>> and the tariffs, it's scary, 35%. maria: dagen. >> to all parents, this hatch is annoying. what is that noise? don: we will. >> we will see you tomorrow, now to stuart. stuart: good morning, everybody, europe is in slow motion collapse and america looks like king of the hill, doesn't it? good monday morning, everyone. yes, it's an extraordinary year and it's not over. the earth is still moving. in a landslide, italians said no to constitutional reform. the pop lists took came and the experts got it wrong again, instead of a selloff, stocks are straight up. america is looking to are growth and the money is pouring

in. dow 20,000 is not that far away. donald trump tweeting up a storm sending jobs overseas. he says you'll pay a 30% tax on the products you send back here, that's tough talk and the transition is moving fast, the media bypassed by twitter. president obama has six weeks of power and killed the dakota pipeline. the greens win for now. the president-elect can reverse this. one last one. a sign of rapidly shifting politics. japan's prime minister will attend the 75th memorial day ceremonies on pearl harbor on december 7th. that's a first. are you find it go hard to keep up with the changes? so is nancy pelosi, wait 30 seconds and you'll see. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪

>> i don't think that people want to a new direction. our values unify us and our values are about supporting america's working families, that's one that everyone is in agreement on. what we want is a better connection of our message to working families in our country. stuart: no change required? well, nancy pelosi sure seems like the europe and u.s. wants change. you look at the picture. that basically is the old guard. president obama, angela merkel, francois hollande and the only one still standing is angela merkel. yes, things are changing rapidly. talk about getting it wrong. here is a good example. stocks are going up, not down as predicted. unlying italy's no vote on constitutional reform was a no vote on the elites of the european union. the money is coming here and the dow is going up another 80 odd points on the opening bell.

lenore is here, and she spends half her time in italy. lenore, u.s. stocks, can i say that, well, not the only game in town, but the best game in town? >> well, sure. look it, a lot more attractive today than they were friday and looking pretty good on friday. i mean, right now, the american stocks are doing do well, but if you look at the italian banking sector stocks, that's not a place you want to be. >> am i right in saying that europe is in a slow motion collapse. >> yes. we're the ones who look forward to growth, growing the economy, probably better profits for corporations and i say that's why the money's coming here. am i right? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, we're-- we've got a lot of problems, but we have fewer problems than they've got over across in europe. like you were saying earlier. italy just cannot withstand being attached to germany's currency. the economies are just too different. if you look at the vote, actually.

renzi has increased his support base it's just that the opposition increased even more. renzi got more votes, if you looked at the yes votes as renzi votes, he got more of those this sundays than he did than when he became prime minister, but there's so much disillusionment with the government there. if you also look at correlation between youth and employment rates, those areas that had the highest youth unemployment are the most likely to vote no on this. stuart: what happens in may of next year, if the french both in maureen lapen calling for the end of the european union? is that the end of the game? >> i think we are already seeing that starting. it's just going to accelerate from here. italy was one of the founding members of the european union and the amount of anti-european sentiment is growing. they've basically had staglation to deflation and

lost 25% of their industrial capacity under the euro. it hasn't worked out great for them. stuart: lenore, can you see dow 20,000 sometime very soon? >> i'm hesitant to say that because the u.s. also has a lot of its own problems, and a rising u.s. dollar is a big head wind to our industrials. anything that the u.s. builds outside, if our dollar is stronger it makes our stuff less competitive. it isn't all good for us. stuart: only time will tell as you're not supposed to say in journalism. lenore, we'll see you soon. >> thanks, varney. stuart: the obama administration and army corps of engineers denied a permit needed to complete the dakota pipeline. the project is halted for now. liz peek is with us this monday morning. can i put it like this, president obama prefers green as an environmentalists to growth as in 4%? >> clearly this administration stood in the way of energy development on all fronts even

though we're in the midst of the great energy revolutions. this particular issue is not done. it will allow the next decision, donald trump is in favor of the pipeline. of course this pipeline has to be built, it's carrying plentiful north dakota oil. it will go to illinois and feed it into necessary pipeline organization in the middle of the country. we need this pipeline, it will be built because the next, again, round of decisions will be in a month or two and that will be when president trump is in the white house. stuart: president trump wants to exploit natural resources or whatever. >> it should have been, what president obama went in office talking about, that's an enormous advantage for the united states. when we're talking bringing

manufacturing jobs here, one of the eform must advantages our power costs of one-sixth what they are in europe. that's huge for american manufacturing that's why some german companies have brought manufacturing here. it's a huge different because of the environmental regulations really. stuart: i've got another example when the so-called market experts got it wrong again. like the european and presidential vote. they predicted meltdown after britain's vote, and italy's vote. the oil is up and the dollar is up. they got it wrong all the time. >> yes, they did. stuart: you're not-- >> it's making them unhappy and donald trump is making this happen. when you have the ocd, a staid

organization raise world growth rates because of the trump election, you know it's not just emotion driving this market rally, it's also because we think that growth is going to accelerate. because he's going to dismantle some impediments to growth. it's promising, really. stuart: and adam shapiro is with us, you're going to be here all three hours? >> all three hours. stuart: i find this exciting to walk in on a monday morning and seeing more trouble over there for the europeans, good things for us, and the stock market opening up in a few minutes' time at a record high. >> can i make you less happy? you're paying attention to the dow, but the s&p 500 we were almost to 2209 and analysts saying we're ending at 2209. when the dow was going up, the s&p 500 was going down. it's telling you that investors don't think earnings are going to be there next quarter. stuart: have we got a buzzer

handy for this guy? [buzzer] >> . [laughter] >> good to see you, now this. sports fans listen up. 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick spent most of sunday on his back. he completed just one of five passes for four yards, sacked five times and then benched. he was sacked actually more times than the total number of yards that he passed for. it was a historically bat outing. the 49ers crushed by the bears, that's 11 losses on kaepernick's season for the 49ers. and it's snowing, too. check out the futures, up this morning, 70, maybe 80 points up for the dow, s&p up, nasdaq up, across the board stocks are going up. weather report, snow in hawaii. two feet of the stuff has fallen on the big island's two highest peak. up to another foot is expected.

beach goers don't fear. meteorologist in hawaii says that snow rarely falls below the 9,000 altitude mark. that's weather. and the president-elect announcing ben carson will be head of housing and urban development. still a pick for secretary of state, we know these names, bolten, guiliani, romney. and the former utah government john huntsman and one more for you, look at this, frightening moments for passengers on board a flight from houston to new mexico. why the crew made this scary announcement. listen up. >> if you hear the command evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. you're to leave everything behind and i mean everything behind. we'll take only yourself and the children you are

responsible for and exit the aircraft. >> airborne

>> all right. you saw that. the landing gear collapsed. that's what happened to that plane, do you remember the scary announcement for all of those people on board, the nose gear collapsed. what else have we got on this, adam? >> there were 51 passengers and four were crew. everyone got off okay. and one woman twisted her ankle and she refused treatment, she didn't want to miss a connecting flight. it was on the way to mexico and diverted to san antonio. stuart: the price of oil, i believe we're at $52 per barrel, yes, we are, 52.13 and by the way, on the subject, president obama has blocked the pipeline in north dakota. we also have news from mcdonald's, can't quite believe it. they're talking about getting fancy with table service at mcdonald's. the stock will be up a little.

more on that in a moment. how about under amour, announcing a new 10-year deal with baseball. their official uniform provider for the baseball people. all right. that's it. now, our next guest was the first navy seal combat veteran to be elected to congress. he's got a new guest and he says restrictive rules of engagement are preventing american troops fighting to win. the book is called "american commander serving a country worth fighting for and training the brave soldiers who lead the way", republican from montana is with us this morning. a lot of stuff for you to go at. first of all, can you tell me what changes to the rules of engagement you would like to see? real fast. >> we need to make sure that the front lines are empowered to win and to make sure that the equipment and right training and rules of engagement, commanders need to have the authority. stuart: i'm sorry to jump in on you, but we hear always, more of this stuff, but got to improve the rules of engagement. what do you want?

do you want to shoot them or what? >> well, the forward commanders need the authority to act and when they have to ask 15 layers of bureaucracy for something that should be normally the decision of a sergeant, you know we're in trouble. and mattis coming in, i talk about mattis in my book. two great tasks, one to make sure that the front line is capable and restored and second he's got to get through the bureaucracy, department of defense and that scale, that wall, it'sgh to scale it. stuart: you know general mattis. you served with him, i believe. will he change the rules of engagement, do you think? >> i absolutely believe he'll change the rules of engagement. you know, and i think he's a reluctant warrior. all of us who fought are reluctant to go to war, but if we go to war, you've got to go to war to win and make sure the guys in the front line have what they need and have the decision, the authority, to make the call.

right now, the decisions a lot of times are going up 15, 16 layers of bureaucracy all the way to the white house, before they're making it-- before they're able to even protect themselves. stuart: i want to ask you about sergeant bowe bergdahl, the soldier accused of desertion in afghanistan. he's asked president obama for a pardon. what's your take on that? >> 100% absolutely no. at best he left his post, at worst he's a traitor. >> what do you think should be done with him? >> should go to court martial, guilty of leaving his post as a desserter and get the maximum that the ucmj would deliver. stuart: why has that not happened so far? >> justice is slow sometimes, but, you know, some is political, i believe. i think at the end of the day the army is going to make the

right decisionment the ucmj is fair. it's the right vehicle for prosecution on that, but there's no doubt in my mind he left the post and also no doubt in my mind he put others in harm's way at greater risk and probably had something do with the death of our soldiers. stuart: you under sound like you expect a real change in the way our military is handled and the way our military acts, a real change coming, do you think? >> i believe if general mattis is secretary of defense i think you'll see a very positive change. he's a warrior. at this time in our country's history we need a warrior that understands that reluctant to go to war, but if we go to war, let's go to war to win and he's got an enormous task. our allies don't trust us, we need to be shored up. bureaucracy, and our troops, the front line and sergeant and

chief petty officer we need to shore that up. stuart: congressman ryan zinke, you know what you're talking about. >> pleasure and merry christmas. stuart: merry christmas, yes, sir, thank you very much. all right. you could call this unprecedented. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe will visit pearl harbor. earlier i said he'd go there on pearl harbor day. but he'll go later that month. it's the first time a japanese leader will go to pearl harbor. what does john bolton say about that? the lefty media touting the obama economy and the media say president-elect trump will inherit an obama boom? we'll have that next. hey gary, what are you doing? oh hey john, i'm connecting our brains

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>> there is news on apple. they say they're going to focus on the software that would control a self-driving car. stocks at 110 this morning. look at the price of oil. what you're looking at is a 18-month high. the price of gasoline continues to go up. it's now $2.18 on average for regular. up 14 cents a gallon from a year ago and beginning to move sharply higher. meanwhile, the mainstream media, they're all over president obama's record on the economy. they love it.

look at this headline from the times. president obama is handing a strong economy to his successor. better to politico. trump inherits obama boom. liz peek is desperate to go at this. >> i am, totally true. let's remember that hillary clinton and bernie sanders campaigned and how terrible the economy was. and where is that. and the economy bounced up 8 points to a higher level than 2009 because of trump's election so, yeah, the numbers are looking pretty good partly because of the election and let's also remember, i could get going on this. stuart: you can. >> the unemployment rate, yes, it's completely bogus. if you look at gallop's unemployment rate looks at people employed compared to the people who should be employed it's about 9 1/2% unemployment. the number of good jobs according to gallup, which is

people employed 30 hours a week or more, 45% of the people working. and we've talked about this before. the number of part-time jobs being created is huge, compared to the number of overall steady real employment jobs. stuart: i've got to get this in. on friday, it was a jobs report. we were the only people reporting that there were 118,000 part-time jobs created, 9,000 full-time jobs. we're the only game in town that said it. >> nobody talks about the fact that obamacare limits people being hired full-time because it kicks in the payments that the employer would have to do for health care. stuart: have we buried this one, liz, adam? that we're not in a boom, can we agree? >> it's not a boom. >> it's mythology and it's going there no matter the truth. stuart: the truth is here. >> we've got the truth. stuart: we're going up in 4 1/2 minutes time and the dow industrials show a gain of 84 points. forget what's happening in europe, the trump rally rolls on. a lifetime high when that

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>> i've got 30 seconds, 20 seconds to the opening bell. maria bartiromo is sitting right next to me. i was saying maybe she could

help me tap dance to get up to the actual opening much trading and she's getting ready. this is a big day, first time ever on the show. maria: yeah, i've arrived. stuart: yes, you certainly have. maria: yes, i have. stuart: three, two, one, bingo! it's 9:30 on a monday morning, we're off and running and i see green on the left-hand side and 77 points gain, whoop dedoo. 81 points and i want to see it. 78 i'll take it. the dow 30, lots of green, we're up .4%. how about the s&p 500? where are we, ladies and gentlemen? up .45%. very nice gain. did you see that adam shapiro? >> 2208. stuart: the nasdaq composite is a full half percentage point, 5, 2le -- 5281. gold is probably down, down $10

at 1167. it's all up today except for gold. a full screen of guests. liz peek, scott shellady, maria bartiromo and adam shapiro. never mind what's going on in europe. green arrows again for america's markets. we look like, i say we are, america, the only game in town. we're going around the block starting with our special guest maria bartiromo. we're the only game in town. maria: i think we're the only growth sorry in town, stuart. when you look at donald trump's agenda, lowering taxings, rolling back regulations, tanning into the energy sources in the country and redoing the trade deals that are advantageous-- not advantageous to america. and what steven mnuchin was looking for. stuart: i wasn't attempted to use the buzzer, maria. what an introduction. [laughter] >> scott shellady, we are the only game in town. you say what? >> it hard to get in front of that train. i was at a conference on

friday, to maria's point, all those things on trump's agenda has got in it, on top of the fact the small businesses making negative decisions, i'm not going to do that. we shouldn't hire 50 employees because of obamacare. think of america and the businesses that are maybe going to take a step out and hire and do something different and refurbish, that's why you can't get in front of this. stuart: right. and all the experts got it wrong again. they were wrong on the financial impact of brexit, wrong on the financial impact of donald trump's election and now wrong again on the no vote in italy. you're not one of the experts. and-- >> hey. stuart: you didn't get it wrong? >> no, i didn't get it wrong. i think we have a lot of optimism in the country and by the way, that's even preventing european markets from being down today which i think you would have expected in view of the italy referendum. so, look, i think this is all very good for consumer spending and everything else. stuart: maria bartiromo, quickly, i don't like the look

at the bank de-- >> yes, the banks are down. they've got massive loan problems. what you're seeing in european, they're looking at germany as the beneficiary here. a lot of people moving headquarters out of london and italy and find a home in germany and that's why the german dax is up. stuart: wait until the french vote to leave the european union and see where germany is. i know you're with me, scott, i can hear you laughing. oil $52 a barrel. 52.06. and barack obama blocked the north dakota pipeline. it looks like he's blocking that and supporting the greens. >> same old-same old. his agenda the last eight years and that the trump is going to bring to the new administration. i would say relax and let it happen. these are all good things, i

can't wait to get started january 20th. stuart: adam, the president-elect said he will reverse-- i don't think he said i will reverse the dakota decision. but he wants to built. >> the question is why did they devert when it was near the city of bismarck. they were concerned about the water and ground water table. so the army corps of engineers has to address that issue for the president-elect to go forward. stuart: they'll reroute a little bit. >> back to bismarck? bismarck said no. stuart: we've got the buzzer ready, adam. you've got to jump on board. they're going to build the pipeline. maria: it's politics, don't you think. >> totally. maria: 6,000 new regulations in place in the last two years, stuart, how about one more? >> y show at 9:30. get out here. get this lady back. maria: i mean, you know. [laughter] >> check that big board. all right, we are almost five minutes in on a monday morning and we're up 70 odd points and puts us at 19247. i'm doing the math and made

that 751 points and change away from 20,000. donald trump says, american companies that move overstooes will have to pay a 35% tax on products that they try to bring back into america. around the block, that protectionism, liz peek? >> yes, but i don't take that seriously. i take him seriously. i don't take his every tweet seriously. look, he is using the bully in the bully pulpit and use it go to good effect and i think as we go forward, particularly as he's staebld -- assembled a group to advise him keep the businesses here, that's the point. don't drive them off shore. it's going to work and i totally believe, the 35% is like, you know, a threat, which he's not going to follow through on. stuart: maria, is it an opening salvo in a trade war. maria: i agree with liz. i don't think he's going forward with this, but this is something to navigate. this could be a blind spot for donald trump.

he can't bully companies, you can't tell them what to do and not to do. if that starts becoming the perception, he'll have a problem. that's why i don't think he'll do it. he's a business guy, he understands. >> you're not allowed to put on a 35% tariff according to the world trade organization, so just a-- look, he's a negotiator, this is what he does. stuart: what say you, scott? are you going to dismiss this as a negotiating position and negotiating ploy, scott? >> hey, you know what? just relax, like he said you should go to jail for burning a flag and lose your u.s. citizenship, pay a 35% tax if you leave the country. he's tapping in the same vein that's the why the america people feel and that's why he does it. stuart: and vice-president elect mike pence says not committing to a deal that would save 3,000 jobs.

he's the governor of indiana. is governor pence saying we're not doing the same deal with rexer as carrier? >> everything is on hold. the administration will deal with these things on a day-to-day basis when the trump administration is able to enact tax reform in the first 100 days, and regulatory reform you won't need what sarah palin called crony capitalism deals. stuart: do you think he's backing away from the kind of one-on-one deals? >> yeah, i think he's backing away from them. what's wrong with the administration as they did, picking up the phone to united technologies which owns carrier says you've got $5 billion in contracts with the u.s. government and taxpayers, don't move the jobs. bureaucracy can certainly pick up where president-elect, if they have contracts with the use government they might want to think twice about mexico. stuart: do you approve of the president muscling and strong arming companies. maria: i think the first call was great. i think the carrier situation

turned out great for him. no, you don't want a domino effect. you can't be picking up the phone and talking to every company and telling every company what to do. you need to stop it at some point, but during the pre-presidency, it actually made him look great, but i'm not expecting this to continue with every company. >> carrier had become a talking point on the campaign trail, right? so that was really sort of a target and a symbol. i think it was a symbol that really worked very much to his advantage. stuart: i've not heard rexnord on the campaign. and we're eight minutes in up 79, 80 points, 750 away from dow 20,000. look at apple. it will focus on the software that would control a self-driving car. they've got a letter to the government regulators about that. they just want the software in there. i guess we won't be driving an apple car itself, but then again, what is a car other than a moving computer these days, adam.

>> i love cars. sacrilege, jaguars, porsche, cars are life. maria: cars are life, that's a new one. >> aren't some people going to want to drive cars? >> sit behind the wheel of a jaguar with a 384 horsepower engine and nothing better. stuart: the electronics break down. >> they don't break down, they're great cars. stuart: mcdonald's going upscale, fansy burgers, table service? i don't believe it, is it table service? nicole: that's what it says, table service. they're doing everything possible to try and woo in customers. the fast food business is a tough one. we know they've gone to cage-free eggs. gone with the beef premium and fresh not frozen. artisan buns handmade. why not table service, they're looking at the drive-thru and 70% of business is drive-thru talking double lanes and talk

to the ceo and future president about growth potential and whether or not it's oversaturated at this point, they say they have 10% of the market share and there's plenty of room to grow. last but not least, the millennials. turns out about one in five have actually tried mcdonald's so they want to try to get the millennials in. stuart: what? one in-- only one in five millennials has tried-- i don't believe that for one seco second. nicole: the big mac, to be more specific. they think that the big mac will be the bigger seller. stuart: i've got a family full of millennials. before i get in trouble i'm out of this. now, donald trump tapping some of wall street's biggest names for his jobs panel. like blackstone's steven swartzman, j.p. morgan's jamie dimon, fink. no silicon valley people in there?

>> what good did silicon valley do for the obama administration? eric schmidt was there every week. this is paying attention to manufacturing and traditional aspects of the economy and they'll advise him. stuart: is this why the big name tech stocks have taken it on the chin, don't get along with mr. trump. maria: that's the perception that his policies are not going to be as positive for technology as barack obama's policies have been. i don't necessarily buy this. but when you buy something you've got to sell something and the tech stocks were huge going into the trump rally. so if i want to buy financials, i might have to sell my amazon gain. stuart: just don't sell the microsoft. maria: holding. stuart: i've got to retire at some point. i've got a number for you, 6 million borrowers are 90 days late on their car loans. what? >> 6 of million, this is more of a reflection of the economy not booming than a threat.

they're subprime borrowers, this is insecuritized debt. the car loan market is roughly $1.1 trillion. 6 million people in trouble is really a reflection of declining wages not rising wages in this country and not being able to keep up with the payments. stuart: i don't have to worry, that's what you're saying. >> i think it's also a reflection of this continued push to make everyone-- to make borrowing available to everyone regardless of their capacity to pay back loans. we sort of have this ongoing, remember the cfpb really came down very hard on lenders in this car space because they were discriminating and they didn't even have a basis for believing that they were discriminating, but it was just sort of, you've got to make more subprime loans. it didn't work in mortgages and doesn't work in auto loans either. >> next story, it's got scott shellady's name all over it. look at the headline from the new york times.

president obama is handing a strong economy to his successor. [laughter] >> you're laughing. hold on a second, scott. this is from politico. trump inherits obama boom. have at it, scott shellady. >> well, i mean, friday was a great example. 4.6% unemployment which arguably would be full employment and yet, we had shrinking wage growth. we can't get people out of their basements and into the work force. we've been proving we can't rebuild an economy on $15 an hour we need real manufacturing jobs. participation rate of 40-- 0% interest rates and housing ownership at a 50 year low. where is the strength that everybody is talking about. full employment with a gdp of 2%, there's something wrong here, we should be ringing the alarm bell not celebrating an economy. >> this is the new talking point from the left that president trump is going to inherit the strong economy. last time i checked, stuart, we came off an incredible election and the reason that donald trump won is because people

want jobs and economic growth. that's why he won. to make sense. stuart: you belong at 9:30 in the morning on "varney & company." maria: and i turn to the audience how many people agree with this, one person out of 300 agreed that the economy is strong right now. stuart: case closed. maria: it's beyond. stuart: it's beyond. and this got to me. exxon's ceo, rex tillison is now a contender for secretary of state. exxonmobil, the world's largest oil company. around the block here, maria, i'm shocked, tillison for secretary of state. maria: i'm not shocked, the head of the largest oil companies has relationships with presidents, i should say they're coming back to say, no, yes, you can drill, you can't drill on my land. they're adept at what they bring to the table. i'm surprised that he's going so long on business people in this administration. at the end of the day, i don't think that rex tillison gets it, just a guess.

stuart: what do you say, scott, rex tillison at secretary of state. >> if donald trump is in for a fight, he should put that guy forward. i think a long row to hoe. stuart: i've got to raise this issue, we have a race on the transition because of twitter. it still can't make money. if you watched over the weekend, donald trump was tweeting up a storm. this was foreign policy by tweet and yet, that company, twitter, can't make money and languishing at $17 a share. >> nobody wants advertisements when you're doing a tweet. monetizing this business is incredibly impossible because tiding is not there for tweets. stuart: and yet, the president-elect uses tweet like nobody else does. what do you say? >> i think he's giving the company a tremendous boost and the number of followers, i'm sure has followed, but as maria says, how do you impose advertising on this thing that's 140 characters in 30 seconds? it just doesn't work.

stuart: scott shellady out of the kindness of my heart i'll give you the last word. he's gone. >> let's cut out the middle man, no, let's cut out the middle man and let donald trump buy twitter. stuart: good last word. he's not bidding, but it's still at $17 a share. thanks, everybody, liz, scott, maria, great stuff, we appreciate you being with us. thank you very much. now, we're 16 minutes into the session and we've gone up more. 92-- 90 points higher, 19,262. switching gears for a moment. vice-president elect mike pence defending the president-elect's decision to speak to taiwan's president. >> the waters seem a tempest in a teapot. it's striking to me that president obama would reach out to a murdering dictator in cuba and called a hero and donald trump takes a courtesy call

from taiwan and it's in the media. stuart: this is mike pence and the new york times, trump speaks with taiwan's leader. an affront to china. and washington post, donald trump keeps confirming fears about his diplomatic skills. john bolton is with us this morning. a breach of diplomatic protocol. >> ridiculous. this is the sort of thing that has the american media and foreign policy establishment more upset than the foreign minister of china. the fact is that the united states should step up the level of engagement with taiwan and i think that's something that's worth discussing with china, for a whole lot of reasons, but the notion that an american president cannot speak with whom ever he wants, if he thinks it's in the best interest of the united states i want one of the critics on the new york times to say we think

that beijing should dictate who the american president speaks with because that's implicit in their position, they don't have the guts to do it. stuart: wasn't the left saying this was diplomatic amateurism, you make a call just like that off the bat and you change foreign policy. that's what they're saying. >> i don't think that, number one, that much has changed and number two, i think it's clear they think it's out i can say they had no-- >> you think that the administration thought about taking this call. >> the administration in waiting, yes, and i think it's a signal there will be other changes in american foreign policy. what a shock. you know, you have an election and policy changes. whoever would have thought? >> now, what do you make of this, we heard this morning, that the japan's prime minister is going to pearl harbor later this month, this is the 75th anniversary year of the attack on pearl harbor in 1941 and the prime minister of japan is going. now, has that got something to do with the taiwan call, is

japan sort of coming around to our way of thinking a bit more now? >> well, i don't think it's related to taiwan. i think it may be related to president obama's visit to hiroshima on the anniversary of the dropping of the atommic bomb. now, my preference would have been that prime minister abe and president obama visit pearl harbor on december the 7th. that may have been a bridge too far for abe. it's better that he visit even later this month, everybody knows it's still december, and make that signal to the american people. abe, in his political career in japan, has been, i think, very much in favor of a strong u.s.-japan alliance and i think this is important step for him to take, so i welcome it. stuart: it's a slight realignment, japan moving closer to america and china being rebuffed a little? >> well, i think the japanese are quite concerned about the extensive chinese military buildup. they're building, the blue water navy and japanese territorial claims in the waters around japan where we

have a mutual defense treaty. drawing closer to the united states is closer to the united states. stuart: you'll notice of course, mr. ambassador, i haven't mentioned the secretary of state's job you wouldn't say anything about it. >> very good. stuart: i could be a diplomate. >> indeed. stuart: indeed. thanks for being here. and check the big board 20 minutes in, the dow is record territory and we're up nearly 90 points, 19, 260 as we speak. an accused army desserter, bowe bergdahl asks president obama for a pardon. president-elect trump calls bergdahl a dirty rotten traitor. judge napolitano on that next. ♪ looking for a medicare prescription drug plan

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that fits your needs and budget. that's why we offer three plans. like our new aarp medicarerx walgreens plan with one of our lowest monthly premiums and $0 copays for tier 1 prescription drugs when filling at any of the more than 8,000 walgreens nationwide. call unitedhealthcare today to learn more about your prescription drug options and find the plan that's right for you. ♪ >> remember sergeant bowe bergdahl accused of desertion in afghanistan? he's now asking president obama for a pardon. judge napolitano is here. and would i say it's a weak legal case for desertion? a weak case? >> there are a lot of problems with this case. as for the pardon, you know, he obviously has the right to ask

for it. he filed the paper work for it. you almost can't blame him for asking for it given the attitude about this case of president-elect trump which is that this guy is a traitor and should have been charged for treason for which is the potential for the death penalty. instead he's been charged with a rather low level of desertion, there are two levels, he was charged with the lower one. there are a lot of legal problems with the case. the general appointed to investigate the case took a year to do, recommended against prosecution because of sergeant bergdahl's mental issues and the government found another general who reinvestigate and come up with a different opinion. as well, the lawyer in this case has already named one of his defense witnesses. stuart: and that is? >> barack obama. stuart: in which case. >> the president may have a strong incentive to grant the pardon. so he doesn't have to testify. stuart: donald trump has called

him a dirty rotten traitor. >> the president was involved in in case. if you recall, the president brought sergeant bergdahl's parents to the white house and praised sergeant bergdahl long before they had the evidence for the charge of desertion. stuart: you're expecting a pardon? >> i don't know, i don't know what the president decides. it may have one on his desk for mrs. clinton. who knows what he's going to do with pardons. typically after christmas and before he leaves office is when you probably can expect him to do it. president obama, more pardons than his three predecessors combined. stuart: and you expect more? >> i expect a lot more. in the last two or three weeks of his presidency. stuart: that's traditionally the time right up to the last moment when you pardon people and it's absolute and total, no goes back. you're pardoned, goodbye. >> there's a myth by accepting the pardon you've admitted guilt. quite the contrary, you don't have to admit to anything and

if you've been pardoned after conviction, you can answer under oath that you were never convicted. that's how absolute is the pardon. stuart: that's absolute. >> it wipes out and changes history. now, earlier you were mentioning my cuff links which happen to be american flags. >> i admire them as you admire your sartorial choices. stuart: you said i could only wear them legally because of the flag burning case to the supreme court. >> that sounds incongruous. the flag burning case that says flag burning is freedom of speech and did was. stuart: before then i could not wear these? >> yes, nor could you wear a t-shirt that said burn this with a flag on it. there are good and happy and patriotic outcomes from the flag burning decision. stuart: okay, okay, we didn't use the buzzer on you.

and napolitano you're all right and we'll see you next hour. the experts were wrong firsten brexit and then italy. you see a slow collapse in europe. my take in the next hour.

..

stuart: you looked across the atlantic ocean and you have to wonder what is going on over there. here's the story. the european union is in slow motion. watch out because the collapse is accelerating. for generations there's been very little economic growth over there appeared that is a disaster. that is stagnation. the very people of the socialist policies they're supposed to help you also a demographic crisis. europe is aging rapidly. there's a financial crisis. they are broke. a cultural crisis they just can't handle length of muslim migrants from the german in.

and now there's a political crisis. the people of europe are fed up with the athletes. tell them to put up in shadow. the braves have left, the italians told them to stick it in next year the french may do the same. that is a collapse and there are lessons for america. first come the socialism doesn't work. second, welfare state socialism is not sustainable. when they look down on the rest of us we don't like it and we will dance for it. president obama tried to make america more like europe. bad move. they rejected his policies and his successor will reverse the mall. the academics horrified. the elites terrified. exciting times. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin.

members just saying that might affect the market. adam p. it's been my goodness the survey 57.2 expecting 55.4. october was 55.8. it just shows this economy. think of a huge musclebound weightlifter in a cage ready to burst out. stuart: still at the cage but ready to burstut. i noticed a couple points mark on the dow industrials. 93, 94 points as we speak. i call that the trend bradley. 19 to 63. the price of oil up as well. fifty cents higher, 52 bucks a barrel about 1%. how about those big-name tech stocks? they did not do well in this election. they come back a little but they're not all the way back. facebook higher by 1%. amazon up 1%. same with microsoft and google.

a small loss of her netflix a little. apple will focus on the software of the self driving car. apple is a big tech stock that is down today. we are up 50 cents come in just about 109. the left-hand side of your screen of 102 points and steadily gaining ground. 19 to 72. president-elect donald trump makes the deal with 1000 jobs at the carrier plant in indiana. we want to know how people react to that deal. guess what, we have voters react to a sound bite. watch the lines. red for republicans, blue for democrat and yellow for independence. >> we are saving the jobs that the carrier plan for go into mexico appeared 1100 jobs. [cheers and applause] and i'm asking all companies to

keep their jobs in america and we will work to make america a better environment for workers and business and we will crack down on all foreign trade abuses that undermine your ability and your company's ability to compete. those days are over or those companies are going to leave. stuart: lee carter is back to cheat at that particular group of people watching the soundbites. what i picked up from out west democrats were not in use. i was surprised. restoring working family jobs. >> i think they are not enthused spirit democrats are not enthused about anything donald trump says. when you see them flat line in the middle, that's positive compared to where he has been. for all the criticism i've heard about the carrier deal, americans are saying it's a great symbolic gesture. this is a big story. it's already saving jobs and

people are excited about it. people are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt about this issue. i see from democrats. that's it? >> that's? >> that day. the president-elect made another i'm going to call inspirational speech. his message was believed in america again. we've got the dial, red republican, yellow independent, blue for democrats. roll it. >> i'm asking you to believe in america once again. we have many challenges. this is truly an exciting time to be alive. there is that no time like it. the script is not yet written. we do not know what the next page will read. for the first time in a long time, what we do know is that

the pages will be authored by each one of you. >> i don't get it. the blue line democrat was flat on the bottom of the pile. >> they were in the bottom. i was astonished. do they not like apple pie or pack the theater? what they were singing as i don't buy it. i'm not believing the best is yet to come. they are feeling donald trump will take us in the wrong direction and they are afraid. this isn't as bad as some of the messages we've seen with the democrats reaction. i would say now that there are some democrats willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. but the most part people on the left are afraid of donald trump and that's what they've been told. that is what has been out there is that they should be afraid. stuart: it's fascinating. i think they're pretty good.

stayed there appeared to get back to you shortly. nancy pelosi reelected as house minority leader to another term. she says people don't want change. >> i don't think people want a new direction. our values are about supporting america's working families. that is one that everyone is in agreement. what we want is a better connection of our message. to working families in our country. >> again, no new direction is that nancy pelosi said. brandon urich as it does now. what is your straight forward response duet nancy pelosi just said? >> well, i think it's not spirit and 1980, 84 and 88, democrat last three presidential elections in a row and after a second one democrat started saying maybe we need to change.

maybe we really are soft on crime. other people set our positions are the best we just have a messaging problem. so they went on a mosque in 1988. only after those three defeats and they listen to the leadership council and bill clinton and change their positions in a one in eight to 92. nancy pelosi is it not my bed. we saw in this house election which democrats reelected her as their leader is apparently most democratic members of the house agree with that. >> the mainstream media really praising president obama's economic policies. batman ensure you party scene but i'll show it to you again. president obama handing a strong economy to his successor. "politico"'s same trump inherits obama boom. this is a financial program. i don't see any boom in that economy and that's a fact. >> you're the expert here.

the wheat straw and boom seem like too much. there is no doubt trump is getting a stronger economy from obama then obama got from george w. bush. the economy was in freefall and obama took over in unemployment hit 10% shortly after he took office. it is now 4.6%. that is far, far better. one of the reasons trump won the election if so many people have not thought much economic benefit and for many middle-class americans from a standard of living has stayed the same or gone down. not for five years, 10 years or for decades and that's the sort of economic problem obama is handing over to donald trump. stuart: over the weekend, howard dean dropped out of consideration for chair of the dnc. if i am not mistaken, that only leaves the way outclassed keith ellison in line. am i right? >> yakima republicans are actually pretty happy with that.

dean has made a good bit of progress. a lot of people made fun of him in iowa in 2004 and all of that, but he had a 50 state plan and try to make the democratic party competitive in places that have not been earlier. it actually helps the party quite a bit. there's a possibility he could have helped some buddies not go into. keith ellison, member of the houses of the house of the remark is way off to the left. what we were saying about democrats not changing their leftward tilt would certainly continue its ellison became head of the dnc. stuart: what a year. byron york. keep coming back is always interesting news. president obama still has six weeks of power left. a little bit war. he's using that power for now.

yes it is a win for the greens, but here's the question. we'll donald trump reversed that decision? jeff flock live from north next. k. hawkins come a frequent guest on the program just back from cuba said people there are freer than we are. our viewers are angry about that. we'll bring you the story in a moment. ♪ family road trip! fun! check engine. not fun! but, you've got hum. that's like driving with this guy. all you do is press this, and in plain english, "coolant", you'll know what's wrong. if you do need a mechanic, just press this. "thank you for calling hum." and if you really need help, help can find you, automatically, 24/7. because you put this, in here. hum by verizon. the technology designed to make your car smarter, safer and more connected.

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stuart: the president has blocked the dakota pipelined denying that it needed to complete construction and jeff flock is right there in martin county. we've been speaking with the protesters. did they imagine mr. trump would reverse this decision?

>> i think stuart if they were sure he wasn't going to reverse it, give it the people out and this is an extraordinary scene right now if you click out here. i think they would be packing up right now after what appears to be a victory. you don't see people packing up. they also don't think it's a slamdunk that he he will reverse this. if you see, there's a lot of green tents out here. these are veterans tax. literally hundreds of former military folks here. veterans who have come to stand. this is an interesting coalition. it's not just native americans. it's not just left-wingers. there's a lot of conservative folks here simply suspicious of the federal government. military folks. a lot of people don't think donald trump has a lot to gain from not regarding the pipeline in some small way with some sort of a compromise. after all, he's a dealmaker.

the pipeline goes through, but these folks have their way as well. >> you know what, you just might have to stay there until well after the inauguration on january 20th. reporter: nothing would give you more happiness. stuart: that's not the case. reporter: i i remember the movie where the reporter got stuck in alaska and i feel like that could be me if you had your way. stuart: that's not true. just until the early part of the new year. thanks very much for being with us. good luck out there. stay warm. check the big word. 90.5 for the dow industrials in record territory. never seen night team to 60 before. first upgrade in a long time, over a year actually. stock is up 3% reaching nearly 52. the price of oil is at $52 per barrel. prime minister ramsey will

resign because italians voted down constitutional reform. come on in, sebastian gorka. sad, the top of the show and for many shows now i've been saying europe is in slow-motion collapse and after the vote that comes up in may, i'm on to the right story here. they are collapsing. >> i think it is exactly that. we are seeing a slow internal collapse, especially if you look at the content of the recommended what the prime minister was requesting. exactly the easiest way to understand it is he was trying to centralize even more power and growth. like they are trying to get more power away from the region into the federal powers in the senate. they said not happening.

>> what's the mechanism for the collapse here? if the french do vote in mowbray (-left-paren, how does it collapse? >> there's potentially a different scenario that could follow. number one and this is what the eurocrats would perhaps be as the best case scenario that the e.u., which was only supposed to be about closer and closer union will evolve over time into what is a multispeed era. there will be some nations have a core of like germany and others that are less integrated further out. different brands of integration. that's the best case scenario for the e.u. really not interested, have to reassert national sovereignty, national security decided outside the capital. i think the structure will proceed to become more and more

relevant. stuart: how about japan's prime minister shinzo abe. never has a japanese leader gone to pearl harbor before. what do you make of this? >> i personally think politics is often about symbolism. this is incredibly significant. can we tie it to a new era in international relations? the people understanding that the january 20th there's a new in town called donald jay trump. i think it could be a good omen of what used to follow. stuart: a good deal you think? >> i do. if you look at the world war ii sensitive issues, especially between japan and china that are still unresolved, you know, what the head of state goes to a certain days of the year.

there's a lot of history in that region. this is a big step to take for somebody who was our enemy 70 years ago. i think we should welcome this. stuart: said gorka is the author of the book, and a feeding jihads. it is a fine book. we will see you again very good. apple finally admitting that yes they wants to get into the self driving car business. they say self trading cards will be of huge benefit to society. the stock is down up $109 a share. meanwhile, donald trump takes a call from the president of taiwan. the media outraged by this. they say trump is a diplomatic amateur. more on that in just a second.

stuart: i have another child play for you. president-elect trump discussing his immigration plan. how does the red line republicans, blue led democrat camille went independent, how did they react to the immigration speech? >> to keep her nation secure from extremists, we will suspend immigration from regions where it can not be safely processed. we have regions of the world, people pouring in. i don't have to say it is leading the it is letting them anymore. i just have to say it is their country. we don't need san bernardino. we don't need another orlando. we don't need another world trade center. we don't need paris.

you look at paris, you look at nice, like all of the world, look what's happening to germany. we have enough problems, believe me. stuart: he says we don't need another orlando, another san bernardino and the democrat blue line falls off a cliff. they don't want to hear that. >> what they said when asked why, they are afraid of what donald trump is going to do on immigration. they hear him talk about immigration and they go right to these places that they are very afraid of the men don't believe donald trump will act reasonably. it's really important on both sides of the aisle that we understand where the other person is coming from. if that's what they really believe, we've got to help them understand that is not what is happening. we are trying to keep americans safe. stuart: donald trump mentioned her plan to come to san bernardino.

>> it is what people here. he talks about immigration and people are afraid for human rights and people living here and other ethnicities. it's not necessarily much happening but that is what they're hearing and what they believe this. you can see those go right down. >> y at the very end of the tapes do they always go down? >> is because the end of each segment. that's just about getting ready for the next. stuart: we like them. we enjoy them. that's a pretty good visual effect of how people feel about the issues of the day. great stuff. but carter. check the big board up 85-point. 90-56. sarah palin, one of the earliest republicans to endorse mr. trump now accusing him of crony capitalism. we are on and we will discuss that in a moment.

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♪ stuart: is that italian music? why are we playing italian music? it's time to voted no on constitutional reform. was supposed to produce a selloff on wall street. it did not obviously. up 99 points. brokers stocks despite what happened in italy.

big tech names. most of them the upside. 2% gain and amazon and microsoft. a big gain for google and facebook. netflix is down a fraction. the mainstream media continues to praise president obama's economic policies. here's the headline from "the new york times." president obama handing a strong economy to his successor in politicos as trump inherits obama. peter morici is here. >> which is that the weakest recovery in 50 years. we have a record number of men between the ages of 25 and 55 unemployed and not even looking for work. we have one in 20 adults are basically social security disability even though we know social security disabilities are fraudulent. that's absurd. we've got the anti-shrub campaign.

already in 2020 mode. >> one thing we reported that nobody else did and not jobs report that came on friday. 118,000 part-time jobs were created. 9000 full-time jobs. that is not a strong economy. that is my opinion. >> that's obamacare. i agree with you. who would want to hire full-time workers when you have to buy them a $12,000 health care policy. he was supposed to bring down health care costs and make it more workable for employers. he said just the opposite. one of the reasons are these companies are fleeing the midwest to mexico so they can get cheap health care. they can to germany and get cheap health care. we cause about 15% more. stuart: president-elect donald trump says he will oppose attacks on the products that they try and sell back here. mr. trump said this.

without the tradition consequence, there will be attacks on our soon to be strong border of 35% for these companies. it seems like he's going to take on china head to head. take a mexico head-to-head. you approve of this? >> with china idea. we've been trying to negotiate and i've been an advocate of not just putting a tax on imports, but the conversion and output not only make it more expensive to import products, it would make it more expensive to invest in china, to actually establish those plans if you're an american company. i would put this in place until china basically aligned its policy with ours. and a chinese company who can invest here but we have to be in joint ventures within. we face a 25% tariff. to of the world bank says it should be.

>> president obama -- president-elect donald trump took the call with taiwan's leader. now we suggest these terrorists. he's taking on china directly in being proactive very quickly. >> he got a call from the president of taiwan. i was so amused the chinese do not need this big protest. the president is not needs a permission slip from the chinese consulate in new york to take a phone call at trump tower from taiwan. that is absurd. but that is the point to which we have been reduced. "the wall street journal" and "the new york times" are in worse over this. i got enough this morning this morning for "the wall street journal" in china because i suggested we should get ready for a confrontation. peter, are you saying we should prepare for nuclear war? no, get that equipment and

ballots to trade and i don't mean to permissions that for whoever i want to talk to in a shed. just like if you want to call it the president of mexico, you don't need my permission either. stuart: peter morici, see you again soon. vice president-elect mike pence as the indiana of the indiana of which is that i might not get the same deal that they gave to carrier. have they been talking about a somewhat similar deal? >> in indianapolis they make bearings and wanted a tax incentive to stay in indianapolis. they are planning to move these jobs with plants in mexico but the vice president-elect said who make these decisions on a day-to-day basis. the other thing is the drug administration points out that when they get taxed if i'm done within the first 100 days have been good in frustration as well

as regulation reform that the incentive companies are looking forward not to move in place. that's the argument the president-elect and his team would make. stuart: thank you indeed. back to italy. the prime minister says yes i'm going to resign after it was voted down constitutional reform. nigel farage told us before the vote that du is indeed dying. how can europe get back on track? how can they possibly come back to being a unified dynamic ongoing organization? >> the european union is time before your very eyes. stuart: another favorite guess is that this now. daniel tan in a u.k. member of parliament and colleague of nigel farage. >> not much longer because we are leaving. but for the moment, yes. stuart: on the show today with outlines the crazies that are hidden in europe.

they've got a demographic crisis, closer crisis in a political crisis. >> apart from that it's great. stuart: and it's awful, too. it seems to me that it is in slow-motion collapse. >> here is an observable fact. italy to a cyclical approximation has not grown since again for 15 years ago. the economy is sent and of course that's debatable. i think people all over the continent in italy but also germany and france feel very badly but down by a political class that is self-serving and has deceived them. they were promised a year would make everyone better off. simply by joining the currency you have 1% growth to gdp. they were told the deal would be

an opportunity rather than acid has been the catastrophe we've seen with the migration crisis. some are turned against a political class' promises turned out to be worth it. >> so what is the endgame here to suppose that delayed that marie le pen wins the election in france. is that the moment of crisis when it really comes to and it really falls apart? >> beings can be strung out for a long time. adam smith says the deal in the e.u. is a lot of people earning a living out of it. i don't know that there would be a dramatic collapse, but what we can say already as there is in any group. you were just in your last item arguing whether it's obama or others that have the credit for things doing better here. the year is stacked in a well everything else is growing. that ultimately is unsustainable. i hope she does that, by the way.

i think i'm economic she's well to the left of socialists. you can't carry on with this risk between the government and the people who make the decisions of the rest of the population. >> you are in d.c. at the moment. you fit right in. come on, join me. >> d.c. is a bit like russell's. i disapprove in theory, a beautiful well laid out. but look, what i would say is there is an occasional drop in a center some of your gas. most of the world and certainly most of what's in europe would gladly swap their problems for years. america is still doing all right. stuart: daniel committed to mac for joining us as always. we will see you again soon. look at the stock price of apple. down a bit today.

109. that company has finally admitted yes it is working on technology for a self driving car. would we have on this story? >> this is one of those come on moments. wall street and technology. everybody knows hapless and doing something with self driving cars. also that google has had 2 million miles of road testing for their autonomous vehicles. you've also had general motors had general motors sign-up automation software to the bears. here's the idea of apple. apple made the latter to the national highway traffic safety administration, basically looking not to feedback for a proposed guide heinz for autonomous vehicles, saying that they have invested heavily with machine learning, automation. so here it is good to see great for several years, now we know they are working on and working on and off time in this vehicle. there is. this is the obama administration

trying to sum up the guidelines for this one. >> vostok languishes at 109. nepal, thank you indeed. a quick look at this big united express flight from houston, texas diverted to san antonio after the crew learned of the landing or a malfunctioning. collapsed during the emergency landing. there were no injuries. up next, two developments from the democrats. she thinks people don't want a new direction. but she ignored the results of the election you may ask? keith ellison, dnc chair frank brunner find out why the anti-defamation league called that deeply disturbing. more "varney" after this. ♪

stuart: the mainstream media is slanted down all of tribe. here's what ambassador john bolton said about that. >> the fact is that the united states should step back that level engagement with taiwan and i think that is sent in worth discussing with china for a lot of reasons. at the notion that an american president cannot speak with

whomever he wants if he thinks it's in the best interest of the united states. i just bought one of his critics in "the new york times" to say we think beijing should dictate through through the american president. they just don't have the guts.

stuart: house minority leader nancy those he just reacted for another term. she says people don't want change. watch this. >> our values are about supporting america's working families. what we want is a better connection of our message to working families in a country. stuart: you heard it right there. donated to direction. governor mike huckabee as it does. i was surprised to hear her say that. >> i wasn't surprised at all. i know santa claus is going to bring nancy pelosi for christmas. he's going to bring her a federally subsidized unicorn.

anyone living in this kind of fantasy land. the new movie about love and a solid but nancy pelosi. for her to say after her party has just been shellacked, does during in the biggest white house and the 20s that they don't need to change, but, i hope she continues to think that, believe that in practice that. >> can you name someone a moderate middle-of-the-road democrat in a leadership position today? republicans. there used to be a group of democrats called the blue dog democrat and they were more centrist and many of them actually conservative. many of them pro-life. there is not one of them left. they've all been defeated because the democrats do they believe are part of the democratic party as nancy pelosi would have it.

they hadn't fully come over to the republican party. there's no place in today's democratic party which has moved far to the left and has no room for pro-second amendment people. stuart: so to sarah palin. she's accusing trump of the carrier deal could have got to call you a she said. government since an arbitrarily favoring one business over others. inconsistent, unfair, and logical precedent. republicans opposed this, remember? or super competition on a level playing field because we now special interest crony capitalism is one big sale. i'm surprised at the strong language they are, but i think she speaks for a body of the republican party. >> i think there is a difference between true maker and a

capitalism when he favored people because of who they are rather than the kind of incentives. i did it, she did it. i'm sure she did as governor of alaska. what you're trying to do is not necessarily favor a particular company, that you're trying to bring jobs. here's the harsh reality. if a person in a state is jobless and they are getting on the net in the face and medicaid and education subsidies and housing for cities, it is costing you the tax they are a lot of money. give them a job in the health benefits, education, all comes from their job in the private sector. you cannot change that person from someone taking to the government to someone contributing their taxes to the government. every deal has to be looked at in terms of whether it's a good deal or not and that is something every governor looks at when they do a trade incentive, job incentive. but to say that every time you build a rail or a portrait that

you try to channel so you can get barges up to a facility and they can move that out, it might be providing good solid infrastructure bringing jobs and putting people to work rather than have them live off the government time. stuart: can we put in a plug for secretary of state republican? the reason i suggest this is because very much in favor with the genocide defense bill. 20 seconds, governor. >> i agree not only on that. he's been a real leader and a strong voice. but it's also been a strong voice in understanding we have a friendship in taiwan. donald trump is recognizing the freedom and democracy and telling basically beijing and the communists took over the sun don't shine. he will talk to whoever he wants to.

>> you have a way with words. i'm sure we will be seeing you very soon. alright, everyone. we will be back in a moment. looking for a medicare prescription drug plan

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back from a trip to cuba. viewers over some of the comment she made you choose sad they are in some ways more free than we are here in america. the viewer reaction for you. my family was exiled to not be communists out of my grandfather is a strong political prison. how is that for freedom? he says they have no freedom from anything. they are restricted from doing the things they have freedom from. sorry i usually like the way you think, but not this time. last one, wow, the cubans have freedom from freedom. what a bunch of rubbish. wow, just wow. adam shapiro today. i was staying indoors on stew that katie had to say the communists offer freedom from

and freedom too. i don't think this freedom frontier works with cubans. >> shin is to be careful about what she just said. i grew up with the citizens of cuban exiles. in this article she wrote this is the key point in her article. the legacy of castro as they reminisce mass. what more do you need? these people could not leave the island. they risk their lives to christ than 90 miles from key west and cuba to come to freedom. it is a mess there. >> she should have said precisely that in more strong terms on the show but she didn't. she will be back about ladies and gentlemen. that is a promise. we will be back after this. that is a promise, too.

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stuart: america, king of the hill. long time since we heard

anything like that. look what's going on. you can make a strong case america is beginning to go up in the world. have you seen the stock market. investors look for a more positive future. dow has gone straight up since the election of donald trump. investors expect his policies will grow the economy. years of tax and regulate are over. tax cuts and deregulation is on the way. that puts america out front in the rest of the world. dollar as strong as it has been this century. overseas trip is a lot cheaper. money is pouring into america. there is the national mood don't tell the left that the deplorables are in charge. that those deplorables think it's a great country and great future. in four weeks we've fon from hang wringing anxiety to can-do mentality. america is looking up. it has been an extraordinary

year. we're glad you've been along for the ride. king of the hill has a ring to it. hasn't it? the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: italy voted no, i got to tell you. prime minister matteo renzi submitted his resignation. stocks in the united united staf america are at all-time high. look at little box on bottom of your screen. now full screen. the dow is up 90, 19,260. the price of i will is back to an 18-month high, 51.9. at the top of the hour i grave you my take. europe in disarray.

i say america is king of the hill. the place to be for your money. joining us peter keirnen, the author of the book, "american mojo, lost and found, restoring our middle class." at top of the show, peter i said america king of the hill, the america is the place to be. are you going to takes me wrong? >> no. i will not. we have asylum currency. people are looking at our stocks and bonds. makes me a little nervous that our natural holders are not accustomed to highs and lows of buying in but we welcome their money. stuart: it is coming here. >> it is definitely coming here. stuart: america sees growth, the money is coming here? >> consider our banks that are flush. look at the bank that was formed 20 years before columbus sailed. they are literally bankrupt. they lost 99% of the their value.

they have to raise 5 billion by christmas. that is a tall order. stuart: that is a tall order indeed. you stay with us. you're here for the hour. president-elect donald trump says american companies that send jobs to mexico or anybody place else will have to pay a 35% tax when they bring their stuff to america. here is the tweet. without retribution or consequence, is wrong. there will be a tax on soon toking strong border, 35% for these companies. steve moore is with us. he is a trump economic advisor. that is a very strong threat. you take your job over there, when you bring your stuff back here, there is 35% tariff. that smells like a trade war. what say you? >> hey, stuart. by the way i loved your opening commentary. i agree with every word of it. i want to make one related point because you're right, america's back on the top of the hill, at least we're headed back to the top of the hill. economics is not a zero-sum game. i firmly, believe, stuart, when we get it right here, with our tax, regulatory, health care,

energy policies, we're going to export, good economics all over the world, just as happened under reagan. it will not just be a boom in the united states with the dow, i'll bullish on the world. we haven't gotten right the last eight years. the rest of the world hasn't got init right. it will benefit everybody, it is not a zero-sum game. stuart: it sounds like this is very big stick. 35% -- >> this is an important point. i think trump is half right and half wrong on this he is certainly right to tell companies, don't leave now. we're going to start really doing good things in this country. we'll ease your tax burden. we'll get government regulators off your back, lower the cost of obamacare in terms of cosco your employees. it is absolutely appropriate. exactly what trump should doing telling these countries, what he

is should not being doing using big club, intimidating, threatening companies if they say they will leave the country. now i think there is a way to deal with this through the tax system though. do you want me to explain how you do that, stuart? stuart: do it in 20 seconds and you're welcome to do it. >> stop taxing what we produce, and start taxing what is consumed here, what's imported. you change the tax structure and you can level the playing field in ways that will make companies want to come back here. that's what i would tell donald trump. that is what i'm telling you. fix the tax system. don't tax what we produce. tax what we import. and you will have a much better system. you won't have to have a tariff. tariff is four-letter word. stuart: i'm trying to work -- >> i think it is. stuart: okay. but going to get this straight. you don't think there will be a trade war? >> oh, no. trump is talking about doing free trade with britain. i think if we get the tax and regulatory structure right i

don't think there will be a trade war. i think that we will export prosperity. stuart: neither does the market. up 100 points. >> there you go. stuart: steve moore, thank you. peter keirnen, a 35% tax on goods that come back to this company from companies taking jobs overseas. it does sound like a trade war no matter what steeves says. >> one of the things we'll have to get used to is freestyle management. we have in a new president someone who doesn't worry too much about the details. he wants to deliver a message. who is the message too? to american ceos and american boards saying if you will go overseas to manufacture cheaper and export back to the united states, to make a profit, i want some of that profit. that is what he is doing. the trade war is internal. he is going after i think, rather selectively in more rambo style that makes sense, he is going after american ceos, saying before you go over there, remember i'm watching you. stuart: you're a little worried, aren't you?

a little worried, when you talk about 35% tax will beat you up, you can get a little worried i can tell. >> the only place where i feel like president-elect trump is kind of off base is on trade. i don't really think he has command of the subject matter there in a way that works both way. we need to export a lot of goods. we need to import a lot of goods. we do 2 trillion each way right now. that is a pretty big market both ways. you don't want to screw that up. stuart: i got some breaking news for you. the trump transition team made it official, president-elect trump supports construction of the north dakota pipeline and he will review the project when he takes office next year. remember, please, that the obama administration just refused to allow the last permit required to complete that pipeline. and now donald trump is messaging on it, say, hey we'll review that decision when i'm the president. the latest on the trump transition, president-elect trump announcing that ben carson will be nominated for the next

secretary of housing and urban development. we are still waiting on his pick for secretary of state. top picks, petraeus, romney, giuliani, bob corker, ambassador john bolton. four new contenders, dana rohrabacher, congressman from california, exxon ceo john till lot ton and former governor jon huntsman and ad mir james stavridis. what does she think about prime minister abe visiting pearl harbor? she's next.

stuart: this news broke this morning. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe announced he will visit pearl harbor with president obama later this month. joining us, monica crowley, "washington times" online opinion editor. what is going on with this?

that is announced this morning. we've never seen a japanese leader visit pearl harbor before? >> just like we've never had american president or president-elect take a call from a taiwanese president in about four decades. this is the donald trump effect. we all understand the united states has one president at a time. donald trump is not trying to usurp president obama's power but this is a direct effect of the new president coming in. donald trump did not run on reinforcing the status quo. donald trump won on promise of smashing it, challenging conventional ways of doing things. that is what he intends to do. stuart: are we getting closer to asia's other great power, japan. we're getting closer to them as we poke the eye out of the other great power which is china, is that what is going on? >> this is also a critical part of the reason donald trump took the call from the taiwanese president this weekend because this is about the freedom agenda. this is about the united states finally having a president who is willing to stand up for free peoples and peoples who want

more freedom who are oppressed or living in the shadow of say, beijing a communist dictatorship. donald trump understanding the moral authority, washington, white house, presidency, the united states carry and he is willing to exercise it. stuart: let me roll you a sound bite of vice president-elect mike pence talking about that phone call that the president, president-elect accepted from taiwan. roll tape. >> the waters here seem like a little bit after tempest in a teapot. striking to me that president obama would reach out to murdering dictator in cuba and hailed as hero. president-elect donald trump take as courtesy call from democratically elected president of taiwan and becomes something of a thing in the media. stuart: certainly became something of a thing in the media. they were very critical of it. >> of course, this is a big surprise? the state department, these entrenched bureaucrats, entrenched diplomats is going crazy because the president-elect did not cult

with them and bow down to their entrenched power. look, donald trump is making it very clear. there will be a new sheriff in town very soon and he will reorder everything from our diplomatic relation, based on a freedom agenda and interests of the united states of course, because he ran and won on america-first platform but he also going to smash every other model including the press model. that is what they're extremely afraid of. stuart: he was tweeting up storm over the weekend. one tweet after another, going right overheads of establishment media, communicating directly. we have never seen anything like that before. >> nobody knows what to make of it, which is quite delicious to watch because it is about time that the status quo was not just shaken up, stuart, but actually destroyed and reordered. donald trump understands when he was talking about draining the swamp, and defeating a corrupt, rigged, system you have to do it across the board. you can't do it over here and expect things to change. you have to uproot things like

obamacare, dodd-frank, dealing with the press, root and branch, create a new order. this is an order based on serving the american people, first and foremost. stuart: if i was a martian visiting from another planet and i looked at media and reaction to the trump presidency i would think things were going horribly wrong. he is making a dreadful mess of it. he is a total amateur. upsetting the applecart in every single direction. kind of a prude, don't you like isn't. >> that fantastic and exactly what the american people wanted. if they wanted status quo they would have voted for mrs. clinton or during republican primaries they would have voted for jeb bush. they did not want the status quo any longer because they realized it was sending america into decline. they want to bring the country back to traditional engine of economic growth. traditional place of extraordinary power an influence in the world. we're an extraordinary nation. american people want it back. stuart: you know what they will say, hillary clinton won the popular votes, two million more

votes for hillary and -- >> democrats run up the votes in heavily democratic states like california and illinois. massachusetts as well. the democrats have been decimated under this president. what we have learned that the coalition elected barack obama in '08 and '12 was unique to him. that party under him, without him on the top of the ticket, 2010, 2014, 2016 has been destroyed. democrats have a lot of work to do. they should start by bringing themselves back to the center. stuart: i said a moment ago the president-elect has been tweets up a storm. well, he is at it again right now. this just came in a few moments ago. adam, i don't have it. >> it is about the press. here is what he said. if the press would cover me accurately and honorably i would have far less reason to tweet. sadly i don't know if that will ever happen. >> that is donald trump saying i need to constantly correct the record because the corrupt press, which is idealogically, and personally opposed to me

continues to tell lies about me and my agenda. once he is in the white house he will have a team to help him do this. he no longer needs them. he no longer needs filter of elite press to get your message out. he is going over the top. he has a weapon that president nixons and reagan went directly to the people did not have, twitter and social media. stuart: monica crowley. thanks for joining us. >> always a pleasure. stuart: now, sports fans, alert, 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick spent most of his sunday afternoon on his back. he completed one of five passes for four years. he was sacked five times. he was put on the bench. sacked more times than the total number of yards he passed for. historically bad outing. 49ers were crushed 2-6 by the bears. 11 losses on the season. and it is snowing.

stuart: president obama has power left and he is killing the north dakota pipeline. a win for the greens. we learned president-elect trump will review the project once in office. jeff flock is there. he have and the crew drove all night to get there. we'll have that in a moment. ♪ when i first started working with capital one, my dad called them up and asked for "the jennifer garner card" which is such a dad thing to do. after he gave his name the woman from capital one said "mr. garner, are you related to jennifer?" kind of joking with him. and my dad was so proud to tell her, "as a matter of fact, she is my middle daughter". so now dad has the venture card, he's earning his double miles, and he made a friend at the company.

can i say it? go ahead! what's in your wallet? nice job dad.

stuart: the obama team deals a blow to the dakota pipeline. you can not have the permit you need to complete construction. we learned this morning president-elect trump will review the project. it was off and now maybe it is back on again. jeff flock is there. he is in morton county, in north dakota. we visited with him about an hour ago. that point he told us a lot of veterans there. tell me, jeff what interest do veterans and military people have in stopping a pipeline? reporter: well, they feel as though the native americans here have not been treated properly. you know, the native-american reservation is, standing rock reservation is beyond the flags up there. maybe you see we walked over. just to show you what the camp looks like, this is a gated community.

this is the, this is the way in and out. we got a kind of a broad rover view earlier. they will check your vehicle and they will, you know, keep an eye on you. they want to keep the peace in here. you see the flags of all sorts of different, both tribes as well as veterans groups. they feel as though the native americans here just have not been treated fairly. they you watched what happened with the water cannons. they said the government has no business in, you know, treating people that way. they rerouted this pipeline from bismarck, it was near bismarck, and then they said, well, we want to get it away from the population centers, bring it down here. there is a population of native americans here. they say it is important to us too, whether we have clean water and, you know if it is important enough to rout it away from bismarck, maybe you ought to think about routing it away from here as well, stuart, as we've been talking to people. very few people planning to

leave this camp. they will wait until president trump takes office and see what. they're hopeful that he will be on their side. stuart: okay. >> that is what their hope is. stuart: we'll see what happens at that camp if and when president-elect trump reverse as cancellation of pipeline. looks like you're in for a long tough winter, flock. reporter: you got snow. your wish came true for me. stuart: i want to focus on general david petraeus he admitted he made mistakes and making the case he can run the state department. mainstream media praising president obama economic policies. trump is inheriting obama's boom. really? we'll be back with more.

♪ ♪ stuart stuart oh, oh, it's italian music. what are we doing? [laughter] >> a new introduction of me? stuart: italian music to say get lost on constitutional reform, especially because they're saying no to the establishment in europe, and italian banks are taking it on the chin, as you can see. the dow industrials though, on the up side. again, the experts got it wrong. they said if the italians vote no, our market goes down.

wrong, it's gone straight up. 19,258. don't you love it? the price of oil is close to $52 per barrel, that is an 18-month high. keith fitzgerald is with us of money map press, the chief investment strategist therein. europe's on the verge of -- well, i think it's a slow moving collapse. that's my position. the other side of the coin is that america is the best place to be to put your money. are you going to disagree with me, peter? keith, sorry. >> you know -- [laughter] well, i tell you, i think europe is more like a bug this search of a windshield at this point, stuart. there's a lot of problems on a lot of different levels. but with regard to america being the only game in town, that is tempting, but at the very expensive proposition of dismissing asia. to paraphrase trump, you know, it's china, and you don't want to take your money out of there. stuart: you don't want to take your money out of -- well, look, most of our viewers do not have money in china.

>> oh, yes, they do. stuart: well, how do they do that? >> yes, they do. if they own s&p 500 companies, 40-60% of the revenue from those companies, in fact, comes from china or china-related trade. so, absolutely, they do have it. and here's the thing, even though politicians can't come to terms with china, even though trump's got a thing for china, the fact of the matter is the best ceos on the planet know that's where they've got to go to get growth. stuart: yeah, but i want to go back to this because it seems to me that if you want growth in the economy, you want growth in corporate profits, america is the place to be. where am i going so wrong on this? >> you're not going wrong, stuart. but america's profits are due in large part to trade that they do in other parts of the world. that's the way the global financial community works these todays. it's an a-- these days. it's an appealing argument, but the allure is very subtle. stuart: i just want to play some video, it's breaking news. we are, of course, on trump

tower watch. and just look at this, moments ago, who's that? former vice president al gore walking, moving swiftly towards the golden elevators at trump tower. and, no, we have no clue why he is there, but he is there. >> to fix the internet. [laughter] stuart: oh, did you hear that, keith? peter kernan says he's there to fix the interinnocent. that was a slide -- internet. >> that's the internet he invented. >> he invented it. [laughter] stuart: you guys are piling on. keith, mr. trump says if you take jobs out of america, when you try to bring your products back in, we'll tax you 35%. what do you make of that? >> well, again, i think, you know, here he's got the right idea. the allure is very, very powerful. we want to put jobs back in america, we want to put money back in america, but this is one of those instances where you've got to be very, very careful what you wish for, because

that's a form of repressive capitalism, and if there's two things we know, it means lower profits and lower stocking market prices. so you've got to really watch this one, because he could wind up inadvertently hurting the people he's trying to help. stuart: you say it's okay, put your money into america's stock market. you're saying that, that's all good stuff, right? 20,000 on the dow industrials in what time frame? >> absolutely. boy, tough to say. i'm still going to stand with first quarter of next year. i think we have not yet seen the bull even really begin to run. america's done a remarkable full tilt. they've gone from a hand-wringing, you know, sort of woe is me attitude prior to the elections to, wow, we can do this. there is a bright future, and we're going to make it happen. it speaks to me of a higher stock market ahead. stuart: so the bull has not yet gotten fully rolling in the trump rally. i'll remember that one. keith, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> absolutely. stuart: did you know this?

this is the 20th anniversary of then-fed chair alan greenspan's irrational exuberance speech. all right, roll it. >> but how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in japan over the past decade? stuart: twenty years ago. >> seems like yesterday. i have to say we're now in a period of rational exuberance. i've never seen this country with more inertia. you're talking about cutting taxes for corporations, you're talking about cutting health care costs for corporations, you're talking about cutting regulation which is trillions of dollars of expense over a ten-year period. you add all that up, where have you seen stimulus to our economy like that before? stuart: so this is, as you say, rational exuberance. >> i think this makes sense even an investment banker can

understand it, that's how simple it is. stuart: the 1990s, that really was kind of -- the dot.com bubble was irrational. >> i can remember at one point priceline.com was worth more than every airline in the world in entirety. things were so akimbo, and one of the things -- this is like profitless prosperity. what you're seeing now is even our big technology players like facebook, they have marvelous profitability. we're a long, long, long way, two more longs, from irrational -- stuart: you don't remember that from 20 years ago, do you? >> it feels more like 1980 when ronald reagan was elected and '81 where there was this incredible economy waiting to be unleashed. stuart: yeah. it took a while for the economy to catch up. the market really didn't take off until, what, '83? >> it was '82-'83 and, frankly, what happened is from 1968 to 1982 the market went down by 25%.

and as you include the inflationing in real terms, it was down 45%. what reagan engineered was the greatest economic market turn around in the history of man. i'd love to see it happen again -- stuart: wouldn't we all? >> reagan did a phenomenal job, and it was -- it takes a little time for these engines to get stoked. but when they go, they really go. stuart: like the sound of that, i've got to say. now this. general david petraeus appeared on a series of sunday shows. he apologized and admitted to his mistake in handling classified information, mishandling, i should say. some say he was gearing up for a job. all rise, napolitano is here. that will be the center for his -- secretary of state job. but what about his confirmation hearings when he's admitted to mishandling secret administration? >> it depends on how the trump administration wants to handle it. the president could end this by the stroke of a pen and sign a

full, complete and final pardon for general petraeus. that would allow the general to answer under oath that he's never been convicted of a crime even though we know he has been convicted of a crime, because the pardon wipes everything out. stuart: but it wouldn't work, we're talking politics here, not legality. as soon as the senators put him on the stand and everybody knows he did mishandle information, he's admitted to it -- >> i don't know how the politics would go, but i would think the trump administration would take the pulse of enough republican senators so that they would know whether or not this is going to pass. they're not going to put him up there like when they put robert bork up there without know what the outcome was going to be only to have him lose. stuart: so he could pass muster. >> now, look, the president of the united states under presently existing authority can give a top security clearance to anyone. so he could give it to general petraeus even though he is still on probation, he still reports

to a probation officer, and he has lost a lot of federal privileges, one of which is a top security clearance and the right to vote because he has been convicted of these crimes. stuart: he can't vote? >> correct. correct. stuart: if he was pardoned, could he vote? >> yes. yes, if he was pardoned, he could vote, he could use handguns -- which he's also prohibited from using for the rest of his life -- and he can get a national security clearance. the pardon is an enormously powerful instrument. if president-elect trump, president trump at the time does this, he will be the first president we know of who has pardoned someone at the outset of his term. they all do it at the end of the term so that they're not around when the objections flow. stuart: it's a most unusual presidency, you could see him doing exactly that. >> yes. could he be the secretary of state and still be convicted of these crimes of failure to handle, failure to keep secret top security secrets? answer, yes.

if donald trump wants that. stuart: okay. now, we talked earlier about this, we talked about this earlier. i want to take for our west coast viewers or just tuning in now, bowe bergdahl. he's accused of leaving his post, desertion in afghanistan. he wrote a letter to the president, president obama, saying pardon me, please, before mr. trump takes office. now, what do you make of this? >> he not only wrote a letter, he filed a formal paperwork for a pardon. he did not do so through the chain of command in the military. he did it directly with the commander in chief. so he wrote to president obama and filed this paperwork with the white house in president obama's capacity as commander in chief. it's a perfectly lawful thing for him to do. anyone in the military or civilian criminal justice system as a defendant can file this application. you don't have to wait until you're convicted. he is about to be confronted with a commander in chief who's called him a traitor and says he

should be charged with treason and executed. stuart: that's what donald trump has said. >> correct. you almost can't blame him for wanting to get out of the military before donald trump becomes the commander in chief. stuart: i think you believe that president obama will pardon bo berg calf. >> well, as i mentioned earlier, his lawyer has already said who his first defense witness will be, barack obama. i would think that soon-to-be-former president barack obama does not want to be a defense witness in this criminal case. yet he is the one who provoked the rez cue and who praised this young man and brought the parents to the white house. why did you do that, mr. obama? be a great question for the jury to hear the answer to. stuart: so odds are he pardoned him before -- >> odds are he doesn't want to be a witness in this case. [laughter] and he will also take a thorpeny problem out of -- thorny problem out of president trump's hair. stuart: which i'm sure he's not prepared to do that particularly enthusiastically.

judge, you're all right. >> always a pleasure, stuart. see you tomorrow. stuart: now this. exxon's ceo, rex tilson, reportedly being looked at as trump's secretary of state. that's different, isn't it? an oil guy as secretary of state, top diplomat? he's on the list. then there's nancy pelosi. she says she doesn't think the people want a new direction. [laughter] maybe she's wrong about that. we are certainly on it. listen to this. >> well, i don't think that people want a new direction. our values unify us, and our values are about supporting america's working families. that is one that everyone is in agreement on. [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her new mobile wedding business. at first, getting paid was tough... until she got quickbooks.

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uniforms, and they have bryce harper, for example. watching oil which has surged to highs we haven't seen in 17 months, and the natural gas average, $2.18.

stuart: all change at trump tower, radically different than president-elects in their selection of a campaign -- cabinet, i should say. house minority leader nancy pelosi, she said this: >> well, i don't think that

people want a new direction. our values unify us, and our values are about supporting america's working families. that is one that everyone is in agreement on. what we want is a better connection of our message to working families in our cup. stuart: mercedes schlapp is with us, she's a conservative, she's a republican, and she's having a lot of fun, are you not? [laughter] >> i'm still celebrating. through the new year, i think. stuart: nancy pelosi, i want to get this absolutely right, she said we don't need a new direction. who's "we," america or the democrats? >> and she also said they need to have better communications, better messaging to the american people and to the working class. stuart: well, i think you'd agree with that. >> well, absolutely. but here's where pelosi's wrong, they are tone deaf. this is one of the reasons why the democrats continue to lose state legislature seats, they've lost 12 governorships, they've lost house seats, senate seats. there is a tidal wave against the democrats at this time, especially when you have a

donald trump coming in with a strong economic and simple message to the american people. we're going to work deals to your benefit, we're going to help the working class, we're going to preserve and create jobs in america. the democrats are still stuck on identity politics, name-calling, and that does not work for the american people. stuart: it's been a total shift in american politics whilst i've been in america, okay, 40 years. when i first came here, richer people, wealthier people voted republican down the line. a country club republican, you got it. >> that's right. stuart: that's reversed. the top 20% of income earners vote solidly democrat. >> yeah, it's interesting how there continues to be a class split. basically, you're starting to see republicans gaining ground with the white working class. 2008, 2012, then they shifted to trump, many of them trying to be that sound for the working class so that at the end of the day,

donald trump has recreated the way the politics have functioned in this country. and what we're seeing is that republicans are becoming the people's party which i think is a fascinating change. stuart: what a switch? who would have thought? >> it's thrilling. this is why we do what we do, stuart. stuart: stay there, please, back in a second. how about this? exxon's ceo, rex tillerson, reportedly being looked at as trump's secretary of state. exxonmobil is the world's largest oil company. peter, are we talking radically new stuff here in the ceo of an oil company could be our top diplomat? >> well, it's interesting, isn't it, how trump has basically taken the typical parentheses of who you'd consider and just eradicating them and saying let's look at this without walls, without prejudice. i think about an oil company executive and say who is likely to have had interaction with all kinds of foreign leaders? a guy like rex tillerson, absolutely. he's actually some of the other names he's bringing in huntsman,

these are very, very capable additions to his list of potential secretary of state picks, and tillerson -- i actually see him much more comfortably in the energy role, but it's not entirely crazy. and what i love is the willingness to think expansively. stuart: if you really want to stick it to the greenies, you put an oil company guy as your secretary of state. what do you think about that? >> you know, i think this is what donald trump does, he thinks outside the box. stuart: that's for sure. >> however, i think that he's a long shot. i do believe it's more going to be along the lines of giuliani or ambassador bolton. i mean, he's going to need someone that knows how to go into the state department and shake things up -- stuart: hey, rex tillerson, why not? see what happens. >> he introduced the name just to say let's consider this gentleman for helping this country grow. we have a major energy dividend that we have not tapped into in the united states, and i think somebody like tillerson in a major role in this cabinet would help us think differently. why do we have to be so hostage

to the middle east for our energy, and why not look at more energy independence? tillerson could be the key. stuart: fair point. a basic tenet is energy independence. go get what's ours on our own turf. >> right. and i think with rex you'll also find the one thing he brings up is he's very much in favor of climate changemented this would be a different -- change. this would be a different -- stuart: what do you mean, in favor? >> he supported the paris -- stuart: he did? >> -- agreement. oh, yes, he did. stuart: i can't work it out. who's on whose side here? >> that's okay. it's about bringing in diverse talent into his cabinet. but i do believe those will be some of the red flags they're going to bring up with tillerson. stuart: fascinating. are you having fun? >> aren't we all? bling out the popcorn, this is fabulous. [laughter] stuart: the mainstream media praising president obama's economic policies. they say trump is inheriting obama's boom. really? we're going to take a close look

at that so-called boom. we'll be back.

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with this one: trump inherits obama boom. that is their word, obama boom. peter, what do you make of this? >> well, i think back to jan january2000 when the labor participation rate was over 60%, and i look add it today, and it's 62.6, that's 5% of the american people who want to work who can't. and when you have the unemployment rate go down to 4.6% because a couple hundred thousand people say i give up, if you want to call that victory, god bless you. i guess they need some way to go out singing and smiling, but this is a long way from a boom. stuart: what do you make of it, adam? >> it's kind of like stagnation like back in the '70s. you can't deny he didn't inherit the recession, and he could have done a lot more. stuart: on friday last week we had big jobs report. it didn't have much political

significance, but we were the only people who reported that within that report if you dig down deep, 118,000 new part-time jobs were created, and i think it was 9,000 full-time jobs. nobody else reported that. that's not a boom. >> the single failure of this administration is they've taken their eye off the most important ingredient which is the market value of job. yes, you like to create a lot of them, but if they're part time, they pay no benefits, and they leaf those workers frustrated. it's something like 9% of the american workers want more. and the problem is that, you know, honestly, it goes back to, i think, almost a churchillian opportunity. if i'm going to be the jobs president in 2008, he'd have been fdr revisited, but he blew it. stuart: but we now have a president who says he's going to deregulate, cut taxes and spend a ton of government money on the

military is and maybe infrastructure as well. that amounts to massive stimulus. >> yeah. stuart: do you think we're going to get growth? >> absolutely. and we're going to get the stimulus. it's not a maybe, the question is how much. he wants a trillion. i doubt congress will give him a trillion dollars in spending for infrastructure, but maybe $500 billion. stuart: and interest rates are rising rapidly. >> yes. what that really shows is the economy's strong. and the way i'd look at the trillion dollars is let's suppose it's a poker game, and if the government will ante in 500 million, let's get business and the american people to put in another 500 billion. that's how you get to your trillion. i think there's ample latency. you're talking about corporations with a trillion dollars of cash and more than a trillion dollars of borrowing capability. it just needs to be fertilized and sunshine and a little bit of water and what you're going to see is this economy sparkle. stuart: look what's happening on the market right now. we've got a 79, 80-point rally

for the dow industrials. that puts us at 19,249. that means we are 750 points away from dow 20,000. already at a record high, pushing a little bit higher this morning. the price of oil, $52 per barrel. what, a week ago we were around about 44, 45. that -- oil's up, the dollar is up, stock prices are up, we are moving this economy and moving those markets. and we're not done yet. as our producer likes to say, the magic will continue, after this. [laughter]

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stuart: just a few moments ago, trump tower, look who just arrived, that is al gore, former vice president are. he invented the internet. he's a big global warming kind of guy, but who is he meeting with? >> he is meeting with ivanka trump. they're talking about climate change issues, he champions

those issues, and ivanka trump said she wanted to deal with those issues. stuart: you never know what's going to happen, look at that. >> or who will show up. stuart: time's up. neil cavuto, take it away. neil: thank you very much, stewart. we are keeping a close eye on this bearing manufacturer out of the midwest that is right now the subject of donald trump's tweets back and forth because it wants to move 300 jobs south of the border or overseas in e theal. idea, but he's been getting a great deal of heckling from fellow republican sarah palin saying, among others, that even what he did in the case of carrier air conditioners sort of reeks of crony capitalism. then you have republican ben sass, senator from the fine state of nebraska, who was tweeting out his own misgivings, saying president-elect trump certainly means well, but his word that a 35% tariff will only