, as far as normalizing relations. that is the question mark what does the u.s. get? this is something the castro brothers have wanted for more than five decades. one would think that would come with a lot of leverage. melissa: right. >> what was negotiated and what exactly is going to happen on the ground i think there is a lot of skepticism. , just looking at regime and how it operated in the past that it comes to the table with real reforms for cuba. this place is caught in the '50s, essentially. i have been there six times. it operates on a black market of u.s. dollars. it may open itself up for many business opportunities but right now at least, all of that goes through the cuban government. melissa: you know, it feels like from a policy point of view, from outside of washington that the president is trying to to make history and say i ended the war in afghanistan, we

normalized cuba, i'm closing gitmo. like he is checking a list off. whether or not it is the right choice at this point. is there, does anyone in washington share that point of view? >> i think so. you heard the phrase, lunging at legacy here. i think that is fair to say. i do, in defense of the president obama, say that there is, this has been in his playbook for a long time. since he was elected he has looked to ease travel restrictions and ease economic remittances to cubans and talking about when this day would come. kind of surprise in the timing. congress has left. you have the deputy secretary of state who was just confirmed by the senate who incidentally told the senate, that they would be fully informed if something like this was to happen. melissa: bret baier, thank you so much for your time. we really appreciate it. >> okay. have a good day. melissa: i want to bring in the

rest of my panel for more reaction. charlie business's charlie gasparino. mat welch, co-host of "the independents." we want to talk about the money of this situation because that is the name of the show. let me play sound bite from megyn kelly from jimmy kimmel and talking about what we should do financially from this front. >> it is deeply troubling. the more i think about it the only message back has to be from the american consumer. what are we going to do, cut off relations with north korea? oh, wait. will we send a stern message to kim jong-un he will understand. >> he doesn't even speak english. >> probably not. what can we do? whether you like idea of this picture or like the actors or sony or not the american people have to act with their pocketbooks, bying movie, three of them on dvd, ordering pay-per-view. release it in some fashion where american people have final say. melissa: hit us where it really

hurts. >> listening to your monologue i wasn't sure what country i live in. melissa: really. >> the obama administration has nothing with deciding a private company not airing the movie. as much as criticize president obama on economic policy, it isn't his fault. melissa: they wouldn't provide a backstop? what is the president of the united states supposed to do? a private company making a decision. i think it is stupid but what is he going to do? cuba, rich, we're almost the same age. you remember detente. the we broke bread with people that ran gulags. when they saw, when russian citizens came to the united states as part of detente, peaceful coexistence, they saw how we lived and forced and wanted change. that ain't a bad thing for cuba. those people have been in economic, sort of, been in serfdom now for 50 years. it might be a good time for where we just help them. i'm not saying give them money to fidel castro. melissa: you don't think that makes us weaker as a result of

caving to dictators. >> we caved? we're talking to. we're talking to. melissa: we absolute liquefied. we pulled the movie. >> we. who is we? sony is we? do i work for sony? melissa: we talked about this last week the fact government, not that this is necessarily good idea but the government backstops with insurance things like super bowl against terror. >> government won't back -- i, come on. >> i disagree with charles, both points you're making. number one this, is foreign power attacking attempting to destroy a private company. that is a matter of concern to the american government. this is just outrageous. like hitler reaching into this country saying charlie chaplin can't make fun of him. on cuba reasonable people can disagree on embargo. if you look at reagan's opening towards the soviets when they were really undertaking significant reforms. and business -- >> rich, i was talking about detente and that was nixon. >> and that didn't work. that didn't work.

>> let adam -- >> can not give the castro brothers sue dan land. we gave away really bad prisoners, that stinks. we got two good guys back. that is a good thing. they haven't wanted to get rid of embargo, why? only piece of propaganda that works. no one believes a worth coming out of their mouth. this is only piece of propaganda. that is now gone. they coughed up 53 political prisoners although they can rearrest them oral. >> they want this to happen because venezuela, their sugar daddy is collapsing. >> government of cuba needs a new lifeline. not us giving them money. we're allowing cubans to access to money that does not come from the cuban government. melissa: why are americans unhappy about that? marco rubio. >> you heard what bret said. i talked to many cuban-americans. he is right about the older cuban-americans are dead-set

against this they lived in oppressive state that castro created and escaped. a lot of younger cubans, even conservative cubans, what is harm of normalizing relations where we can show them. people hate castro. he is hanging on -- melissa: talk about sony before we run out of time. it feels like assault on capitalism. you say assault on the company. >> it's a stupid decision by a stupid -- who is we? sony in this state is the culture of free speech. all of us have been remiss. we've been letting our own culture of free speech in this country over last decade especially really go into retreat. whether not printing mohammed cartoons during the danish controversy shuddering the south park cartoons. we have been in retreat. up to all of us, giving into criticism. >> this company was destroyed. no longer able to operate as a 21st century company. people couldn't use emails and couldn't use computers. they had to go to pencil and paper.

that wasn't free speech issue. that was attack by agents of a foreign government. melissa: we lost our first cyber war. we are weaker. >> we? melissa: we are as country are weaker that we lost our first cyber war. >> i don't know. i listen, i'm not worried about the fact that you know, some, korean government will hack into my emails. melissa: you're not? you're not? i am. >> it was a tariffs. threat. >> what if, what if. they didn't. they didn't. >> they did, they hacked in. melissa: we got to go. we'll keep fighting through the commercial. >> doesn't matter to anyone else, a foreign power. >> of course it does, but what is president obama going to do about it? nothing. melissa: i don't know, protect the american public. coming up little early on wall street and playing the role of santa, this year none other than fed chair janet yellen around not just good for women. it is good for business. the plea from youtube ceo urging corporate america not to leave moms behind. more "money" coming up. ♪ ♪ (holiday music is playing)

hey! i guess we're going to need a new santa ♪(the music builds to a climax.) more people are coming to audi than ever before. see why now is the best time. audi will cover your first month's payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. visit audioffers.com today.

melissa: breaking news right now. fox news confirmed us air

strikes killed several leaders of isis forces in iraq. general martin dempsey telling "wall street journal" that three key islamic state leaders were killed in recent weeks. jolly white-haired figure bringing holiday cheer to wall street. of course we're talking about janet yellen, not santa claus. the fed's patient outlook putting stocks in rally mode for the second straight day. take a look at that, almost 300 points. things not so merry with oil after flirting with $60 earlier today. lori rothman is here to discuss this with charlie gasparino and doug holtz-eakin, director and president of the american action forum. doug, let me start with you, what do you think of the big plunge in oil? >> look this is a really good news story in the end. it reflects the fact that u.s. production has broken pricing power of opec. the saudis took a look at emergence of u.s. as largest producer of liquid fuels and decided they need market share,

not high prices and keep pumping. this is not temporary. this is change in the global markets and this is important. melissa: i covered oil a long time. in summer it was $147 a barrel. this is sea change. peak oil is never going back down. even though it feels like something real is going on forgive me if i'm skeptical. >> something real is going on. it may not be $60 a barrel forever but it is not going to be 100, 120. it's a different world. >> our lack of dependence is real with fracking and things of that nature this is big stuff. i've been with you when it is high, everyone says we're done, we're finished. melissa: peak oil. >> this is interesting from this standpoint and conservatives hate this, but get on the bandwagon a little bit here. very low inflation because of oil. the fed will not raise interest rates. weak growth and put that all

together markets go up. melissa: markets go up and but we leave some folks in the wake. we'll talk about that. fracking is being slammed that the health and environmental concerns outweigh benefits. defending his decision, acting health commissioner compared risks of fracking to second-hand smoke. lori, to you, there is no documented instances of adverse health effects ever linked to fracking or groundwater contamination for more than a million wells. >> one of the risks was noise, it would be too loud. melissa: well. >> here is the thing so outrageous about this new york fracking ban. marcellus shale crosses new york and western pennsylvania. fragging is not only legal in pennsylvania but thriving in the keystone state. accounting for tens of thousands of peoples jobs and billions of dollars to the economy. people in western new york looking over the border to pennsylvania neighbors how are we not able to take advantage this prosperity.

>> don't look past the political story here. andrew cuomo, andrew cuomo wants to be president of the united states some day. he is bowing to the lefty, environmentalists part of the party. that is exactly what he is doing here. here is the thing i asked ken langone, who headed something republicans for cuomo, what were you thinking? this guy is a lefty. lefty -- melissa: republicans for cuomo. >> i'm not kidding you. he head ad group called republicans for cuomo to help get andrew cuomo reelected. melissa: with t-shirts they would get stoned walking down the street with that. >> he came out against fracking after the election. he was really on the fence before, cuomo. >> right. melissa: this video of youtube making a strong case for paid maternity leave claiming policy is better for bottom line. in "the wall street journal" op ed, susan hails the 18 week standard at google saying quote it is much better for google's bottom line to avoid costly

turnover and have perspectives of our employees who are mothers. doug, kick this to you first not because you're a woman but because you're an economist. 18 weeks. four 1/2 months, somebody who has been out on maternity leave twice, four 1/2 months you have somebody doing your job for you while you're gone. i don't know. go ahead. >> i would say, number one i love the fact this is coming out of the private sector. this isn't some sort of a government mandate on them. this is how it should happen. they should decide whether it work for them or not. all the evidence if you have get big interruption in people's work careers, productivity suffers. it is balancing act whether you want to let people stay out four 1/2 months or not. melissa: lori, what do you think of someone like myself and been out on maternity leave from more, we know from our own staffs when somebody does someone's job four 1/2 months you get to the new person. >> i was out myself twice an maternity leave and you have to claw back a little bit. it isen is challenging. obvious answer is of course

companies in the private sector and public sector for that matter should offer fraternity leave. i'm on side of companies. it is company's prerogative to determine whether they provide that benefit. melissa: charlie gasparino extremely quiet. >> anything i say might get in trouble. i would say this. melissa: thank goodness. >> i believe that talented women should cut the best deal possible. as part of that deal with the company is i get four months off when i have a kid, so be it. i think that is what google is saying. saying its workforce of women is talented enough they want to keep them around. they might be out for four months, claw back, whatever they do to get back but that the is deal they want to cut with people to keep them there from stopping them going to apple or wherever. melissa: okay. thanks, guys. well-played, charlie. >> -- everything i said. melissa: you're probably getting a starbucks gift card. how lattes became ultimate stocking-stuffer for calf teen addicts everywhere. if you think economic prices would keep this guy down, then

you don't know vlad. putin takes the big stage, as brash and popular as ever! smart money coming up. ♪ ♪

you don't need to think about the energy that makes our lives possible. because we do. we're exxonmobil and powering the world responsibly is our job. because boiling an egg... isn't as simple as just boiling an egg. life takes energy. energy lives here.

melissa: vladmir putin, taking to the mic for nearly three hours in his annual address to the country. the timing couldn't be worse as russia faces some serious economic issues from a plunging ruble to oil prices dipping below $60 a barrel. despite it all the russian president assuring his country, we'll be back on their feet in no time. of course he did blame the united states for their problems. go to the panel for more. peter brookes here from the heritage foundation. a senior fellow.

rich lowery is back with us as well. he had a lot of gems in this speech. i want to play one in particular for you. giving the one about the bear and berries. let's listen to that. >> translator: maybe the bear should sit quietly rather than chasing wild boar, bigger and small than the tiger and switch to eating berries and honey. will he be left in peace then? no way, they won't leave him in peace. they will keep trying to chain him. as soon as he is chained his fangs and claws will be pulled. melissa: what? >> privilege of the dictatorship. do a three-hour rambling speech with extended bear metaphor. every advantage that he could. melissa: to me, when you sit out there and you sort of go on and on and the bear and the claws and u.s. and whatever as your currency is plunging, your coffers are emptying, oil is

plummet being, you don't have a plan and what do you do next? >> that was beautiful russian prose as somebody who is a russian speaker. tiger and siberia and all that sort of stuff. what he is doing is projecting blame. he is trying to appeal to nationalism. we are the russian bear. and we all want to eat is berries honey and doing the blame game and it is not our fault and we need to come together as russians to fight the challenges that are coming from the west. that will distract them from the economic problems they face. melissa: i don't know. if you look what is happening with the ruble, it is challenging to think about distracting your folk as this is happening. rich, let me ask you, he said somewhere between all the bear talk they will recover from this and ruble will stablize within two years. you think? >> well, the advantage russia has, it has a big military and a lot of nuclear missiles.

it can project military, power, especially in the near abroad as they call it, but, it can't escape economic reality. putin is absolutely right, playing on sense that russia is embattled and paranoia. he is benefiting from it and approval ratings are fine but you can't ignore the fact this is third world economy heavily dependent on oil when the price of oil is collapsing is that's the key. you talk about how popular he is is. 80% of russians still support him. he has been in office is a years. oil is the main thing they have besides weapon. is it that simple? doesn't he need oil to turn around? >> absolutely. he need $100 a barrel oil. you know what it is today. so he is really, really hurting. the problem, and he admitted this in his speech, they failed to diversify the economy. melissa: right. >> john mccain said russia is nothing more than a gas station.

that is the problem here today. if oil doesn't rebound they're in a problem. all they they have a lot of foreign currency reserves. $500 billion i believe. melissa: gentlemen, thanks to both of you. we'll leave it there. a few stories on our radar. starbucks brewing big buck this is christmas. it expects to sell 2 million gift cards this holiday season. this is about 1500 gift cards per minute. amc is giving netflix giving them a run for their money. testing out movie a day subscription. 45 bucks. they get to buy one film a day without paying a ticket. that i guess is a bargain. party on wall street but not everyone is invited. gap between rich and poor not seen in 30 years. this action by the fed has a lot of people feeling left behind. more "money." i have some answers coming up.

hard it can be...how ...to breathe with copd? it can feel like this. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled... ...copd maintenance treatment... ...that helps open my airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells,...

you can get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. sfx: blowing sound. does breathing with copd... ...weigh you down? don't wait ask your doctor about spiriva handihaler.

. melissa: wall street, partying on today. janet yellen invites drunk investors to dip glasses deeper into the punch bowl. the gap between middle and upper income households is wider than ever on record does. no one see the connection between this rally and this one? the fed boost, the rich get richer, the economy barely budging, those getting left behind took to the streets to protest everything from the minimum wage to daily life. and still some ask yesterday on the show, why raise rates? what is the harm with easy money? what's the negative externality. look out your window, you can see the problem with janet yellen's policy for yourself. charlie gasparino is back, matt

welch, doug holtz-eakin is back as well. is it right to say that the fed is boosting the stock market, it's making the rich richer, leaving the middle class, lower class and stocks left behind. >> it's contributing to the margin, the bigger impact is for decades now we've seen widening earnings distributions around the world. people with skills get paid better. in global economy you have to have skills to make money. melissa: we aren't seeing people, wages aren't getting better for anyone, even people with skills. >> now layer on top of it extremely anemic economy, people are angry because they haven't seen a raise in 5 1/2 years, haven't seen jobs grow fast enough. that's a real phenomenon. melissa: charlie? >> still trying to figure out what country i'm in. melissa: the united states of america. what country do you think we're in? >> i don't know. i look outside, i see protests. no, i don't see anything

outside, i see cars, people celebrating christmas. i'll say this, the obama nomices was a complete failure, it hurt us coming out of the financial crisis, the real contributor to the economic malaise. prescriptions were horrible. but to say that the u.s. economy is a basket or to suggest it's a basket case and it's the fed's fault. not even close to the fed's fault. melissa: all the fed has done, all the fed has done is through the stock market. >> it helped by keeping rates lower, helped repair the banking system to a large extent, and there's two parts to this thing, fiscal policy and monetary policy. monetary policy, doug would agree with me, worked, kind of. melissa: matt, get in there. hang on, we got to let matt in there. >> it's not just 5 1/2 years, it's 14 years. there was no job growth in the private sector under

george w. bush even before barack obama. melissa, you are right, the fed, cheap money is great for people who are in the stock market, but also it creates bubbles, and when the bubbles pop, the first people who get bailed out are not the individual investors, they're the big financial players. people perceive the inherent unfairness. occupy wall street on the left and the tea party going against crony capitalism, and rightly so, they feel the game is grained against them while incomes haven't budged in 14 years. melissa: doug? >> there's a lot of policy blame in this. let's face it, the middle class balance sheet is destroyed by the housing crisis. >> absolutely. melissa: but everything the government has done since then, has helped the wealthy. >> let me finish. let me finish. the fed was the best actor after the financial crisis, did the best job of stabilizing the economy. everything after that did not

deliver growth. it's exacerbating this at the margin and not getting growth for it. if the fed didn't print money, what would we have? >> we don't know, we don't know. >> i think the problem is with the lack of fiscal policy, if you left the fed out of game, we wouldn't have a marginal wealth effect of the stock market, and i know that's a problem. melissa: yes, it was, what does that get us? what does that get us to have the wealth effect of the stock market is creating the rally. you are right. i agree with you 100%, and the margin is only making people angrier, thank you for my point, charlie. >> all the people protesting like teachers unions, pensions are going up because of the wealth effect. melissa: they don't make that connection, though. you are right about that. let's end on that note. you are right about that. breaking news, no deal yet to save the taj mahal casino in atlantic city.

carl icahn, like charlie's best friend releasing a letter offering additional 20 million dollars before the casino shuts doors on saturday. he said he has tried his best to save the jobs of the 3,000 workers that are employed there. icahn states he's never come across a venture as distressed as this one. charlie is going to run out and work this story and have more in a second. it is all fun and games until you upset a dictator. what should have been done "the interview"? what were other options for sony. plus i think you need a bigger drone. the new technology testing the waters. at the end of the day, it is all about drones. you drop 40 grand on a new set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you. guess what: your insurance company will only give you 37-thousand to replace it.

"depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is, why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. what if one push up couldcoli cprevent heart disease?cancer? one. wishful thinking, right? but there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease- pneumococcal pneumonia. one dose of the prevnar 13 ® vaccine can help protect you ... from pneumococcal pneumonia, an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. prevnar 13 is used in adults 50 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13 if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. if you have a weakened immune system, you may have

a lower response to the vaccine. common side effects were pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site. limited arm movement, fatigue, head ache muscle or joint pain, less appetite, chills, or rash. even if you've already been vaccinated with another pneumonia vaccine, prevnar 13 ® may help provide additional protection. get this one done. ask your healthcare professional about prevnar 13 ® today. . >> reporter: i'm melissa francis with fox business brief. melissa: u.s. average gas prices are falling below $2.50 a gallon for the first time in five years. aaa says the drop will continue through the holidays, woo-hoo! going as low as $2.25. "time" magazine threatened to fire writers if they don't get enough clicks online. bosses have the right to get rid of workers who don't drive enough eyeballs to the website. some worry the site will focus

less on quality and more on internet traffic. oh, no! and facebook's groups app is letting users sell their stuff online, a new sell something feature allows people to post pictures of items they want to unload as well as offer pricing on delivery. that is the latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper.

. melissa: breaking news, paramount is banning movie theaters from showing 2004 film team america, world police. at least three smaller theaters planned to screen the film, following the cancellation of "the interview." if you are unfamiliar with team america, it features kim jong-un's father, kim jong il as a singing marionette. we're showing it as it's been banned, apparently. he's the dictator who stole christmas, sony faces $100 million loss due to the cancellation. that is according to the rap. here now howard kurtz, host of media buzz on fox news, and gordon chang, author of north korea showdown, north korea takes on the world. howard, now banning another movie. freedom of speech. freedom of expression, artistic freedom, we're going to cave, it's over. >> well, it is a total cave on the part of sony. the first option would have

been not to make a stupid and reckless movie that shows kim jong-un's head blown up. have the wit to fictionalize it. it's easy and everybody in hollywood, rob lowe, sarah silverman, attacking the studio for not standing up to the symbol of free expression. they are refusing to show this in theaters, one attack on one theater, sony would have faced untold liability. melissa: howard, so glad you made that point, people are making that point. sony in impossible situation. gordon, i ask you, what would have happened differently? what were sony's other feasible options here? >> i think it's the united states government. because for more than two decades, countries like china and russia have been stealing intellectual property from u.s. companies to the tune of 20 to $475 billion a year, and washington did nothing. so north korea, and friends china who participated in the

attack were pushing on an open door. so no wonder why they did what they did? they were going to be no consequences as they thought about it. melissa: you're saying we have to make the cyberworld more secure, we invited this in the door, we let it happen. this is where we are. howard, what else -- how else could this have played out? i understand what you're saying, they don't want to take the financial risks. you relose the film. there's the lawsuit. there's no point to take that risk. what else could have happened here, howard? >> the answer is very obvious, and unfortunately sony doesn't have the courage to do that. put the movie online, make the movie available on dvd, then no lines on the theaters. reduces risk of attack, but it would mean prolonging the crisis, and very much get the impression that sony has tail between corporate leg and wantses this to go away, but it could, and a blow for free expression, here's the movie,

people get to see it. melissa: gordon, you say no. >> they were worried about the movie being put on dvd's. south korean activists said they were going to put them in balloons, loft them over the dmz, demilitarized zones, putting it out of theaters is not enough. melissa: do executives get fired? what happens to the company? how do you see this playing out? >> somebody's got to be held accountable both for the decision to make this movie and the horrible damage control here. this company is going to be tarnished for a long, long time for a series of blunders in the way it handled this movie and controversy. melissa: gentlemen, thank you to both of you. appreciate your time. stocks rocketing higher, the dow up just about 300 points, 294. one big final hour of trading. let's check in with the woman at the helm of it all.

liz claman. >> we have two 250-point gains for the dow. is it kim jong-un of north korea, vladimir putin or janet yellen? the little lady with the white hair? we're going to be talking about that with austan goolsbee, the former economic adviser for president obama. one of the smartest guys, he told our viewers, please do not worry about russia, they can't hurt us too badly. is that true? we're bringing in suntrust as well, they have a big stake in what's going on. keith lerner is the senior market strategist. and you broke the news that team america has been banned. another focus on north korea's leader kim jong-un type of movie. sort of a claymation movie. that broke a few minutes ago. we have two top experts, the writers guild east president is furious about this, and porter

bib, an analyst who said sony had no choice. all that and raging rally at the top of the hour. melissa: you bet, i'm going to watch the whole thing. thank you so much. if you can't be home for the holidays. we have the next best thing, christmas eve becomes a virtual reality in japan. you need to send real presents. and decades long trade embargo with cuba could soon be out the door, despite wrapping up final show tonight, stephen colbert assures us he won't be off the job. you can never have too much money. >> the minute my show ends, i'm on a plane to havana to personally investigate this travesty. i will scout every rum distillery, and i don't care how many 1957 chevys i have to buy for $200! until the job is done, i will not rest, except in a hammock! thanks.

♪ [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to able global commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. great job. (mandarin) ♪ cut it out. >>see you tomorrow. ♪

. melissa: the secret service needs more staff and a leader from the outside to run its organization, that is according to a panel of outside experts appointed to examine the agency. the review comes in the wake of the white house security breach back in september. you remember that, a man jumped the white house fence and ran into the mansionment one recommendation of the panel is to raise the white house fence to 7 1/2 feet. okay. from the u.s. to every corner of the globe, money flying around the world today. starting in london, where officials say they will compensate airlines for last week's airspace shut down, the air traffic service said there will be a financial consequence for delays suffering thousands of flights. passengers will need to fight for compensation through their

airlines. over to japan, long distance couples get to feel closer to one another. a local telecom company made a virtual dinner table for meals on christmas eve. couples hundreds of miles opposite of each other on huge screens, motion sensors will have you clink the glass and blow out candles as the violinist plays gently in the background. who says romance is dead. formal talks for the u.s. and cuba to end decades long trade embargo. alan julianson is the vice president of north harvest bean growers association, he traveled to cuba seven times, personally met with fidel castro to discuss agricultural matters. alan, what has changed today? how is your business different? >> well, it's not much different. in the future it could be. i have trade sanctions right now, trade policy in place that

prevents us from shipping a lot of egg products into cuba. melissa: so how much money do you think it would bring into north dakota? what does it mean to you? >> that's hard to quantify, i'm guessing it would be significant, in the millions of dollars, because they have a need for 60 to $100 in metric tons of beans every year. melissa: it's not that you can't sell to them now, you are doing trade. you hop through other countries, you can't get a bank to help you out, isn't that how it stands right now? >> no export credits for people who do business in china -- i mean in cuba. you have to find a third bank like in europe or something to complete the transaction if you want credit. melissa: what does that mean to regular people. talk about export credit. no guarantee for payment. if you don't have someone backing you, have you no idea if you get the money? >> that's correct. as it stands right now, when

product leaves the port, it's paid for in cash by the cuban government. when we deal with other countries, we have export credits in place so if somebody would default on a payment, we would be guaranteed that payment. melissa: thank you so much for coming on. appreciate your time. new security in our nation's capital, what the massive balloons will be able to monitor and could be coming to a sky near you. follow me on facebook and twitter, what do you think about this? would you want this above your house? at the end of the day it's all about "money" and big brother.

she's still the one for you. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away.

ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial.

>> just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, the u.s. navy testing out a sharklike drone it is calling the ghost swimmer. it is five feet long and looks like something out of a jaws movie. presumably to spy on suspicious

vessels. experts in the navy can control it for an extended period with just a laptop. the skies where an experiment is described as a big deal. a blimp-like device the size of a football field is going up in washington, d.c., it provides radar surveillance for hundreds of miles with the hope it will plug gaps into national security but privacy experts have a few concerns. alicia joins us with more. tell us about the story. >> sure, melissa, this is supposed to keep watch over our nation's capitol as well as a huge swath over the sea joint lance attack elevated netted sensor system. this is video the u.s. army provided to us to time lapse the assembly and fill the massive aerostats that will be tethered by fly at 10,000 feet. j-lens will have radar technology that allows u.s. defense to detect threats

faster than ever before, especially low flying threats like cruise missiles. >> it doesn't have the ability to track individuals, we track flying objects. i cannot track cell phones, cars on the grounds. i don't have the information aboard, it is strictly a radar. >> but the electronic privacy information center or epic does not think americans should feel so comfortable. the independent nonprofit research center in d.c. sued for more information about the capabilities. the aerostat will be on duty 24-7, the definition of persistent surveillance. >> because of the way it works with mission creep, it would be surprising if cameras were on the devices in the future. >> launch is set for next week. melissa? >> wow, looks like a big target in the skies as well.

very interesting story. thank you for bringing it us to. that is all we have for now. the market is up almost 300 points exactly. big hour of trading coming ahead. no one better to take you through it than liz claman, "countdown" starts right now. liz: come on over, thank you so much. the santa claus rally has to be renamed. this has janet yellen's name all over it after the federal reserve chief suggested the fed would be patient when it comes to raising interest rates. investors are loving it. look at names in the s&p 500 hitting lifetime intra-day highs. the broad based rally, whirlpool, dollar general, target, kraft and cvs, we'll tell you whether you made money today. and sony's hacking problem takes two more movies. breaking news, two additional movies, one as of about nine minutes ago, paramount the latest studio to ban a