well. this is a trump-up, and we're seeing it popping. and and now we're seeing it could power over into well after the first 100 days possibly. stuart: get all our tax returns onto this postcard, as kevin brady said he could, and he writes the tax rule. we're out of time. neil cavuto, it's yours. neil: if they could put all of your tax info on an index card, that would be a triumph. [laughter] you know? stuart: i have no response, neil. [laughter] neil: i'm just thinking about it. all right, thank you, stuart, very much. all right, we are following this trump rally, trump bump, whatever you want to call it. it is the dow, it is alive and well. but we are also following up on a brouhaha that we wanted to get to, the former u.n. ambassador john bolton who is being considered for a number of top foreign policy positions in a trump administration. the man who had called all of this dust-up on the russian role, if any, in the past election maybe a false lag.

obviously, he's had a bit of a controversy to address since then. ambassador, it's very good to have you. >> glad to be with you. neil: let me just get the quick follow-up. senator john mccain was among those who wants to probe this russian influence, that just based on the circumstantial evidence, it is clear that whether they intended to interfere to the degree they did or trying to elect a certain candidate, i think that it is a subject of investigation. the facts are stubborn things. they did hack into this campaign. what do you saysome. >> well, that is the consensus of the intelligence community. but i think if you're outside the bubble of having the classification to know what's actually there, it's very difficult to comment on it. and my point has been that it's entirely possible that it is a false flag operation, that somebody planted evidence, in effect -- neil: who would plant it? >> well, another country, china, iran, north korea, for reasons of their own.

neil: but you are saying that a country -- >> yeah. there's -- neerl neerl -- potentially hacked into our election. >> yeah. and believe me, i think russia is entirely capable of doing it -- neil: so john bolton has no doubt that our election system was hacked by somebody. >> well, i don't see any evidence to the contrary. what has been misreported about yours truly for reasons which i find hard to understand is that a aaccused the obama administration of conducting the hack. that is absolutely false. that's not my belief, it's not what i said. i ran into eric shawn on whose show i appeared yesterday, and i explained what happened, and he looked at me and said, but you never said that, which was my opinion as well. neil: raising any doubts about the cia itself and how reliable it could be. >> yeah. let me be clear, i am not saying the administration was responsible for the hack. i do worry about the politicization of intelligence in this administration, looking at what happened at benghazi --

neil: you think the cia could be politicized. >> well, i think it certainly came out at a very convenient time to conclude it was russia at a time when trump was being criticized for what he was saying about putin. a false flag conclusion here is not simply based on cyber fingerprints. this is a political decision about who stood to benefit. and i think it's entirely possible that there were multiple efforts -- neil: but that the cia potentially could be dragged into a political -- >> well, i think that's why, as i've said before, mike pompeo, designated to be the new director of the cia, is going to have a heavy responsibility here. he's a man trusted on both sides of the aisle, and whenever this report that president obama has asked for is done, review and implementation will come while pompeo's at the cia. neil: let's say it was politicized. to what end? >> well, it would worry me that with, as so many other aspects

of our government, be it the internal revenue service or others, the cia in terms of the benghazi talking points that there's a risk here of politicization, and i think that has to be guarded against. neil: all right. as you know, the cia is up in arms about those former spokesmen, and one of those is michael morrell who said the cia doesn't come to a high confidence judgment just based on circumstantial evidence, so i think they've got more here. i think they've got sources who are actually telling them what the intent was. >> well, that may be. but the question i have raised not just in the past couple of days, but for months now is that james comey said in the summer that hillary clinton's e-mail server had likely been hacked, but they doesn't find any direct evidence and didn't expect to given the nature of the foreign services involved. meaning that russia or china at least had the capability to get in and get out without leafing fingerprints. leaving fingerprints.

neil: would it be odd to you in either case or both cases that they favored the challenger rather than the incumbent? in this case the incumbent party, the democratic nominee? >> well, i think the question is so why did they leave fingerprints in the rnc and the dnc but not in hillary's? and so my question is why would the russians, if they wanted to influence the election -- which, as i say, doesn't surprise me at all -- would send their dumb intelligence service to hack into the dnc and the rnc and leave the fingerprints, but they sent their smart intelligence service to get into hillary's and not leave -- >> neil: would it get as much scrutiny if it was reversed, if it was hillary clinton who had won and there was still suspicion that the russians or the chinese or anyone, to your point, were behind them? >> well, i don't know. but i do think we should take this seriously. i think any effort by a foreign government, and i don't care what the foreign government is, to influence american elections, to undercut the trust and confidence our people have in our system is a direct assault on the constitution, and i think

foreign governments may have believed in these past months of the election season that they could get away with it without retribution -- neil: you don't think it would be the same zeal if it were the other way around? the reason i mention it, ambassador, is donald trump had tweeted out can you imagine if we tried to play the russia card, it would be called conspiracy theory. he went on to say unless you catch hackers in the act, it's very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. why wasn't this brought up before the election? many argue that it was brought up before the election. >> well, it was, but that's surprising too. agencies that go for months before they reach conclusions on things were able to come to this conclusion very quickly. so i just think there's been enough what the russians call -- [speaking russian] misinformation out there. which is why i support the mccain, graham, schumer, reid idea --

neil: you're okay with this investigation. >> yeah. i don't think we want sources and methods of intelligence gathering out there, but i think there's been enough confusion spread that we need to have confidence that our institutions can function properly. neil: okay. the name that keeps getting mentioned for secretary of state, almost fait accompli, but you would know this better than i -- [laughter] ceo rex tillerson is going to get the secretary of state spot and that you are being seriously considered for deputy secretary of state. >> well, you know, as i've done repeatedly throughout the process, i just don't comment on this. i don't think it's the right thing to do because i think the president-elect has got to make up his own mind -- neil: would you be okay with that. >> >> well, you know, i'm not going to comment on that either. i don't know where the nomination selection process stands, so i guess i'll find out with everybody else. neil: the reason why some people raised eyebrows about tillerson is he has close ties with russia, a personal relationship with vladimir putin. dangerous, they say that could be dangerous.

you say what? >> look, i've got relationships with a lot of people around the world too. i think the issue is one the president-elect has to decide on his own. and as i say, i think my talking about it is not fair to him and not fair to anybody else in the process. neil: i was hoping to embarrass you. >> i'm sure that's true. [laughter] as boring as it sounds, i'll just dodge your question again. neil: all right. when your name came up for any of these positions, along comes rand paul who keeps pounding the theme don't put him anywhere near conducting our foreign policy. this is the latest, again, from senator rand paul. >> i don't know about tillerson, but i do know that john bolton doesn't get it. he still believes in regime change, he's still a big cheerleader for the iraq war. he's promoted a nuclear attack by israel on iran are. he wants to do regime change in iran, so i think john bolton is so far out of it and has such a naive understanding of the world, if he were to be the assistant or the undersecretary

for tillerson, i'm an automatic no on bolton. he should get nowhere close to the state department if anybody with the same world view is in charge. neil: what do you think of that? >> well, you know, i do take an old school view that until a person is nominated and appears before the senate, that they shouldn't comment on their own behalf. it puts the nominee at a disadvantage, i must say. but i will say one thing here, it's been a long time since anybody called me naive. neil: so on a certain level, that's got to bug you. [laughter] >> no, i'm actually proud of it. after years of being in the trenches, it's a compliment. neil: but you would only need a majority to get confirmed. >> honestly, i knew i shouldn't even have said anything. neil: all right, real quickly, we've got a situation i want to explore later on with my guest, in fact, right after you. oil continues to move as it looks like russia is helping out peck by at least reining in production or not increasing it.

and now we're at the 15, 16, 17-month highs, could go still higher. it appears to be sticking. what do you think? >> well, it's only early days. i mean, the problem with cartels is that people always have an incentive to cheat. and i think we will save if the levels stay here or go even a little bit higher, obviously, wells that were shut in in the united states when the price dropped could come back on again. and the united states really is the swing producer here. we are responding to market forces in terms of domestic production, and so we'll have to see what happens. but i think the the big shift that's going to occur after january 20th is you will have an administration that actually believes that the standard of living can be raised by things hike oil, natural gas, coal, all those evil carbon-based fuels. and so i think there's every reason to think demand will continue to rise and that production here will go, will go higher. i think the export of american oil and natural gas is not just an economic plus for us, i think it's a strategic plus for us

around the world. neil: do you think that given the moves on oil and given the fact that russia appears that it seems to be helping in lifting the price, which would be interesting, big oil producer, that that we're going to have run-ins with russia and vladimir putin, and whatever constructive relationship that you or others in a potential administration would have to say nothing of donald trump himself will be tested? >> well, here's what i would say. i would not say personal relationships have nothing to do in foreign affairs, but i think the real issue is the pursuit of american national interests. and whatever else you want to say about vladimir putin, he is focused like a laser beam on russian national interest and where they conflict with those of the united states -- which is frequently in many areas of the world on many subjects -- the united states has to stand up for its interests. period. neil: what do you think happened to mitt romney? >> you know, that gets into the realm of speculation again, and -- you're a persistent man, neil. that's all i can say. [laughter]

neil: see, i thought i'd wrap up with that. >> you're doing very well. you almost got it. neil: ambassador, thank you very much. >> good to be here, i think. [laughter] neil: all right. in the meantime, scott shellady is with us at the cme on this opec deal. and to the ambassador's point, scott, i mean, it's a little early, and cartels are known to sort of break their resolve. so far so good for the cartel, but what do you make of it? >> well, i mean, i think oil being between 50 and $60 is better for the u.s. industry than it would be between 30 and 40. i would like to see oil slowly but surely make a march higher because of great demand on an economic recovery. i don't like it's been higher because of the saudis or peck or russia joining this cartel or at least because of the cartel. i think $53 is key, and i think $50 was key. what was worrying me last week is you know how the equities and oil have been trading kind of hip to hip here. if you start to see oil slip below 50 after you've had all this bullish news, i don't think

that could be good for the equity market. so kind of keep an eye on 53 and 50, because after all that news comes out, be we can't hold a bid -- if we can't hold a bid, that's not good. neil: what if we are being driven by perceptions of a pick-up in economic activity which would favor oil and there is no sort of black helicopter motive behind this, that it's just sheer economic optimism that is buoying this? what do you make of that? >> well, you could say that for a number of things, you know? neil: yeah, i guess. >> we're going to be raising interest rates. it's not just oil that's going to fall into that camp. yeah, i hope that's going to be the case, but you know what? right now we're trading on faith and believing without seeing. there's going to have to be a lot of proof in the pudding over the next three, six months to justify the levels -- neil: do you worry about that, scott? that's a very good point. do you ever worry about that, that the optimism might be getting a little ahead of itself and it might take a little while longer?

this is washington we're talking about, whatever the people's excitement. i mean, it takes a while to get stuff done. >> yeah. he hasn't even been -- you know, january 20th he takes office. he's not even in office yet, and we've got all this triumph, trump rally, all the new names out there. yeah, he's unleashed some animal spirits, that's for sure. the guys down here feel differently about the market, and maybe it's going to trade on numbers and economic facts and figures rather than central bank intervention. that would be a nice thing next year. however, he's not in office, and the numbers aren't coming through yet to really justify this great new optimism. so we're going to have to mention those two over the next six months. neil: thank you very much. scott shellady, t.j. investments, he's the big cheese there. really the same picture in english. by the way, we always keep those cameras trained on trump tower, and look who was waltzing in along with scaramucci there, hank greenberg.

i think he's 91 years young. don't know what he might be considered for or just paying a courtesy visit, but we are going to see what's going on there. the supreme court rejected his appeal about looking at the role and the dissolution of his company and who was behind that. so now almost a decade after the fact, out appears to be dead legally to argue. but who knows what could be in his future. and it's, it could be a very bright future. all right. in the meantime, rick perry, the former texas governor, very frequent critic of donald trump, could be on the verge of becoming the next energy secretary of these united states. this would be yet another case of those who far from supported donald trump, in fact, criticized donald trump are now being considered for key positions in a cabinet of one donald trump. and all the to donald trump are on the outside looking in. after this. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ neil: all right. add rick perry's name to the list of those who are being considered for cabinet positions who want to all but eliminate their agency. in governor perry's case, it would be the energy department. if you think about it, that's kind of like what scott pruitt has been looking at to run the epa, tom price, bette city devos -- betsy devos at the education department. turning away the very institutions they're expected to run. let's get the read with lisa booth,. [inaudible] big gop, by the way, and the democratic strategist. lisa, to you first. what to you make of this? this is a cabinet increasingly

filled with people who might have as their goal eliminating the very departments they're going to oversee. >> well, i think it's a positive thing because in a lot of these instances, these departments have exceeded their authority, and you just look at something like the epa, for instance, which essentially unilaterally and unlawfully moved forward with something like the clean power plan which was struck down before blocked by the supreme court. and you look at just the regulations out of the epa which have cost this country hundreds of billions of dollars in regulatory costs and have, essentially, decimated an entire industry. you look at the department of energy under president obama whichs has issued in just one year alone more efficiency rules than the clinton administration did during the entire time bill clinton was president or in the interior department, shutting down more federal lands than we have seen before, cutting off energy exploration. i think energy is one area where donald trump has signaled an entirely different approach than

president obama, one that's going to pursue jobs and encourage energy development and economic development that we didn't see under president obama. and i think rick perry would fit that mold coming from an energy-rich state who also strongly enforced energy production as governor. neil: you know, the one thing i do see, john, is that we've had a growth of cabinet positions over the years from roughly eight or nine during the time of john kennedy to, essentially, double that now. so i don't know how that happened. energy, obviously, became an important issue after the first oil crisis, but on and on we go. education a priority, jimmy carter advanced it. and so is this sort of this administration to come, in its view, we've got simply too many agencies here? >> well, neil, i don't know if we have too many agencies, but i do know that president-elect trump is doing an incredible job of bringing in people that are

going to change washington and disrupt the status quo. you take a look at andy puzder, you know, bringing in somebody that's hired a lot of people into labor rather than somebody like the current labor secretary who's a bureaucrat. you bring in anybody from texas whether it's rick perry or personally i'd like to see boone pickens as the energy secretary, but i don't know if boone would take that job. but i just love the fact that president-elect trump even with rex tillerson as secretary of state potentially, he's bringing in people that are going to change washington, change the departments for the better. they're business people, they're not bureaucrats -- neil: all right. you're not of that mind, you think this is in some cases the fox guarding the henhouse, right? >> well, yes. [laughter] but i actually have a question on rick perry in that regards because is he really, trump really trying to make some of these appointments to actually,

as he says, quote-unquote drain the swamp when rick perry is the former governor of texas? that's a state that has really benefited from the shale gas revolution that happened in the early 2000s, something which the department of energy researched and supported and funded. so would he come in there, rick perry, and be a big advocate of many of those policies and projects which actually have been financially successful for several states and become a bureaucrat, something which trump has criticized in the past? neil: we don't know. we'll watch closely. so much breaking news, guys, so if you'll indulge me, thanking for popping by. all right, we've got the former "dirty jobs" host, mike rowe, on why he thinks donald trump got this job and in the first place. it's actually pretty common sense. after this. ♪ ♪

neil: all right. well, democrats are still trying to figure out how it is they

lost the white house. harry reid the latest to say if not for the fbi, hillary clinton would be the president-elect. others blaming everything from fox news to lunar eclipses. i kid on the lunar eclipse thing, but you to have to wonder. former "dirty jobs" host mike rowe has a simpler reason why all of this happened. donald trump was deemed more authentic in the eyes of the american people. the very, very popular host joining us right now. very good to have you. thanks for coming. >> very good to be back. thank you, neil, anytime. neil: you know what was interesting, you step back and without taking sides on this, his pitch and how it's related to average folks working all sorts of jobs, whether they were dirty or not, just related more, oddly enough, to the billionaire. explain what you meant by that. >> well, for me, you know, the parallels started to fall into place during the primary, and when i looked at what was happening on stage, you know, 17 guys, everybody more or less

dressed the same, saying the same basic thing, i couldn't help but think of the way things were in my line of work, you know? nonfiction at the discovery channel back in 2003, programming had a, had a commonality to it. and when i pitched "dirty jobs" originally, that was a tough sell because it didn't look like anything else, and it was kind of raggedy and kind of sub subversive and borderline inappropriate. and so it was seen as off brand. and then suddenly, the viewers kept watching, and then they watched more and more and more. and so it was this strange kind of dissonance, you know? suddenly the thing people aren't supposed to like is suddenly at the top. and it's always interesting to see people kind of recalibrate and make sense of that. so "dirty jobs" ignored its own sense of what it was supposed to be through the lens of a brand. it just was what it was, and it worked --

neil: did it work because, i mean, did you pitch it as, hey, i'm going to actually do these dirty jobs? you were actually going to try them out. was that how it originally was presented? >> well, the pitch was, look, work is much, much broader than a lot of people believe, and honestly, on a personal level, it was a tribute to my granddad who could build a house without a blueprint. i wanted to shine a light on jobs that actually economisted economisted -- existed that nobody was crazy about doing. and the hook was, well, i'll try. [laughter] over time the interesting thing that happened by 2009 was the headlines caught up to the themes that had always been present in the show, and it made the show and me a whole lot more relevant, i think, than anybody originally anticipated. neil: well, you know, i noticed that this included, you know, work in i sewers and coal mines and crab boats. >> sure.

neil: nowhere do i see on this list, mike, that you looked at television business news anchoring. and i'm wondering whether it was just an oversight on your part, whether you didn't see the dangerous, dirty underbelly of my job? >> well, we looked at it, neil, quite candidly, and concluded that some jobs are simply too hideous to actually profile. [laughter] neil: okay, well -- [laughter] this interview is going to get now very, very dangerous for you -- >> great. neil: in all seriousness, you're a good sport. i notice you've also done a number of commercials. your voice, even if people weren't looking at you, is ubiquitous. i saw you, of course, in a lot of ford commercials, and i was thinking of ford and its relationship with donald trump, and it's a chilly one. as you know, donald trump had criticized ford for shipping small car jobs overseas, and now they're playing this cat and mouse game to be in each other's goodwill, i guess. what do you think of that? >> look, i mean, god only --

it'd be fun to be a fly on the wall in some of those top-level meetings. i think right now in general we're just reevaluating the whole notion of globalism versus nationalism, being in a global economy -- neil: but do you have, i mean, ford has said, hey, we're making a lot of vehicles here too. we have to spread the wealth and for cost considerations, to keep our overall employment strong throughout the world, we have to do sort of this, in this kind of stuff. and that is not politically popular. what do you think? >> well, i think at moment you're absolutely right. i don't think it's going to be politically popular either to pay 35% more for a fusion or an f-150 if, in fact, things were to go that way. to me, you know, the great service that you do provide, in all seriousness, is pushing forward a conversation that makes people look at life through the eyes of the worker and life through the eyes of the consumer. and we live in a world -- neil: that's what makes it a

dirty job, by the way. >> well, every worker is a consumer, not every consumer is a worker. neil: right. >> and i guess every four years all that comes to a head, and people say things that are popular to hear. but i -- look, it's beyond my pay grade, neil. i have no idea -- i don't think -- neil: your pay grade is in the stratosphere, what are you talking about, beyond your pay grade? [laughter] >> neil, literally, hundreds and hundreds of dollars have been flowing in my direction for years now. neil: i gotcha. [laughter] among the wrong with that. mike rowe, i wish i had more time, but i've got a dirty job to do. >> come on, we've got time. it's your show. neil: yeah, exactly. >> you can do whatever you want. neil: seriously, it is great seeing you. >> great to see you. neil: you have a great sense of humor, people forget that. i think that's helped you a lot -- >> ask around, people like me. there's no accounting for taste. [laughter] neil: mike rowe are, thank you very much. we have a lot more coming up including democrats doing their very, very best to stop donald

trump from ever becoming president at all. wait until you hear. ♪ ♪

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is

neil: all right, i think they will sort out the nation's electors are going to sort out who will become the next president of the united states

largely bound by donald trump words. at least 306 electoral votes. that is the plan, anyway. connecticut democrat tim hines is read-only or five weeks and then president-elect completely unhinged. the electoral college must do what it was designed for. what he is saying i think is it is designed for a little mischief. but i don't know if that was the original and 10 today. i thought it was meant to reflect the will of the people who voted in a given state and vote accordingly but maybe i missed something. update me on whether it was appropriate for an electorate to disavow the will of the people in his or her state. >> historically this made sense before anything like that. we had no idea what people voted. if you have maryland, the electoral college is a good way to meet everyone together. there is no federal law

combining them to vote the way their states. he had the state as that will do so. cert laid there is room for this type of shift, but frankly it up what would occasions and governmental implications of overthrowing what is the will of the american people as far as the electoral college and election night went, it's pretty impressive and that's why you were only seen a few, just about to democratic lawmakers floated in the first place. neil: just to be sure in the history of this, it is okay for an electorate to say that people might say whatever reason voted for the wrong guy. and i will be a conscientious to hear and not let that happen. does the constitution allow for that? it's dependent on the state, but that is the idea that an electorate could conscientiously oppose the will of the people in his servers date?

>> they could and they have. >> never significant numbers. >> we have the 2000 election which was quite a contentious sense that one. we didn't know for weeks he was going to the supreme court. even then, bush electors held firm. not a massive flip over. while this is in the card, it would take so much momentum. you think in your head the martian between clinton and trump was only 37, so they need to flood 37 electorates. then it just goes to the house where congress decided a republican majority congress isn't about to install a new president not say donald trump. date of the politics of that, too. neil: just to be clear, it would not go to hillary clinton. in all likelihood it would go to another republican and republicans dominate the house and senate.

>> you have to have either the 37 republicans joined with hillary clinton to give the electoral college majority. but it doesn't look like the electors are really pushing for that because that's a party split. so what you may see more like they do start to around other names. he doesn't want that, but that's an option. even if they bring trump underneath the 270 threshold, as long as clinton doesn't win the electoral college result, which most people are still thinking is unlikely, both candidates under 270 goes right to congress is controlled by republicans which would basically be like donald trump president again. neil: that'll be interesting. a week from today. thank you very much. good senior. the dow right now as we get closer and closer to 20,000. we told you early on in the process, you don't need a big

leap year lockheed martin is down on donald trump questioning. some of those contracts and whether we are getting gouged. lockheed martin following in the hills of rolling. when is questioning the price tag on what you're doing, shareholders feel the pain, too. in the aggregate when it comes to the dow. not so flummoxed. more after this. what's with the dog-sized horse? i'm crazy stressed trying to figure out this complex trade so i brought in my comfort pony, warren, to help me deal. isn't that right warren? well, you could get support from thinkorswim's in-app chat. it lets you chat and share your screen directly with a live person right from the app, so you don't need a comfort pony. oh, so what about my motivational meerkat? in-app chat on thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade.

>> and expanding criticism of defense companies on twitter today same as 35 jet fighter program is out of control. shares of lockheed martin down 2.5% joining trump and criticizing the company. also senator john mccain. the president saying he could save billions of dollars saved. responding moments ago saying is invested hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce the price of the airplane. at 35 will be less expensive than any fourth generation in the world. the second time his glad the spending in recent days. 4.2 billion cap spur new air force one too high. all the stocks down today. stay tuned for more "cavuto: coast-to-coast."

>> tree and too good to have you. what happened here? >> down to the last two, three, four. it makes sense to just get out of the way. the other positions i didn't have an interest in. so really about was the only one i had been a real interest in. but it wasn't so overwhelming

that you know i'm terribly disappointed. neil: that was in the moment. rudy giuliani calling us up on your world, my fox news show to say he had indeed taken himself charlie gasparino said this complete the heap of trouble -- who were so far batting zero when it comes to positions in the trump administration. it depends on who you believe. charlie gasparino has an intriguing look kind of scenes of what is heard. it is fascinating. >> great interview. it was spread out the cost so he was less guarded. and not really liking that. >> confusing. pretty amazing. it also shows you don't have to kiss the sky's rear ends. hats off to you.

the issue essentially was one of optics. they believe common meaning trump himself, people of the trump towers had so many conflicts with so many foreign governments that one positioned in secretary of state would oppose the confirmation issue. i think he did so much work within. neil: do you think he offered other positions? >> i don't know about that. after bridge gate who i had a long conversation with last night. i'll tell you about it later. it is very nice. he and his wife mary pat are there. neil: what you mean when the field? i was in the field for the cookoff -- kickoff. thanks to john tatum. was he your previous guests? neil: i don't know. that's a big football game.

the only defeat. >> second defeat. neil: apparently they want other news here. >> the other news is i think he was a little different. neil: i just can't picture you on the ground. >> i was this close -- i sure can with michael irvin. he was there. >> and the governor and his wife are also? was it called? >> i was like don't do it because we've been critical of the governor here every now and then. the governor said come on i don't hate you that much for something like that. it was funny. but he was extremely nice. after bridge gate he wasn't. the real tragedy here, particularly if you're a

free-market guy, here's what we do now. the free-market economist, tv commentator we do know this is why supply-siders are up in arms. steve menard should mr. goldman guy. a lot of other non-supply-siders and being offered national economic council is not exactly a supply sider. far from it. a liberal democrat in the key economic role which would give advice about the economy over a double democrat trump is likely to pick because that is what we are hearing unless he has a last-minute change. over larry kudlow who actually defended his policies. think about this. gary colin is a globalist corporatist liberal obama supporter. particularly in its first terms. there is nothing supply-side. neil: that could a lot about term. that only gets you so far. >> i don't -- maybe.

or is what's known as a star screw her. only they don't say screw -- neil: did they bring you food on the ground level? >> now, i went to a after that. neil: at the pizza shop sometimes they let you go to the front of the line. >> either way, i met some guys they're talking about you. to that view. one of the daughters wasn't in turn way near. you are kind of like big jersey. tony soprano is big in jersey, too. >> thank you very much. i can so picture that. hey governor, how you doing? >> i was like don't break it up in. his light come on, charlie. >> if you are having problems getting into the amendment and.

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♪ try telling that to people who are snowed in a cab ride. jeff flock in a very hard at chicago. this thing ain't going away. >> only 1600 people who couldn't lie yesterday in more today. last out checked out at o'hare, we've got a blanket of snow. not a lot in chicago. this'll be temperature. look at the numbers. today we are going to be all week in chicago. 22 today. 21 tomorrow, then 18, then a high of nine. if you're wondering what the

averages in the summer, it's only 35 for a high right now. we are well below it. not just chicago. the whole upper midwest from minneapolis to far ago. minus 15 in fargo on wednesday thursday. detroit single-digit, so is green bay. a nasty cold snap. you might think because of that natural gas to be a big time today. it's actually down big time because despite these temperatures come in the forecast, the long-range forecast came out today and that has shown it will be warmer at the end of the month. i leave you with a picture here in chicago. 10 ideas sprung up under lawrence avenue viaduct. the city is allowing folks to live out their despite the common cold. people live in that city say better than the shelters created the better exist ends in chicago. go somewhere else.

neil: it is actually cold if not colder than when you were inside the code. >> yeah, it will be. we had the front and back, too. what was killer there and we are not getting it today as wind. click it back then not even wearing that much. when you get no wind, 21 is not so bad. 20 miles an hour wind would be unpleasant as it was in north dakota. >> i run my best marathons in the cold. or at least driven man. thank you, my friend. keep picturing. thank you very, very much. quick look at the dallas relief here. again, getting closer and closer here to 20,000. oil prices that they not. my mother in oil prices move as they have come and there's a limit on how much the dow can run a period so far that does not appear to be the case.

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neil: the uproar of russia continues right now to john podesta the latest call for a briefing before an electoral college vote on their week away. john bolton and the last hour saying say it's the russians who were interfering at all. >> it's entirely possible that is a false flag operation that somebody planted evidence. another country, china, iran, north korea for reasons of their own. >> you are saying that a country potentially hacked into her election. >> believe me, russia is entirely capable of doing it. neil: you have no doubt that her election system was hacked by somebody. >> i don't see any evidence to the contrary. neil: super bowl than the only

issue is who's the jaime. democratic strategist brad lohmann. obviously, this is john podesta's way of thinking get this resolved one way or the other before the electoral college's meet a week from today. >> it may be the most consequential thing we can do right now. there is a good possibility that a fresh outright mother state actor interfered that this is the greatest attack since 9/11. we need to get to the bottom of exactly what happened here and make sure the american people know exactly what to place. neil: you would be a bad view of the election were reversed. >> absolutely. this transcends party. neil: i guess that's why mentioning that. if podesta isn't such a a rush to get this done, what he seems

to be implying here is that what you'd away this when you go to decide who becomes the next occupant of the white house. otherwise he would say do it before the electorate. >> i think the timing is suspect. the timing has been suspect because they knew "new york times" report suggest that all of this intelligence existed before election day. if that's the case, why wasn't it discussed prior to election day, particularly if now the thinking is to change the outcome of the election. we hear from lawmakers who don't necessarily want to suggest the outcome should be changed. an independent senator does caucus at the democrat. >> hoping you can get this first meeting and before the elect or sneak, you are trying to do that, aren't you? >> ray. i don't think that's the case

with all liberals. >> i understand that. that is why that part kind of gets my attention. if you are saying this is a political, nothing to do with altering the outcome back to the outcome that maybe you would like the democrats are back in general. >> erin, your point is well taken. guess what? this is something democrats were talking about. we have been talking about the fact that russia definitely clearly hacked into the dnc e-mails. i was grading this from the rafters for weeks saying somebody needs to investigate this. a lot of other democrats were. neil: do you think it altered the outcome? >> i don't know. we need to know whether or not this affected the outcome of the election and we need to know right now. >> even john bolton was saying he would not be surprised. someone was messing with our

electoral process. >> so i think it is important to get to the bottom of whether the electoral system is interfered with. that is the point. when you throw in the outcome of the election and put them into question, that's been conspiracy theory charges arising wishes stay away from that. ohio was won by donald trump by 10-point. so i don't know if you could say that the election was tipped that much. there were a lot -- just to be clear, i wish i had more time, but do you think that anything would come to life that would show the result was the exact opposite of what turned out to be the case? >> i don't know. i can answer that question. the timing is not the issue here. the issue here is that it's clear the american people were duped by international actors and right now more than anything else, we need to get to the bottom of this.

neil: the american people were duped in your calling into question the results of that election. >> we may very well find that is the case. neil: real quickly, he is saying that the high possibility that whatever we were told the electoral college count was not right. if you got even the headset that advocates are pushing back a time when elect as me? >> i think it's very, very suspicious. neil: you would push back? >> i think we may be in a chartered territory. >> i don't think so. the transition is well underway. the clinton team is not suggesting. it's not like hillary clinton are saying we want to look into this because the outcome should be changed. we have to hold the credibility of our election system.

>> certainly been stacked by kremlin hunkering kremlin loyalists. >> now you're kind of sipping her hand. that's another show in another argument. in the meantime, exxon ceo rex tillotson is one of those russian loyalists we are told. could that have a big impact on whether he is on whether he is picked or not for secretary of state assuming that is where were going. connell mcshane at the trump tower. >> there are questions being raised about mr. tillotson's relationship with russia over the years. with interesting is they are being brought up in some cases by prominent republicans. senator marco rubio tweeted over the weekend for the twitter account, been a friend of vladimir is not an attribute i am hoping for from secretary of state.

>> i'm concerned about the relationship is letting her put in. i thought, murderer comic tbg guy who only wants to restore the russian empire. >> she does have it. on the business side of things back in the 90s before the exxonmobil merger 1999. he spent a lot of time in russia dealing with russia over seeing what exxon had over the end since he's been ceo, he's still the same joint ventures as well ms has been well publicized by now, he was awarded that is called the order of friendship and. but all of that sad end for all those questions raised, he also does have since support on capitol hill. watch this. >> i think this is a smart pick when you look at it. if this comes to fruition, rex has been an individual from the

largest company was clearly tested. he knows where he's played, so i think it's very smart. >> that the thing we are told by transition officials we can expect this to be made official over the next few days certainly before the end of the week is congressman mccarthy was arguing to supporters this idea that he knows the act is involved in is the leaders seen as a positive feedback you. neil: thank you very much. the former gold oil ceo. you know that can turn against tiller said in close ties to russia as the big oil producer and that this could be a dealbreaker. would you say? back i think it's an outstanding choice. he is a man of high character, high ability who's managed an organization of 75,000 people in

a worldwide database from 60-dollar shots when he took over to an $89 stock paying 3% dividend every dear to many shareholders including many of those 75,000 employees. yes he's met with the russians a lot but i find that to be a positive. the only person that i've met more time with russian officials with henry kissinger and i don't think anybody is questioning henry's capabilities. >> i guess but it raises this case is he would be secretary of state. his come from an industry benefited from that relationship. he might be remiss to do anything to jeopardize that. do you think if he got the position and he is so the odds favor diffuser pointed to get get the position even with a staff that he should show that he is willing to take on russia.

>> he will take on russia. i think unfortunately he's in a difficult position because i'm sure the left will kill him no matter what he does. if he takes factions off of russia, they will accuse them of trying to benefit exxon. russian production will collapse in a few years. it's already a slippery slope because of distinction and then he thought the capital to keep their industry going. neil: the reason why mention that if you think about it, he's been critical in donald trump and running for president says we are not being tough enough. how two of her deal going forward. do you think they'll are saying could and would take his bosses stand and double up on the

sanctions, get tougher on the sanctions? >> i think he'll do what's in the interest of the american people. his public statements have been the embargoes and sanctions are very ineffective and i happen to agree with him on not having watched our grain embargo of russia firsthand when i was an executive at a green company in the 70s and the 80s. so sanctions are not an effective way. it certainly is hurting russian production, which would drive up the price of oil. neil: when you make in the price of oil and how it continues to spread to head out around 53 bucks a barrel, how much more momentum this year for this type of thing? >> i think we will be 75 by the end of this year. neil: by when? >> at the end of the year we will be at 75. neil: the end of this year?

>> yes come in the of this year. neil: another 22 bucks to go in these weeks. >> oil is very bullish. demand is back in the u.s. rather strongly. world demand is out. there are supply problems from the opec's agreement. venezuela is a basket case. mexico's production is falling off a cliff. russia is struggling to meet production quotas. so china's demand is strong in their industry needs a lot of capital to develop their shale formations especially in the south china sea. so oil i think is strong. but i really worry about in the u.s. is a lot of independent refiners are struggling because of the renewable fuels mandate and having most of the refiners

have got out of there downstream distribution. so the smaller independent refiners like philadelphia energy, are all in trouble and we need more refining capacity in the united states. i think that we'll have this effect on refining margin in refining projects which would be stronger. neil: that would be a big john. we will watch it. in the meantime, very good talking to you. >> thank you here talking about energy. senator joe mansion on a short list of possible, possible energy secretaries. includes celexa for perry, former texas governor. we too soon to tell what any of this means, but we are watching not lobby. more after this. generosity is its own form of power.

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>> did you catch that run the ceo joe petrosky saying if you think these are high copy number is, what he think by the end of the year, that is if you're telling me it's going to be up to 75 bucks a barrel, which would be a 50% run-up from their in a matter of weeks. lenore hawkins follows all the stuff very closely. would you think of that? >> it's pretty ambitious. last week we saw a little break counts go up for the 25th time in the past 27 weeks. they get about 50 bucks a barrel. u.s. production really starts coming online. the more that price goes up, the more incentive there is to pump more. we've seen how many times opec has unsuccessfully to put the cap on production. it obviously has incentives for

that week as they want to take a major company public said they want to show good report when they bring it out for the ipo. the rest of the world just want money. the price keeps going up. neil: of course this is only a weeklong diet. by this point a lot of people start eating the candy, but it hasn't happened yet. it probably will see your point. 75 i thought when i heard that what other factors could be driving that. the economic pickup back to the day, interest rates going up, other commodity prices all part of a pattern. >> i think a lot of that is raised on hope. a lot of optimism that going forward the economy is much stronger. would love to absolutely see that. let's look at the reality and the the reality in the seventh year of the business cycle. the business cycle like everything else has this spring, summer, fall and winter salt so

it's a little bit tougher to get green shoots in the fall. on top of that the vision to a rising rate environment and that's a bit of a head wind. we want to normalize rates. i'm all for normalizing interest rates. that needs to happen. it's different when you're raising rates and low frame rates. it makes borrowing costs more expensive and that makes growth a little bit tougher. >> it's interesting because you could safely say that the markets are optimistic about the prospects of a president trumping what he might bring to the tax cuts or regulations, all the stuff they like, if priced and almost perfection here. a lot of folks are likely to be disappointed. how do you think they handle that? >> in the short-term, nobody is selling. right now the market is facing the same pressure every year this time of year. neil: wouldn't she wait if you're looking for lower grades. >> absolutely. normally in december you don't see as many sellers as you would

typically see because the kind of grit your teeth and cross your fingers and hope to be able to keep that price until january you can postpone paying taxes. this year is even more powerful for two reasons. one would think we would get a lot lower tax rate. on top of that, 2016 is a tough year for everyone. the pros really like the opportunity to get their performance to look a lot better. doesn't her with getting bonuses towards the end of the year. everybody's kind of hoping to sell. you don't see anyone who wants to sell wants to sell and get out right now. that will keep pushing higher. a lot of the forces keeping sellers out of the market are gone. when you look at the way the market is priced right now, we haven't seen new level since 2000. people should be nervous. neil: i always liked the way you think. step back with the big picture.

lenore hawkins. we always talk about the controversy around some of donald trump's cabinet picks for the democrats going to take this one apart or this one apart. what if i told you the real problem could be among republican senators? the senate majority leader trent lott after this. what time is it? it's go time. come on. let's go, let's go, let's go. woooo hoooo!! yeah!! i feel like i went to bed an hour ago. i'll make the cocoa. get a great offer on the car of your grown-up dreams at the mercedes-benz winter event. it's the look on their faces that make it all worthwhile. thank you santa!!! now lease the 2017 c300 for $389 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer.

neil: donald trump is going to have a tough time getting some of history. that's not to say they're on the verge of not getting picked. to this distance is interest gained on the republican side, john mccain, lindsey graham very concerned about some of those ties to russia, for example the exxonmobil had touted to be the next secretary of state. i could go on about grandpa who's raised questions about john bolton and whether he could get any foreign policy. former senator republican leader

trent lott. always good to have you, senator. what do you make of that? surprisingly the path of most resistance could come from fellow republicans. >> first let me say it's good to be back on your show. we missed you for that date you were gone earlier this year. you are looking really good. >> no hard questions now. monopolize the time. >> okay. president-elect donald trump has been making a great selection beginning with vice president. mike pence has been doing fantastic since he was the right choice to make the job. president-elect has collected about 12 or 14 key people from chief of staff to secretary of commerce and labor transportation. let me say i think he's been doing great. you can't get any better than a rain shower transportation or rogers interior. you know, he's doing a great job. will there be some reservations

about some of them? surely. we don't even know who's going to be the secretary of state's elections so i would hold my fire until we see. he sees the lock coalescing. but the biggest things i hear as from a number of republicans who are leery of close ties to. should that be a confirmation breaker to you? >> it should not be a confirmation breaker. i've dealt with in any business sense. i think is one of the world's greatest ceos. i've dealt with in a charitable sense. he was chairman of the board here in washington. the guy is fantastic and i can remember he's tough. look, he knows leaders all over the world get his stuff with them from a business standpoint. putin is the leader of russia. we have to find a way to deal with them in a sensible way to

do a better job than the obama administration is doing. certainly we haven't had a good administration and we need to figure out the best way to do with him and donna trump will be all to do that in his secretary of state will be. let me make one other point. bob dole asked me to have the nomination process in the senate when bill clinton became president. by the day he was an underrated, all his senior cabinet positions had been confirmed. the president of the united states is entitled to the benefit of the doubt with his nominees to the senate has the right of advise and consent. i think they need to be very careful about coming out and taking positions before they know who the nominee can be. >> john mccain, lindsey graham have raised concerns about indications of possible russian hacking and the election they want hearings right away. donald trump has dismissed those concerns. what do you think? >> i think maybe we have to wait and see what happened and therefore the intelligence committee and the senate should look into it.

the whole thing looks a little suspicious to me as to how this has been leaked out. there's obviously been some misinformation or inaccurate in remission or the fbi has a different information to the cia. neil: john bolton was here who's not quite convinced of his russians. it could be china but is convinced some foreign country was messing around. are you convinced of that? >> i'm not convinced but i beg to know because if it is true it is in a very aggressive act and will have to be prepared to deal with them in the future and take actions because of it. to have a late out through some political operative for the cia to start saying because they didn't release the republican national committee e-mailed that must to help track. give me a break. i think they want to mess with our elections and that would be a huge expense. i think before we start jumping to conclusions we ought to know what actually happened.

neil: is indeed a country or countries were involved that it could have been flowing the results in one way shape or form. >> i don't know. i like to know for sure what happened on the one imprint he i doubt it. are trying to tell me that the russians and putin would rather have a tough guy like trump than hillary clinton that a dirty tried the reset and it didn't work. so why would they want somebody stronger in that position? what they wanted somebody they can respect and deal with honestly hopefully. neil: senator, good seeing you. thank you very much. senator trent lott. mitt romney, if this is true for the secretary of state job and way too soon to tell. if that is indeed the case, he put his pride on the line and then have to eat a lot of crow. what does that tell you? after this. siness when i travel... even when i travel...

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♪ neil: when did it change, you talked about the process at the beginning, mayor, when the, when all of a sudden out of nowhere mitt romney emerged as a candidate for that position, what did you think of that? >> mitt went just a little too far to, you can make friend and make up but i don't, i would not see him as a candidate for the cabinet. neil: that was rudy giuliani when he had taken himself out last friday of any cabinet

positions in all of this administration. now what happens to mitt romney if it is true? some of these reports are he has been passed up for the opportunity to be secretary of state. a victory for the not ever trump movement? let's get the read from ashley pratte. ashley what do you think here? if indeed romney doesn't get it, he put himself out there and he had to dial back comments without apologizing for that but ends up getting nothing if that is true. what do you think? >> look, there were a lot of reports, neil, saying if mitt romney were to take this job he would in fact have to apologize publicly what he did. that was a report out there, but i think the two of them meeting actually showed we can come together after an election. as you and i both know i was someone part of that never trump movement. we need to hold whoever the president is accountable for what they do and to their promises and things they have said. what i feel like now with

mitt romney he came to the table and said i'm willing to put this aside for the better of the country. neil: right. >> i do i this the man is very qualified. i think he would have been a fa many nollnal secretary of state. he could be in the running but looks like tillerson is the one -- neil: blow back, to your point, from those that within the trump circle, that said, look, there is too much baggage there and obviously they had patched up a lot of things but not enough. if that is the case, that, that the inner circle had said, no, no, this is too weird, what do you make of that and the influence of that group? >> yeah, that group definitely has a large influence. just like when we heard there was an enemies list as soon as he was elected. that made people really think, you know, can we actually bridge some of these differences to come together. we're all republicans. we're all conservatives. we may disagree on some issues and how some things would be handled.

but the point is, those voices and varying voices are necessary in order to have a good solid, policy background from people who are qualified. so i look at this and i see romney as someone who came to the table, i'm willing to put this aside. now look, i don't know what happened internally. i don't know if the rumblings are true, if there was some kind of a concern over the fact that he could be in the cabinet position just given his never trump stance but he came out and he did what he thought was right for the better of the country. whether or not that worked out, it clearly didn't but he did -- neil: do you think trump wanted to string him along and suffer? >> look, i'm not going to play a game like that but what i will say the optics definitely went in favor of mr. trump. neil: also said awful things about mitt romney. >> exactly. so if you look at this, i was just about to bring that up, neil, you have two gentlemen, who both went at each other's throats for very different reasons. neil: right. >> you had romney swinging out of the gate after he was called a loser multiple times by donald trump.

so, i think at this point, you know, you do have some bruised and battered egos. neil: i hear you. >> when romney critiqued him it was based on lack of policy experience that he had, so it will be interesting to see where his pick goes for secretary of state. but again, mitt romney is a very qualified individual. neil: he is not going to be hurting for other things to do. ashley, one other quick point, i want to get your rather adult version of this because i tend to be childish about these things, all the suck-ups for wont of a better term, put a lot on the line and supported donald trump when nobody would, rudy giuliani, newt gingrich, chris christie, i don't mean to disparage any of them, they got nothing for it. not that you automatically get a position in the administration and they were passed over and didn't get jobs they wanted, who knows what. but what do you make of that, that, well it is not necessarily a trump team of rivals, but it is, a team of folks who were not big fans early on?

that is way it is shaping up? >> not only that but you have very accomplished individuals. neil: right. >> who are being put up for these positions but not necessarily traditional. that is something we've seen from donald trump over and over again. the one thing he is consistent on is defying conventional wisdom. tillerson -- neil: are you encouraged about that, ashley, as a never trumper, are you encouraged about that. >> it is something that is different. it is something the country wanted. i don't know if this is something that helps us out policywise but i will give it a try. i have concerns about the ties to russia as well as many republicans but i just want again donald trump to be held accountable for things he does well and things he doesn't do so well. at this point we need people in there with policy experience t would be good to start bringing them in and actually start getting them into some of these positions. there are talks with like kathy mcmorris roger, for example, terry branstad, all of these people do have significant

policy experience. neil: all that serious doubts about donald trump earlier on. >> correct. neil: it's a strange new world to your point. thank you very, very much. >> you too. neil: we are a week away from the electoral college folks meeting to decide finally this election. because until they vote, until the 538 of them come together and decide, remember you need 270 to win, they would be certifying the election for donald trump or maybe not. you now growing concerns a week ahead of the fact that they want to see russia's role in this election, whether that tips the scales and whether that could be a game-changer for electors that meet a week from today, after this. if you take medication, you may sometimes suffer from a dry mouth. that's why there's biotene. and biotene also comes in a handy spray. so you can moisturize your mouth anytime, anywhere. biotene, for people who suffer from dry mouth symptoms. this is your daughter. and she just got this.

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if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis and a $200 savings card. >> good afternoon, live on floor of new york stock exchange, i'm lori rothman with your fox business brief. dow higher opening and new intraday record but fading some. keep in mind any gain on the dow puts at another record close. it would be sixth record consecutive close for the dow. red arrows on s&p and nasdaq being weighed down by a lot of consumer names as well as technology and health care. it is an oil story. oil is propping up the market today with the crude up 3.25%. this on word that they finally got a deal to curb outpit. that is very bullish for crude oil. of course corresponding related stocks.

exxon, best performance on the dow. exxon better than 2% with exxon up with one and 1/3 of a percent. seeing new s&p highs because of oil producers deal. conoco, exxon, green arrows across the board. shares up better than 1%.

neil: president-elect trump, still doesn't have it out for boeing. fair and balanced he is going

after the other big defense contractor, lockheed martin, the f-35 program, quoting from a tweet here, costs are out of control, billions of dollars will be saved on military and other purchases after january 20th. referring to his inauguration. shares of lockheed were falling on that tweet. other defense companies were also falling on the hint that this is a president who will be closely scrutinizing even a republican-favored military budget where even donald trump has said, i could find waste in anything. apparently he did not only in boeing and that $4 billion air force one contract but now in lockheed martin and its fighter jet contracts. anyway, we have a lot of uproar back and forth as well over ambassador john bolton telling me, that he is not quite convinced russia was behind any hacking in the election. that some country was and maybe combination were but not necessarily just russia. take a look.

>> my opinion as well. neil: raising any doubts about cia itself and how reliable it could be? >> let me be clear. i am not saying that the administration was responsible for the hack. my question is, why would the russians, if they wanted to influence the election, which as i say doesn't surprise me at all, would send their dumb intelligence service to hack into the dnc and rnc and leave fingerprints but they sent the smart intelligence service to get into hillary's and not leave fingerprints? neil: just to be clear, by dumb, he says the russians almost wanted to be caught if that is the case. deputy undersecretary of the navy on the political fallout all of this. secretary, what do you make of what he is saying? is he convinced that some foreign country got involved in our election but he is not convinced just russia. that others like china might be involved, maybe a combination. what do you think. >> john is usually right. but, look, the, whoever did it

and, the russians could possibly have done it, this is being turned from, what i think it is, into something else. and, what makes sense here is that the, whoever did this, whoever did the hacking, was trying to discredit the american political system and, discredit the person who they thought would be elected president. that is to say, when the hacking really began in ernest in october, hillary clinton. so that was not an effort to elect trump. that was an effort to delegitimatize our political processes, to delegitimatize the person likely to become president and there is a big distinction between that and trying to elect trump. i just, i think that is a -- neil: that is interesting. it got me thinking about these sort of, black helicopter crowd theories, let's say the russians were dumb enough

fingerprints on it, by extension they knew they would be caught and questions would come up, people would raise after the election that it was not legitimate. >> sure. neil: so it would defeat their very purpose in the first place? >> yeah, but look, let's be practical for a moment here. the hacking is the subject of this tempest in a teapot here or may turn out to be something more substantial, what did it, what did it tell us? it told us about the, what are the important points? it told us about the clinton foundation and secretary clinton's possible conflict of interest or likely conflict of interest or conflict of interest. it told about benghazi and back and forth into deliberations. the american people already knew that. so what effect did this have? that information was already out there. neil: what do you make of all the democrats on a hearing, within the next week before the electors meet? that is clearly, clearly,

referring that this is something, electors have to know before they gather in their case reverse the election results from four weeks ago? >> i wish i could disagree with you, neil, but i think you're right. so, yeah, this turned into a political football. the facts are being cast aside and, it is become a part of the, part of the losers attempt to cast doubts on the winner's legitimacy and the fact that he won an impressive electoral victory. neil: it is weird. seth, thank you so much for joining us. deputy undersecretary of the navy under ronald reagan, bush 41. thank you for your service as well, secretary. >> thanks, neil. neil: you don't normally have pepsico with stuff that is about, that it is unusually

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♪ neil: welcome back. surprised me there. sometimes that happens. i'm not ready. you're supposed to be ready. okay, bye. kidding, kidding. i was thinking because that is what i do. that is how i roll. welcome back, everybody, pepsi could is looking to go healthy right now, they had it with a lot of stuff that necessarily we know them for. that does not mean that pepsi is going to get rid of fritos, cheetos and lays and soft drinks but it will focus on other parts of its business. they have quaker oatmeal. they have naked juice. hummus, all sorts of hummus which i don't recognize but people swear swear by it.

a market analyst is with me now. people really just like the chips and they, they're more familiar with that stuff, zoo, it's a tough sell, right? >> will, believe me, they're way familiar with those chips and they're eating them up. sales of salty snacks has been increasing unlike soda that is declining. the most amazing thing for pepsico is 52% of the operating profits come from frito-lay north america. americans in particular, eating a lot, a lot of salty snacks and they're making a lot of money over there. neil: they're not going to get rid of any of that stuff, right? >> no. neil: they're putting emphasis i'm told, unhealthier stuff but unhealthy stuff pays the bills, right. >> it absolutely pays the bills. you have a 60 billion-dollars company. why aren't you focusing on majority of the business, almost all of the profits? you should be driving that

business, instead of focusing on a very tiny part of the business? now, listen, everyone wants to be good for consumers and focus helping people lead healthier lives and decrease obesity, they should take and have taken some small steps. designer salt decreased sodium 12%. they were the first to remove trans fats from the foods. neil: that's right. >> those are great things but overall, you can't, you can't turn pepsico into a health juggernaut what the ceo says, unless you want to stop selling doritos and stop making money. neil: they're not going to do that but apparently these other healthy launches haven't taken off. true north. >> no. neil: they had like a pepsi zero and full pepsi calorie, next, the quaker yogurt. they have not been exactly firing on all cylinders on that front but what are they saying and what are they trying to become in the process? >> what i think is, they're

fearful of the negative pr and the backlash of people saying they're bad for you food company. neil: right. >> that is what they're reacting to. they don't want to be hurting public image. neil: donald trump eats their food and looks pretty robust for a guy 70 years old. they don't have to worry about michelle obama anymore, do they? >> sure they do. a company so well-established, this is a big, giant company. you can't make a dramatic change to that company. mcdonald's tried to launch healthier. they had salads and apples. do people think of them as healthy? no, they order mcdonald's french fries and hamburgers. neil: speak for yourself. i like the variety of salads. >> it is not a bad thing they add them but adding them doesn't change that the brand is a fast-food brand. it doesn't change the brand into healthy food brand. frito-lay has to own up to the fact they are a salty snack company as well as, the tore aid

and and -- neil: be who you are. be who you are. >> be who you are. neil: laura reis thank you. >> good to see you. neil: oil is rocking away again today but what if i told you rocketing to $75 over the end of the year? the guest who says it will happen within a matter of weeks. stick around. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ how else do you think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gle350 for $579 a month

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neil: at around $53 a barrel, how much more momentum is here for this type of thing? >> oh, i think we'll be 75 on wti by the end of this year. neil: by when, i'm sorry? >> by the end of the year, we'll be at 75. neil: the end of this year? >> yes, the end of this year. neil: all right. that was the former gulf oil ceo saying on this show that he thinks as high as oil prices have climbed, they're going to climb a lot higher. i think he's saying prepare for $75 a barrel before the new year.

so, man, that could be crazy stuff, you know? trish: pretty interesting. you know, harold hamm was on the other day, also very bullish on oil. of course, you know, they want to be and they need to be given their background. neil: i don't think he's going to worry about what's the price at the point? [laughter] trish: 75 would be good to see, i guess. all right, neil, thanks so much. the president-elect expected to pick rex tillerson for secretary of state. his close ties to russia, however, coming under fire for democrats and even a handful of republicans. so is rex tillerson still going to get the job? we're on that. welcome to "the intelligence report," much more on the potential appointment in just a moment. but let's get to some of the other big meetings happening today. you're looking at a live picture of the lobby at trump tower. the president-elect meeting with former texas governor rick perry today, former republican rival carrie fiorina and also the democratic senator from