left an hires the right and business people. most conservative cabinet in decades. >> fascinatings to watch ininfold. stuart: fascinating to be with you good people last three hours. my time is up. neil cavuto ready and willing to take it away. neil. neil: thank you, my friend. we're following developments at trump to you are but washington, d.c. that was a close one in the senate 51-4to start the process of unraveling obamacare. -- 48. number of advantages republicans have in that body dissipate when you consider there are a number of republican congressman who are up for cabinet positions or being considered for them in administration roles. so you could maybe remove anywhere from three to five of them in this count. bottom line, in a body which they have 24-194 edge, the

battle for repealing obama care, starts with repealing obama care, even though some members, this started with rand paul on a this very show, the kentucky senator said, hey i'm on page with that i think we should get rid of obamacare. what i don't like the way we're going about it with this budget mechanism this, resolution at least in senator paul's case would add trillions to the debt. president-elect donald trump agreed with that. seemed to be siding with senator paul. now seems just to be graying the lines a little bit saying, all right if we can't repeal at the same exact time, which is something that rand paul want to do, can we repeal it quickly and then really, really quickly come up with a replacement? that is the battle royale. for some real conservative members, remember the house freedom caucus is 40 members strong. they're not keen on getting rid of something that will actually

make the deficit at least short term worse. so we're watching that drama play out. again grace lee turner says repeal and protect. committee for responsible budget maya maginnis says there is budget-friendly way to do this. that is the problem, maya, finding a budget-friendly way to do it. i guess the cleanest way is repeal it, replace it simultaneously. a lot easier said than done. they are not going to do that. what is the next likely opportunity? >> the reason the repeal and replace is so important in terms of the overall budget, the budget set forth republicans put forth in last years relied on savings from repealing obamacare. they relied on savings from $2 trillion what happens if you get rid of coverage provisions but keep savings created from

medicare and revenues. now that this will move forward, they're talking about a repeal measure that will not generate savings, it has 2 billion with a b, instead of 2 trillion with a t. it is hard to budget incrementally, repeal, replace, and get forward to balance. those steps would be easier if they keep them all at once. neil: grace, another flip of repealing something, you repeal a lot of revenue you're getting. a lot of people would welcome that, given some of the taxes associated with this, 3.8% medicare surcharge tax, surcharge on the wealthy up close to 1%. so those folks, dealing with that would love that to go away. therein lie as lot of revenue which supports this, which means uncle sam is denied that revenue, right? >> but many of those tax, neil,

wind up increasing the the costf health insurance tax. health insurance tax, medical device tax. neil: i agree with that. what i'm saying that is the conundrum for republicans here, in the push to get rid of this thing they get rid of revenue even weekly supports it and i'm wonder having they really factored that in? this could actually make near term the deficit worse? >> they are factoring that in. that is one of the issues that make sure people currently on obamacare coverage, either through medicare or exchanges continue to have coverage. yes, there will have to be a bridge, but that is temporary bridge, neil, to make sure people -- neil: how temporary is it, grace? if you add, i know it's a mugs game if you had to handicap the time to take to repeal this with the votes there and find a replacement where the alternatives are there, what are we talking about? >> we're talking, very likely

have a two year extension, maybe even a bit longer, for people currently on coverage. but that doesn't mean they're not going to start the process of building a much more functional market now. beginning to build that bridge to be able to create a kinds of coverage that people want to buy, they can afford to buy, and that will not have such a drain on the federal budget over the longer term, as obamacare does and will because it is really heading for a death spiral. neil: maya, meantime talk about hard numbers that republicans are dealing with. we're told, you and i chatted about this before, mitch mcconnell wants big tax cuts but wants to make sure they're all revenue neutral. he has never, to my knowledge gone so far to say whether he favors dynamic accounting, static accounting, i'm boring myself asking this question, but, but, if he buys static accounting, doesn't buy idea factor of tax cuts and growth

revenue brings in, that will limit size of tax cut out of republican, isn't it? >> depends what else they are willing to do in the budget. the real question if you want to go forward with tax cuts, how will you offset those costs? you can raise other revenues. i don't think republicans will want to do that. you can offset the costs with spending cuts. what you can't do is pretend you have huge tax cuts, using dynamic scoring, sorry to bore you, the growth effects would not be enough to pay for themselves. if you want tax cuts, what will you do less of assuming republicans stick to the promise and commitment they want to way to balance the budget. it has been over the past years they forgot getting to balance. more they do that blows holes in the budget, harder the task becomes. it is harder because we have a president-elect, taken a lot of parts of spending of government off the table. he is not willing to talk about cuts to the biggest government programs. the reason we need the entire

budget to look at that, to see priorities to see how the numbers will add up, to do health care, do infrastructure, do taxes, increase defense and reach a balanced budget, that is a heavy lift. i would like to see numbers thought through together before we move on any of them. neil: we're still aways of that. showing the house floor and bringing you up to speed what could be a few hours away. we're getting pretty close. the house is getting set to do something the senate did, get the ball in motion to replace the affordable care act. republicans long argued that anything is but affordable, mechanism they're using, something called a budget resolution, without getting arcane, i keep boring myself, no doubt you, it is an accounting method and means they can move the ball forward here, even though for some of the conservative members in the house this is really bothering them, because it will make the deficit worse, it will make debt worse, but promise will be once they get this mechanism out of

the way and officially repeal obamacare, first of many such motions then they can move on to address big budgetary concerns in 2018 budget. i'm getting ahead of myself. let's go to congressman roger williams, fine state ever texas, house financial services committee. very good at crunching the numbers. sir, good to have you. that is the battle royale among your colleagues how to go about this without tipping the deficit debt scale, right? >> right. i don't want to increase the deficit. i don't vote to increase the deficit but at same time my district wants obamacare gone. this is a vehicle to allow us to begin the suppose to move obamacare and begin to create a situation that is really better for the taxpayers and think eventually when we talk about a deficit, there is a lot of things we can do to get our books back in line. also a lot of cuts we can make. nobody talks about cuts. we don't talk about cash flow or

cuts but we need to talk about both. neil: the devil is in the details, i can appreciate that, but i also heard the president-elect, sir, talk about wanting to repeal and replace within short order, not necessarily simultaneously as people like rand paul want, but to republican's credit, you have plenty of alternatives. not if you're interested in ripping this one up, you had even from the inception plenty of alternative plans. they were passed up, ignoreed, not even discussed in the democrat dominant states. how likely replacement, whatever it is years off? >> well, i think it is quicker than years off. look it, if we had a perfect world we would be able to do it very, very quickly. i think from a realistic standpoint, we're looking year or two years to get it right. president trump said he wants to repeal and replace at the same time. i'm for that. i want to see things like, i want individuals to own their own health care, not the government, not their employers.

shop across state lines, prices down, services up. these kind of things we talk about so much. i think we can move quickly once we get the reconciliation done, we'll be abe to get the big machine moving and show the american public that we can bring this all together at one time. neil: congressman, i know a lot of things you twice want to keep, coverage for preexisting conditions keeping kids on parents policy longer. you want to get rid of onerous taxes. medicare surtax. tax hits upper income folks to support this that is played by democrats and many in the mainstream media as a tax giveaway to the rich. how do you play against that? >> well it is -- it is not a tax giveaway. this is getting money back to the people. i'm a business guy. i employ 100 people. look it, everybody is going to receive the benefit. you just mentioned a couple.

the medical device tax goes away. capital gains and dividends is reduced. the employer mandate, the individual mandate all goes away. this puts more money in the hands of the people. that's what we want to do. give them service with good health care. neil: so if you're getting rid of all the taxes for it right now, you could conceivably be getting rid of the revenue that has been coming in to uncle sam to support this, gigantic as it is. so in a weird way, congressman, sound to me like deficits near term get worse as you begin to look at trying rein in the cost of this down the road. but sounds like that is a distinct possibility? >> might be a possibility but people also forget that we have, if we have true tax reform, tax cuts like president trump or president-elect trump been talking about, like i talk about, reducing cap gains and

corporate taxes down to 15, personal, 20, 30, 10, 15, you will create more cash flow and create more taxpayers. the idea if you cut something revenue merely drops you will peck up revenue in other areas. neil: we'll watch, very, very closely. happy new year sir, thank you very much. good seeing you. >> thank you. neil: we do know the house has been entirely briefed on the russian hack situation. i assume that means all 435 members there. what we can not assume is whether they're all of the same mind, that it didn't affect the election results. democrats have been increasingly saying it did, which is why they are still mentioning it. an republicans are arguing, wait a minute, how was so much of this leaked out in the first place, after this.

neil: all right. we're told all house members got this russian election hack briefing. now some of that leaked out. we will get into at that a later here. they weren't all happy campers hearing what they heard. we have pete hoekstra joining us right now. think about it, congressman, so much attention was on the release of this intelligence on donald trump. james clapper director of national intelligence telling the president-elect, look, we had nothing to do with this. somebody did. obviously chuck schumer was

aware of it when he made the veiled threat to donald trump not to anger the intelligence agencies or dismiss their work. so i'm confused. what have we learned, do we know? >> well i don't think we've learned a whole lot more what we've known for years. russia is great at propraganda. they have not necessarily trying to influence elections but undercut democracies, representative government in europe, and here in, here in the u.s., what we have learned, and i think this is very damaging to the intelligence community? take a look at one action. they are going to release this report or by this report on hacking. then they decide to attach two pages, a dossier, summary of all of this fake news, this stuff that has been made up about donald trump about how the russians are going to, or have information to blackmail donald trump. it is totally bogus. they attach it to one of the

most important reports that they're going to provide to the president and the president-elect and then they facilitate releasing the hacking part but, oh, wait a minute, this other piece is there with it, meaning it's going to make it into the public. no, this was a hit job bit intel community on our president-elect. neil: you think it was a hit job because of what he said about doubting the russian role or degree of the russian role in the election, and he then questioned the agencies out right, this is tit-for-tat? >> no, i think this is more, i think it is deeper than this. i think the intelligence community has become very politicized. i hope that mike pompeo, dan coats, going in this will take the intelligence community back into the shadows, an they are going to make sure that they focus on producing great intelligence, and get them out of the business of politics. this organization, you -- neil: i always think that

washington bureaucracies there, the indians always run it. the chiefs come and go, but the indians run it. new leadership comes in, yeah, yeah, give lip service to the new guy coming in. i don't mean that to be cynical or jaded response, but it is just weird, you know? >> well, i'll tell you, neil, i have met, you know, the rank-and-file of the intelligence community around the world. they don't care about politics. they just want to go out to do their job. this is an agency where typically the leadership becomes politicized, and this one has. james clapper saying muslim are brotherhood is a social organization. why? not because they're a social organization but because the obama administration is engaging with the muslim brotherhood. benghazi attack was result of a video. those were all political things. i really do believe they are absolutely -- neil: administration that appoint them and all, we have

gotten signs out of ones who testified so far in capitol hill, they will disagree, sometimes significantly so from donald trump. what does that portend to you? >> i think that's great. that is exactly what an intelligence community should be prepared to do, is to, present the intelligence as they get it, and present it to the policymakers, so that they can make better an informed decisions. they are not there to reinforce a policy direction that a president has put in place. the president needs to hear the truth. if a policy is not working, and if isis is really expanding and all of those type things, and threats going in certain direction, other than what the the president believes they're going in, he needs to hear that, so that they can make the course corrections. neil: all right. we'll watch it closely. do you think any of those nominations are in peril from your vantage point and see any of them in danger?

>> no, i think these are very qualified individuals. i think you're going to see them in their offices, hopefully by the end of next week. neil: all right. we'll watch closely, sir. >> always good to be with you, neil, thank you, sir. neil: the dow is clawing on its it own way, significant from 20,000. that is proving quite a hurdle. the latest catalyst seems to be donald trump himself, whether comments he made about the pharmaceutical industry and wanting to revisit way they price things going after big government contractors, speaking of which one of the biggest meeting with president-elect, lockheed martin ceo, marilyn houston, miss houston, i wouldn't say stormed out of mar-a-lago after the holidays after the meeting, the boeing ceo was at same meeting, boeing ceo talked to reporters afterwards. said after discussing things with mr. trump, he was open to sort of renegotiating and reworking that air force one

contract. and then i remember she just left. she just walked out. she did not seemed pleased. now she is back again only weeks after donald trump was saying, you know that f-35 contract with lockheed martin, maybe there are competitive bids out there. so maybe, maybe she is trying to make nice. we'll see. after this. neil: take you to this.

paul ryan is trying to win over republicans to explain this measure to repeal obamacare and how this will work. caucus members are not pleased this will add to the deficit, add to the debt. this is short term issue, get over it. let's see if he can sell this case. >> we'll make sure there is stable transition period so people don't have the rug pulled out from under them. this will be a thoughtful, step by step process. we welcome ideas from both sides of the aisle. but today. i can't help but think back when we were debating the law in 20, what was said at the time. i was member of the minority. i associate here and pleaded with majority to do this. don't take something so personal like your health care and subject it to a big government experiment. don't do something so arrogant and so contrary to our founding

principles about, but they pushed it all the way through, making all kinds of promises. people were promised that their premiums would go down but instead they're skyrocketing. look at new premium increases announced just this year. can't sass, 42% increase in their premiums, kansas. illinois, 43%. pennsylvania, 53%. nebraska, 51. alabama, 58%. minnesota, 59%. tennessee, 63%. increase in premiums. oklahoma, 69% increase this year in premiums. arizona, 111% increase in their premiums. people were promised, if you like your plan you can keep it. well, guess what? that was rated the lie of the year that year. people lost their plans. people were promised all sorts

of choices. you have all these great men use of choices to choose from. 1/3 of all the counties in america today, you get one choice. five whole states, one insurer. if you have one choice, that's not a choice. that is monopoly. my colleagues, this experiment has failed. this law is collapsing while we speak. we have to step in before things get worse. this is nothing sort of a rescue mission. by taking this step today, we're doing what is right. we are stepping in and stopping the collapse from doing more harm to the working families of america. to bring the kind of relief and to bring the kind of solutions that we need to really achieve

the noble goal here. everyone in america should have access to affordable health care, including people with preexisting conditions. this is what we want to achieve but that is not what is happening under obamacare. the law's collapsing, the insurers are pulling out, people can't afford it. deductibles are so high, doesn't even feel like you got insurance in the first place. this is rescue mission. this is a necessary move. and i urge all of our colleagues to do what is right because the time is urgent and on top of this, to my colleagues, we need to keep our promise that we made to the american people and this helps us do just that. i yield back. >> gentleman from wisconsin, speak of the house, yields back. the gentleman from tennessee reserves -- neil: we're keeping track of the debate. the speaker making his pitch on a last gambit to keep house measures in line with a measure that is not perfect but

convenient america sure would stop democratic filibuster attempts. they want a clean repeal much like they got in the senate, that was a close one, 51-48. rand paul voted against that not because he wasn't interested in repealing obamacare but didn't like doing it by way of budget resolution, which he said would make the debt and deficit nor onerous. he wants a clean break from it, whatever you do, repeal it, replace it simultaneously. nancy pelosi says that is shell game what republicans are doing right now. she is against this effort and this measure. remember that if little more than 20 republicans were to hold off against this and there are at least that many concerned about the way they're going about this, this is dead issue, at least in the beginning here with the new 115th congress. republicans have 241 edge to 194 democrats. so as they're yammering on about this, i want to go to the trump

tower. we're seeing the lockheed martin ceo. instead of talking to reporters, she did not in mar-a-lago. let's listen in. >> we're close to the deal that will bring the cost down significantly from the previous lot of aircraft down to the next lot of aircraft. moreover, it will increase jobs in the united states. we'll increase jobs in fort worth by 1800 jobs. supply chain across 45 states in the u.s., there will be thousands and thousands of jobs. i had idea to give him ideas on things we do to drive the cost down on the the on f-35 program. thank you very much. neil: i wish i had video the case a few weeks ago, left private meeting at mar-a-lago. didn't not seem like happy camper. this ceo of lockheed martin, telling reporters saying we

think we got a deal, i assume we join that later, f-35 contract that donald trump criticized for going over and over and over, prescription tiff budget. boeing said all the right things bringing down the $4 billion air force one contract. he is committed to do that and hire more american workers. now his counterpart at lockheed martin hinting she will do the same. but without spelling out details of that final f-35 contract. i think what bothered the president-elect about that particular contract, there were delay, constant delays. then he sort of took a dig at her, you know what, maybe we should open it up to competitor, i.e. boeing, because you're not getting it done. at least my impression of that gathering. this is a very different gathering. for one thing she spoke to reporters afterwards, which she didn't do last time. we have the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce ceo what he

makes of all of this. this is the latest example, if you look, getting companies to see it the trump way. critics say a bit of strong-arming what do you think? >> however we go on this issue i'm encouraged the fact that mr. trump is looking at these things. he is engaged and questioning. encouraged by mom niece he put up in way of positions. for example, steve mnuchin. i had a great opportunity to sit down with steven and talked about the challenges small businesses are having. he gets it. he is pragmatic business leader. he understands we need to lower the corporate tax rate. he is committed to doing that. looking at dodd-frank act and

stifling effect on lending to small businesses. he understands criticality of american small businesses creators of 2/3s of all jobs in the nation. gets fact number one challenges for all businesses in this country, not just hispanic businesses, access to capital and credit. steve mnuchin had a great conversation with me about all of those issues and that kind of leadership, that pragmatic leadership will help. neil: i'm sorry, sir. he is slated to be the next treasury secretary. he obviously got all the credentials and all that, goldman sachs. does it bother you there are a lot of goldman sachs guys in the administration, recent, former, years back, a lot of them with goldman sachs on the resume', does it bother you? >> it doesn't bother me. we need pragmatic business leaders, and there have been goldman sachs leaders in administration before this one.

neil: you're absolutely right. >> they are people that get it, understand that challenges american businesses are facing. my dear friend, dina powell is selected as being senior economic advisor. who better than somebody who had a hand creating economic development and putting out 10,000 small businesses initiative program that had unbelievable affect on american small businesses. it is that kind of thinking we need at the white house. i for one am very, very encouraged by that. i'm encouraged by way of example, they're considering able maldonado, secretary of agriculture. imagine this, a actual bonafide farmer with actual experience, not career politician but somebody who understands the challenges of american farmers. he is farmer. he is a businessman and business leader that kind of leadership i think will encourage business in general. certainly encouraging me. i want to continue to advice the trump administration to do

exactly that. that kind of pragmatic leadership i think will help us boost this economy and get america back to work. neil: we'll watch it closely. thank you, javier, good seeing you again. >> thank you, neil. neil: fbi investigation on clinton emails and what james comey knew and when he shared it with anyone else. for what it is worth, donald trump tweets, fbi should have never allowed hillary clinton to run in the first place. daily caller reporter on fallout from all of this. stepping back from my perspective it has not been a good week for nation's intelligence agencies, past, present, what do you think? >> absolutely. as far as james comey being piled on here with the, with ig coming after him now -- neil: inspector general. >> excuse me, inspector general.

neil: you have to remember as much as democrats want a reason why hillary clinton lost other than the fact she was a weak candidate with a weak message and people didn't care for what she essentially was putting out there, you have to remember this investigation into perhaps this laptop of anthony weiner or huma abedin was going to come out anyway. remember the nypd was looking into anthony weiner's situation. neil: argument is the the democrats say it would never come out prior to the election. >> oh, it would have. nypd was looking at it. attorney generals in two different states were looking at it. one thing we know nypd is pretty leaky when it comes to political stuff getting out there. neil: as far as this works, the inspector general can't launch an investigation on his own or recommend punishment on his own or taking further legal action. that would be ironically much like james comey would have to do, go to the justice

department, saying i think i have enough here to recommend either indictment or taking further action. so he would be doing this, this i-g, with a republican administration, with a jeff sessions as attorney general. how would that go? >> well, i would imagine at this point with james comey, who has been attacked by both sides of the aisle, whether it was back on july 5th -- neil: absolutely. >> when he says there was nothing to see there when it came to the clinton investigation or later on, when that letter went out. i would imagine at this point he has become so politicized you will either have jeff sessions who will ask him to resign or donald trump will end up firing him. the guy has pretty much been damaged at this point. neil: he has years to serve but he serves at the president's discretion, right? i mean there is nothing to say he can't continue to serve. if the president really makes clear, you're damaged goods, i

want you out, he would have to go, right? >> absolutely. and it's a unfortunate for him but these were risks he did take. remember he went after the bush administration at one point. when he came into the obama administration, things weren't as bad for the obama administration up until the point with, with the clinton situation, but remember, the obama administration did have a bit of a free ride, especially with the doj and with past scandals. now all of sudden they're getting a bit of their own medicine. neil: where does all ultimately goes? after the election if memory serves me right that he was not keen on hillary clinton and she has suffered enough, words come to my mind. he has gotten nasty again. do you think he is open to that? >> i don't see it.

he has much more on the plate, especially dealing with a lot of his own party over congress. neil: what about barack obama pardoning her as leaves office? >> you know what? it would be very interesting if he did pardon here, that would be some sort of admission she did do something. i asked nancy pelosi about that, she answered me why, why would he do that? she didn't do anything. neil: okay. >> that would be sort of interesting way to go about that. neil: kerry picket, daily caller, thanks very much. good seeing you. >> sure thing. neil: can you believe the inauguration is week away when president-elect donald trump becomes president trump. exactly what kind of economy is he inheriting, after this? [phone ring]

hey dad. hey sweetie, how was your first week? long. it'll get better. i'm at the edward jones office, like sue suggested. thanks for doing this, dad. so i thought it might be time to talk about a financial strategy. you mean pay him back? knowing your future is about more than just you. so let's start talking about your long-term goals. multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, it's a big deal. and it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

neil: if you don't get a cabinet position per se in the trump administration there are a host of other opportunities anthony scaramucci confirming a public liaison position. i don't know what the title will entail but charlie gasparino does. what are you hearing? >> it's, don't be as hung up on the title as, as the access, and from what i understand, he is going to have, and does have, right now, very good access to the president-elect. neil: he will have office in the white house. >> have office and staff essentially. neil: is there something like that now in this white house? >> valerie jarrett's job is kind of like that. neil: that is a very powerful -- >> the difference is, donald trump has like five valerie jarretts around him. neil: right. >> president obama had one.

he had one consiglare, valerie jarrett. neil: all eight years. had her own security team, remember that. >> she was very powerful internally. people dealt with her on wall street liked her. whether you agreed with her politics. neil: what kind of liaison would scaramucci be? wall street? >> business community. there is couple problems with this job, journalistically, he used to be a contributor here, friend of mine. neil: i don't think he likes you anymore. >> take it for what it is worth. i think he does. yes, but, playing it straight, there is a couple problems with this job. number one, anthony will be one of many advisors and donald trump is known to fire people. who knows how long all these advisors will last. steve bannon, jared kushner. neil: depends on mood? >> who knows. they're all around there. number two he has to sell his business. here is the conflict that is going to come from him selling his business.

and he damned if he does, if he kept it going, kept a stake in it, people will say he is directing business to it or helping it by getting rid of rules like the department of labor fiduciary rule which enhances his business if they get rid of it, because it is easier sell fund to funds exotic investment like that. even selling it he will sell entity clearly buying it in part for some access to the white house. that is how it will be perceived. in reality that is it what would happen. same thing if donald trump sold all his access, business interests, if he did a pure sale, whoever bought it would be accused of currying favor with the most powerful man in the world. neil: how is wilbur ross and -- >> all the same thing. now they're a little different. they don't have businesses. they mostly have investments. you can put invests in a blind trust to manage it. anthony has a business that he is going to sell it. whoever wants to buy it will

want to curry favor with the trump administration. internally, anthony's knowledge is with hedge funds. no offense, hedge funds are not, are not the driver of jobs in this country. the driver of jobs in this country -- neil: makes a compelling case in the administration. he is very smooth. >> he is excellent communicator. neil: that does help. o'mara lynn houston of lockheed martin ceo this time talking with reporters. i don't know if we have, very pleasant. did talk to reporters afterwards. of the contrast that a few weeks ago when donald trump was meeting, actually that was around time of thanksgiving if memory serves me. >> that's right. neil: when she was at mar-a-lago, she passed up opportunity to talk to reporters. do we have the video, guys? well, that was different. this time she talked to them. last time she didn't. lo and behold, we found out a cool meeting, here she is

leaving that with her assistant. going in and going out. none of this is making my point. we can just stop it. my point she didn't come out and talk, she left. >> right. neil: today she did to make nice. they all end up making nice. >> there is a dog-and-pony show going on here. some of it is very real. meaning there are, ceos are thinking twice before thinking about moving jobs overseas, that they want to appease this guy, okay? they want to be on his team. neil: don't want to be tweeted about. >> you don't want to be tweeted about. some of it, softbank we talked about is already baked in the cake. neil: talking about soft bank -- >> 50,000 jobs. neil: a fund everyone kicking in. >> basically announced already. donald tried to take credit for that. he mentioned scaramucci. scaramucci is one of his spinmeisters spinning this tale. some of it is real. some of it is bs.

it is net-net, ceos are saying i don't want to piss off the guy and move jobs overseas. we figure out a way to keep jobs over here. neil: some. chamber of commerces are saying things like that. we like this, but operations should be free to explore the globe and look at opportunities, we're answerable to shareholders. >> listen, depends how far he goes. all these guys, steve bannon who i have a lot of respect for, anthony is friend of mine, reince priebus, if they sit around and enable donald trump to act like mussolini when it comes to big business, that is going to be a problem. there is fine line between him advocating and cheerleading the country and changing the regulatory environment. by the way you haven't heard anything about regulations lately and lower taxes. i tell you, there is a reason why the market is not hitting 20-k. that is one of the reasons, they should push him back on message when it comes to that. he is so far off message now.

neil: maybe some of the problems that the house and senate are having repealing health care thing, reminder campaign something lot different than governing. >> maybe they shouldn't come out and go after obamacare and doing economic reforms first and take out obamacare when the economy improves. a lot of people in the business community -- neil: republican party conservative members bristle at notion of making deficits worse. >> absolutely. it will be interesting couple of years. you will have conflicts, if hillary clinton would became president, think of conflicts there? who would be giving in clinton foundation. neil: what do you hear about the attorney general investigation and how far will it go. >> everybody i talk to think comey is goner. two top -- they think he is gone. rumor in there continues to be and stuff that we've speculation, talk about among senior fbi agents and we broke this on your show earlier on,

that rudy will step in, will step in. neil: that is interesting what you say, get passed up, maybe a message to the likes of chris christie and rudy giuliani. >> right. neil: there is a second go round and third go-round. >> why not? maybe two years from now someone drops out. so, listen, rudy, rudy's accomplish ad lot in his life. neil: they very rarely, cabinet rarely stays for the whole eight years. i think obama's agriculture secretary is only one who was original. >> some of these jobs are burnout jobs. think about treasury secretary. neil: financial sacrifice you make. >> and treasury secretary. mnuchin is getting, will be up next week. that is going to be interesting conflict. neil: can he still do movies? >> i think he can do movies. he won't get in trouble with louse i movies. he did sully. that was good. he had money in the john paulson hedge fund which invested in fannie and freddie. he will be privatizing fannie

and freddie which may be good for the john paulson hedge fund that is the type of stuff you hear. anthony scaramucci wants to sell skybridge to somebody who wants to curry favor with the administration, this is like clinton foundation conflicts and things of that nature. this will be very interesting. business conflicts will be hot and heavy. i'm not saying i agree with it. i think it will be there. reporters should be reporting. we don't assume anthony is crooked because he is has a conflict. neil: say you're getting along with him now? >> yes. neil: now there was a time you weren't. >> he got mad, i was -- i broke the story he was looking to sell his firm. he would go into the administration and i said stuff like, okay he will have a hard time selling for -- neil: obviously you overcame that right. >> the thing was losing money. neil: i understand that. now you're back in --

>> i ate at his restaurant. neil: did you have food tasters. >> let me tell you something. that was some bill too. neil: man, oh, man. your expense reports are outlandish. thank you very much. >> thanks for signing off. neil: there we go, charlie tell it like it is, gasparino. fast and furious the developments and to charlie's point, round-robin of top ceos meeting with president-elect who a week from today will be president of the united states. we'll have more after this.

neil: the dow kind of swimming along. not terribly eventful performance here, interest rates sort of rocketing up, it has been kind of easing back on the fact they're in and out of one-month lows here. nicole petallides looking at

fallout, all this other stuff. all the financial issues. nicole, how are you doing? >> i'm doing great, neil. there is exciting time on wall street overall. there is optimism we'll trend higher. there was so much hope behind jpmorgan in particular after the earnings came out, the bank earnings from jpmorgan and bank of america. they really knocked it out of the park. so far we're within 50 points of dow 20,000. we got excited for that for a brief moment, only to pull back some. we see mcdonald's is weighing on the dow. the idea, everybody keeps asking what will be catalyst, what pushes us through the 20,000 mark and why did we turn negative? the truth is the answer is little boring and basic. the idea is we have run up really far and fast. everybody is waiting on the inauguration and all of the confirmation hearings on everybody that president-elect donald trump is putting into place. and so, even with some great

news from jpmorgan, bank of america, and the like, that wasn't enough to give us that boost. so right now, you can see goldman sachs and some of these stocks are really at multiyear highs and all-time highs. financials are still leaders, neil. neil: think about it, nicole, you could argue that this run-up, this nine, 10% run up since election day, was fairly aggressive to put it mildly. >> yeah. neil: now a lot of people are saying same with jump job yields. that was a little too extreme and built on anticipation of economic activity picking up. what are folks telling you down there. >> you make a great point. talking to gary b. smith, fox contributor this morning and we talked about bond yields and interest rates over and you and the optimism on the economy and how it is perceived for 2017. we're at 2.40%. we had been over 2.5%. the idea we'll see three rate

hikes, maybe four if trump's policies kick i don't have. they're great policies and promote growth and bring jobs, money to america, all that sounds wonderful, however there is still skepticism about that occurring, how quickly that can occur. you know, do we really see strength in the economy? i will say idea, fundamentals are better and earnings are doing better and people love that. it is not just drinking the kool-aid of low interest rates. companies are affecting that. that is one piece of optimism we hold on to for 2017. neil: nicole, thank you, very, very much. nicole petallides on floor of new york stock exchange. it is kind of tepid. volume running a little low heading into a long weekend. markets are closed monday for martin luther king day. we're here by the way. other business networks take the day off. we have to look after capitalism. our country is indebted to the world. we're here. more after this.

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>> this experiment has failed. this law is collapsing while we speak. we have to step in before things get worse. this is nothing short of a rescue mission. >> repealing the healthcare law.

despite that, the republican majority, it is not a give me. and there are a lot of conservative republicans, ted program, washington producer, phenomenal writer. what the heck is going on here. a lot of conservative caucus members don't flip over this. >> they are concerned about the deficit spending that could be incurred if you repeal obamacare, and concern they don't have a replacement bill in place ready to go. and there is nothing to back it up where do we go? moderate to centrist republicans feel the same way. we think this is going to pass. this is just a framework staving off filibusters was the only route republicans have a repeal and replace obamacare is get around democratic filibuster

because that ends the game. if they can't pass this a narrow vote in the senate the other night they are in trouble. we think there is a margin of 24 votes in the house of representatives between republicans and democrats, 241 republicans, 194 democrats, some absences today, have several members of the cabinet level positions, the speaker doesn't vote, john rutherford from florida was stricken outside the house chamber the other day and has been sick and not been here, the difference is 20. we think there will be enough push. patrick mc henry, one of the top vote counters from north carolina was emphatic they would have the votes to do this later on. neil: you can't get more than 20 some odd. >> no democrats will do this and there will be a margin of 10 to 12 at the end of the day. neil: handicap this out for me,

mixing that this week, going after rand paul said no. i am against this healthcare law, i don't like the way we are going about it. you have assurances to donald trump, repeal and replace that the same time. try to replace it in short order. where does it stand as republicans? what is the timetable? >> they are looking at a few weeks down the road, there's a provision in the piece of legislation the talks about the end of the month. looking at what president trump said we have to get price, the congressman from georgia, the hhs secretary confirmed and administratively they will do some things with what we are really looking at is the end of february 1st of march which is why you have republican senators, moderates like bob portman of ohio, susan collins of maine jumped off on an amendment when they move it in the senate the other night

saying we will be fine with that, that was aspirational at the end of january, that is too fast and might not be feasible was more like february or march but at the end of the day, there's a reason they have never been able to move beyond the plan or agree on one. it was interesting the chair of the budget committee, diane black from tennessee and other republicans talked about how many replacement bills are out there. a menu of things we might be able to choose from. can they all agree on one and that is why they never moved one in the house of representatives for the past several years. neil: to your point it is not for lack of alternatives but agreeing on one. >> that is the key and republicans say we can't vote for this, it keeps parts of obamacare and we pull it out. as mitch mcconnell said,

republican leader in the senate, might be an all or nothing strategy for some. this is why the freedom caucus, a group of right-wing conservative members didn't take a position on this to blow this up. they didn't want to blow this up. you are up a creek without a paddle. neil: i guess so. donald trump not only does he tweet on things like the healthcare, he isn't any unsure when it comes to the us intelligence activity. nothing exists, probably released by intelligence even though there is no proof, u.s. army intelligence officer, lieutenant colonel shafer. we know they all agree the

russians had a role to a man, woman, seem to be saying it will not affect the outcome of the election. and when cnn pounced on, and we don't know who leaked that out. what is going on? >> it is a mess. other networks you have been clear about, trying to blur hacking the election and attacking podesta's account two different things was russians up to no good, that is what russians do and other stuff coming out from john mccain, folks who were opposition researchers. this and i 64 operative expected to invest, as far as i can tell made -- actually read the things some of the things that mainstream media said is in the

document, people have agendas here and it is important for you and other media outlets, always on top of this. i consider this important to sort through to come to the conclusion the intelligence community cannot be trusted because they can't always figure out what is going on and jim clapper no matter what he says has been compromised by the fact that he lied to the american people, he was part of the central command manipulation intelligence, he and scott berrier, twisting at 180, i don't know who you can trust regarding truthful information. neil: we have new chiefs, and

hard positions keeping us up to -- the level just below the chief does its thing. >> the bureaucracy has a mind of its own, meeting with a whistleblower who did some stuff in dhs, the bureaucracy does not like people telling on it for mistakes, does not react well, but not trying to do that. >> how does it react to an incoming president critical of the intelligence agency. early in the week chuck schumer started saying in his best tony soprano impression it is not a good idea to criticize the intelligence agency, these reports on russian dirt on him and i am thinking wait a minute. >> 80% of the bureaucracy does what it is supposed to do, it

collects and analyzes information. it is neither good or bad, on or off but looking at the facts. what that said, you have managers above the line intelligence officers who manipulated to create a certain perspective. that is where the manipulation starts and when it gets to the political level, george tenet slamdunk mister president, a number of other things happen so you have a massaging going on at the intermediate level, to become seniors at the political level. people like jim clapper and john brennan saw opportunities to become politicians, they are in the political class, don't consider them valid, telling officers they crossed the line. and appointed by the president, do what the president wants, and

the intelligence community the past we 10 years, this includes george bush folks, you got to find people who will tell you the truth no matter what. not what you want to say, this is the honest truth. that is what you need leading the intelligence community but not what you have now. john brennan is the so-called anonymous source who leaked all the russian information to the new york times and washington post. that needs to be investigated and cannot be done for people in it position of authority. neil: you got to be willing to walk away. you got to stand for something be willing to walk out. >> stand for the truth. neil: i am putting you in charge. think of what he said, scary stuff. things that could possibly go wrong at the inauguration doing

everything they can to make sure a record number of permits we heard and reading about protests, nothing bad goes on and adam schapiro in washington with the latest on those details. >> j johnson, secretary of homeland security caught a press briefing at 11:00 this morning and pointeded out there are no credible threats of anybody planning to cause harm at the inauguration in one week. there will be 28,000 law enforcement officers for all of the events from the inauguration on pennsylvania avenue including 10,000 homeland security officers, 12,000 federal officers from the national guard to the fbi and metro dc police and 3200 police officers from all across the country. there are areas where they shut

down the streets on pennsylvania avenue from the capital to the white house, they are going to be using four to five dump trucks to prevent the kind of tragedies we witnessed in other cities overseas where people drive trucks into crowds. that said, j johnson said they are taking no chances. here he is in his own words. >> have to be concerned about homegrown violent extremism, acts of lone wolf, self radicalization. there is a larger picture of general security, general public safety when you have a large public gathering. >> roughly 700, 900,000 people expected in the nation's capital, they expect 99 different groups protesting, demonstrating in one form or

another and they are prepared according to j johnson. neil: let us hope. adam schapiro waiting on obamacare repeal measure, one hour and 45 minutes away, this included an aggressive sell on the part of the speaker, an opportunity to talk up to members particularly the conservative members are not too keen on something to make the deficit work. a bigger, broader strategy to undo this thing will add to the deficit but only temporarily. let's just hope that is the message. let's see how many republicans and democrats will come along, how many republicans? [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette

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>> affordable care versus chaos, chaos is the order of the day for them. we will not allow the republicans to make america sick again. i urge a no vote on this unfortunate resolution. neil: don't care if you are right or left, democrat or republican, make america sick you can, the efforts to repeal obamacare will do just that, americans have been getting sick again. incidence of heart disease, eight of top ten killers are up, drug overdoses way up, so that has been, under this health care law, despite this health care law we have been getting collectively sicker as a country again. with this thing all around us, to say republicans will start increasing that means it hasn't happened already, it has been happening, republican from

arizona introduced a bill for the obamacare repeal. the numbers favor republicans in the house, 241 versus 94 democrats, a few colleagues for cabinet positions who are sick or not available, you can't afford to lose 20 members on this thing. how does it look? >> i think the measure will pass but i think there are other things that can occur. if we are talking about market-based, building up a market-based alternative we have to be smart about that application which is why one of the things i introduced is taking back the monopoly and collusion bill subject for the medical insurance to the sherman antitrust laws putting more opportunities for the american public with health savings accounts, you got a wonderful cocktail about what is possible.

that is by elected officials and bureaucrats. they have taken us to a deathbed with the healthcare systems we are trying to rescue this and there's a golden opportunity to get this thing right and that is a measure i feel has to happen. neil: you heard nancy pelosi likening it to inviting chaos because you would be repealing it without replacing it. that was a bone of contention with the likes of rand paul who said we got to do it simultaneously. >> you do that with the measure i am espousing. hardly an american or patient in america today that understands their medical insurance industry has not been looking out for them in true competition in the marketplace breeds expertise and excellence in new ideas and opportunity and putting money in people's pocket there is amazing

opportunity you will have so if you are going to do something like i am proposing you are building it as you tear it down because the industry will show patients here is an opportunity of saving money, here is how it will cover you, and the health savings account you start to control and from that standpoint we are resuscitating the patient and application. neil: i understand what you are saying but the rap republicans have is there will be that gap, you are making plans to avoid pulling it to the chasm but they are going to say you are taking away the funding and mechanism by which you support this thing and are left with nothing. >> i disagree we are left with. looking back at healthcare, 10th amendment rights, insurance, and

when we start looking with state some states want a single payer, that won't works, that is not an option they would want. this is an opportunity to get it right. if we go down this track going to single payer, that is why we are rescuing this off the deathbed because that is where it is taking america's patients and healthcare system. neil: a crazy day ahead of you. appreciate it. so much is made of cnn and donald trump being investigated by the russians that have dirt on it. what i was trying to say wasn't there was anything wrong with cnn's reporting per se, what i was saying and produced an avalanche of reaction is what does it feel like, cnn, to be

us? to be fingered, to be laughed at, to be dismissed. you are just coming around to it. this is the last eight years for us, stick around.

neil: i want to get something off my chest which i did not foresee the reaction my comments would make, how does it feel to be singled out? something i brought up on my fox news show yesterday. take it from me, it can be powerfully unsettling if the power sets its sights on you and attacks you and dismisses you and ignores you. it didn't matter so much when it wasn't about you before, cnn, very different now that it is you being singled out. doesn't seem very fair now, does it?

not very nice now. not there often, not balanced and you are experiencing what we have been living. you are the one, literally, fox and the irony is i feel your pain. you never came to our defense so allow me to come to yours, you are better than buzz feed but the buzz is you are getting fed to the. of noxious and unfair how some celebrate your place, feels like the way you celebrated hours, doesn't it? they say payback is a beach. if only you would take a moment to rewind the tape and see the shoe is on the other foot. or am i confusing it with kicking you in the ass. it is hard to tell from where i sit. back then your silence was deafening, very different now, isn't it? to which i heard from a lot of cnn, they came to your defense a number of times. half a handful in eight years,

the number of times i have eaten vegetables in eight years. my point is it is not fun to be a perennial target. it is not fun to be fingered by the most powerful guy on the planet. he is going to be that next week. we have been getting used to the guy who already is for the last eight years, just saying. social media reaction, just found out about this internet thing. kelly tweets i will wear out my new ipad watching this over and over, marcia on facebook, about time you got that off your chest, fox has been maligned for years, another twitter it is hard to stand until the shoe is on the other foot. on facebook, i have a confession to make. i am in love with you, you are simply the best.

i couldn't believe this. everyone is apoplectic because it is cnn, didn't give a rat's put to it when it was fox. what do you make of this? >> you were right on the money. for years fox news has been the object of president obama and the whole administration's i. most recently, before the election he referred to fox in every restaurant and bar and big chunks of the country. that is why the democrats lost he thinks, they have such dominance in the media as well as the late-night shows, it is astounding and shows like black and madam secretary constantly

have a theme, it is outrageous and hoping to defeat him. neil: it is their right to do but, when i got some clarification, cnn was there, and when you have the government spying on a reporter and digging up stuff, even these other news organizations said wait a second, that could happen to us, we don't want that but the other steps to which you alluded and the administration sidelining, laughing, we are not going to lose sleep over it, it is what it is. fair and balanced -- 4 people who have a dim view of success and those who favor tax cuts and those who are market driven, fair and balanced view is not to have those views so i understand

media biases are built, 95% plus journalists getting money to and supporting hillary clinton. i know that is the beast no one addresses. they swear on a stack of bibles it doesn't affect them. this got a lot more attention when it was a network other than fox. >> when you saw the situation with jim mc costa, and george bush had a shoe thrown at him. haven't seen it in these last eight years and generally there has been very little support for fox as this administration has attacked fox but immediate support for cnn. i was struck by something carl bernstein said on the panel, do we know if this is true? do we know if any of it is true? no we don't but here we are talking about it anyway, throwing out innuendo, the

scurrilous report which is nothing but opposition research, a number of facts we know to be wrong and this got leaked by the intelligence community. it was not classified material. it was opposition research that made its way into buzz feed which i don't think most people are aware is financed to the tune of $200 million by nbc news. neil: i never thought of that by not mentioning what is feed did. buzz feed just went ahead and printed all this stuff without getting confirmation and the like. but cnn did leave it out there, there is this report more or less teasing it, throwing it out, inviting people to do the type of thing they normally do when they hear rumors that are out there.

you could argue that makes you as awfully culprit. >> exactly right and why isn't obama saying we are going to investigate who is leaking this? neil: i had no problem with cnn going about -- i know the argument you advance very well and eloquently and by omission you invite what you are talking about. and reassess the tone and the way this stuff gets out, and when it gets the reaction it does. >> we have to realize if hillary had won this election there would be no 35 russians expelled, no investigation into the fbi and comey, no investigation into the russian

hacking. this is so political, coming from the top and when trump criticizes the intelligence community we know he is talking about political appointees. neil: thank you very much. it is weird. hey gary, what are you doing? oh hey john, i'm connecting our brains so we can share our amazing trading knowledge. that's a great idea, but why don't you just go to thinkorswim's chat rooms where you can share strategies, ideas, even actual trades with market professionals and thousands of other traders? i know. your brain told my brain before you told my face. mmm, blueberry? tap into the knowledge of other traders on thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade.

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♪ >> several past secretaries of state have actually said in recent years that the greatest

threat to national security is our own federal debt. do you agree with that, sir? >> i do, sir. we don't want a military that breaks the bank but at the same time we can not solve this debt problem on the backs of our military alone. neil: all right. i could just imagine former senator, former debt commission co-chair alan simpson doing a quick jig on that one. he joins us now on the phone. senator, there is a guy, top military guy is saying, saying our debt threatens our national security, what do you think of that? >> you can't do a quick jig with a bum knee at 85. he is absolutely correct. he is said same thing admiral mullen is. nobody is going to break down the defense department. look at that study they tried to hide in the defense department a month ago. they dug that baby up.

there is enough stuff to get any way in the want with money without harming ability to respond militarily most powerful way. we have to get into that budget, that is for sure. john the baptist, wandering in the wilderness eating worm wood and gal nothing compared to me except i don't have the hair and beard he did. neil: but you do like grasshoppers, i understand. >> that's true. neil: let me ask you, senator, do you worry what your colleagues are doing in washington, in earnest effort to repeal obamacare and huge expenses surrounding it, they're doing it in a way that rand paul says will worsen the deficit? they're using a budget measure, some call a gimmick to get rid of this thing but it will make deficits worse, deficits worse, what do you think? >> i think but i have great faith in the chairman of mike enzi of the budget committee.

the only person that ever served in that capacity or maybe the senate is an accountant, a cpa. he is coming with reconciliation. it's a big name but it simply means you get just a majority vote on budget issues. the other stuff they can filibuster. so it will move it fast but i think there is a big mistake without doing repeal without, without replace right behind it. i wouldn't, i wouldn't separate them for very long. i'd keep them together because one impacts the other. you can't get rid of the, can't get rid of the taxes and hope to reduce the cost. got to get with it. neil: yeah. we're getting word now, sir, steve mnuchin, donald trump's pick for treasury secretary is set for his confirmmation hearing january 19th, in other words, a day before the inauguration. he is one of those who advocated

in the white house to be, that tax cuts for income be revenue neutral. that they not necessarily mean more money for the well to do. that, they might be simpler, they might be lower. in the full sense but that, deductions and limitations on those offset that. how do you feel about that? >> i just think that there's a big mistake without dealing with all of the things that you have followed so beautifully through the years, the fact that in this budget horror we're going through, the fact is still the case we're not dealing with 2/3 of the american budget because of the clatter and the clamor of special groups and that is, the costs of health care, forgetthe nastiness of it, forget calling it obamacare, forget that, and solvency of social security where you can't change the cost of living index or the aarp will tear your shorts off. we're in a tough situation.

the big gut stuff is not being touched at all and won't be. neil: aim afraid you're right, at least so far. happy new year, alan simpson. >> same to you, neil. neil: alan simpson. one week from the inauguration. some in hollywood, not necessarily trying to stop trump being inaugurated. they have almost given up on that. what they're planning to do after that will have you wondering, what the. ♪ and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis.

♪ >> what do you think of president-elect trump? >> he is now elected and we as a country need to support who is ever the president because that is what the country is based on, and, and whatever, however that happened, he is there and let's go. neil: all right. within seconds of nicole kidman telling a journthatist it is time to support donald trump every single movie she had been planning to do the next year was cast canceled. kidding.

that is the way it goes in hollywood. to the federal lift reporter bree peyton. what do you make of this. >> sure. i think she is totally right. when the new president comes into power, we need to support him and get behind him, right. when he does screw up we need to hold him accountable and call him out what he does. donald trump who has not been sworn in, it is far too early to start freaking out and panicking when he hasn't done anything yet. i think hollywood do well follow her example and her line of rationale. neil: far nor likely to hear damning comments and america is going to hell comments. i don't collectively what the hollywood community plans to do next week. protesters are still out there. they gave up on electors getting them to flip. they want to make life hell for him in office and get i am -- impeachable offenses and a lot

of people don't like him, a lot of people were not flipping over barack obama getting elected eight years ago. for the life of me i don't remember anyone doing this for incoming president. i know we had the popular vote go one way, electoral vote go another. i can understand passions and frustrations but it is time to let go, isn't it? >> i completely agree with you. hollywood overwhelmingly threw their weight behind hillary clinton and country looked at them and said nope. it is pretty clear. their freakout is not so much about donald trump as much they're realizing that people don't want to listen to them. most americans think that abortion should be restricted to the first trimester and hollywood, who threw its weight behind hillary clinton obviously didn't agree. there is huge discrepancy and huge disconnect between these two entity, right, the american electorate and hollywood. i think it is interesting you and i are both talking about this march that is supposed to happen on saturday. i'm, expecting that it will probably get wall-to-wall coverage. meanwhile the march for life

which had 200,000 participants in 2015 gets all but ignored by the media. neil: all people will be marching. a lot of sympathetic groups will march, protesting what will be the end of days with donald trump. and i'm wondering what the, what the mood is going to be, whether even things like war or some international calamity, whether that would change it at all because normally, remember, right after 9/11, all of the controversy of the 2000 election sort of died down because we were properly as a country fixated dealing with this new threat. and of course that then dissipated and proved short-lived but, i don't even see that changing this hatred. >> yeah. you know what? it's your job and it's my job as members of the media to afflict the comfortable and i've got to say i kind of enjoyed watching some of the most powerful, most wealthy and most influential

people on the planet start to wring their hands, start to realize, hey, maybe the rest of the country doesn't want a progressive extreme agenda shoved down their throats every time they turn on the tv. i think maybe this reaction, this sort of panic is maybe healthy. i hope it will bring some sort of self-reflection. neil: all right. i love you dearly. you're a fantastic guest but let's just say i wouldn't bet on it. bre, thank you very much. happy new year to you. i look forward to many chats in the new year. >> thank you. happy new year to you as well. neil: it is incredible, right? this is incredible, the guy, the ethics chief who called out donald trump and his plans to sever his business ties, apparently they didn't get severed enough. irony now the ethics chief is being called into question. apparently they want him to testify about what he said. and now, it is an ethical mess, after this. ♪

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you saying here? are you giving out bum information? so much we don't know. this much we do. guess who is back, jamie colby, "strange inheritance" host kicking off next friday. i don't know what i'm excited for, big inauguration or the return of that incredible show. jamie, good to see you. >> you don't have to choose, neil. watch them both in one night. i missed you. absolutely, friday, january 20th. neil: my day is booked. i want to talk about "strange inheritance." i want to get your take on the ethics chief. this is latest thing, those in power, intelligence agencies, ethics chief, they are coming down hard on donald trump, or at least giving the appearance of going back at him when he says something. i mean i know he is a washington outsider but the washington insiders are chomping at bit to make his life hell? >> i can only answer you as an attorney.

i happened to be licensed in the district of columbia and many other places as you know. you know what he i don't understand, neil? i was very impressed with the legal advice donald trump got, our president-elect. sound like he is very well-informed on the rules. what does he do? so far no appearance of impropriety. so far no criminal case or any law has been broken. he sets up not only no further foreign investment but two-tier clearinghouse of any domestic deals. his situation is different than someone like rex tillerson because exxon doesn't dissolve when he leaves. neil: i see. >> the trump name is the brand. i think the situation is different. i don't really understand why the ethics chairman would be testifying at this point. there is nothing really to before about. the president-elect and the vice president, when they're sworn in are exempt from the rules that he is trying to apply. change the law if you're not happy about it. neil: just heard my mind, change the law you're unhappy.

big guy gets a pass, even though he has done everything to avoid that and his cabinet does not. let me switch a gears to your fine show coming back. you discover the weirdest things, people, kind of stuff in their attics or basements, that could be invaluable, but how reach these people? do they phone, call, email you and your staff and say, hey, i've pot this item? how do you verify it and do all of that? >> first i want to tell you i didn't take anything along the way. you always ask me when i come into the studio did i grab a little bit of that that is valuable. no. everybodies has their stuff, okay. neil: i would not pass the opportunity. sort of take the magna carta but that's me. >> i tried to get it for you. you know we did find the original rules of basketball, two sheets of paper that actually launched the game when it used to be played in peach baskets. you will love that one. neil: wow. >> we have puppets that sing opera, that are really valuable. even a priceless penny.

i'm bringing you it all, starting friday, january 20th at 10:00 p.m. neil, you know what? the thing i'm the proudest of, more than a third of the stories in our 28 episodes coming in season three, came from you guys, the viewers. i love showing up at your house. it's a privilege to meet the families. neil: i worried about your safety, when someone says, come down into the basement, i will show you. i was worried for you. >> the handcuff collection, neil? the handcuffs, the john brown shackles? they sold well and that family did very well. and it was interesting. we learned, we learned a lot this year. i have the best crew ever. neil: does the crew go down with you? they never let you alone. jamie, do not go down in the basement with that guy, right? >> i call you i know if it is a problem. my mom checks in with you. i went across the the pond, neil. i de iback. can't wait to visit with everyone, show you what we got.

write me at @jamie @"strange inheritance".com. neil: i'm look forward to it. >> new year, new look. i like the glasses. neil: ka-ching, ka-ching. we'll have more 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.

neil: where did those two hours go? here's a trish regan. trish: so good to see you. here we are, can you believe it, just one week away from the inauguration. a political witch hunt to undermine the outcome of the election with an investigation, newly opened here into fbi director james comey. the left right now is blaming him for hillary clinton's loss. i'm trish regan, welcome to "the intelligence report" ." the inspector general is beginning an investigation into the fbi's handling of the clinton email probe leading up to the election. there are allegations director james comey may have broken policies. keep in mind, director comey has