presidents we don't have to speculate. >> let's get the spending bill does we stop kicking the can down the road. >> happy martin luther king day. i know nothing about football but that's breaking state looked good. >> go watch as i will than martin luther king jr. speech. >> right now, mr. barney, take it away. stuart: i will take it away. monday, january 15, 2018. today we honor the legacy of dr. martin luther king. good morning, everyone. it is a public holiday. the markets are closed, but if they were open, the dow would be up well over 100 points, pointing towards dow 26,000. look at the number 197 points away. that is there. this may come in the company starts to report how much money they've made and how much they expect to make in the future. investors believe tax cuts for business will produce a gusher of money. stocks still going up to the best start to a year in 15

years. the hawaii false alert. feds say hawaii lacked reasonable safeguards. the government apologizes. the president has please local authorities took responsibility. it was a very anxious time for many, many people. the president has reported vulgarity. senator durbin said csc said it. senator cotton and producers turbine can not be trusted. the president himself says i'm the least racist person. dr. kings needs told fox news this morning she does not believe the president is a racist. let's summarize your money looking good again. politics a cantankerous mess. this programmer into go. we go live. "varney & company" is about to

begin. ♪ stuart: yes, yes, yes, the markets are closed today. you are looking at the futures market, how the market performs when it opens. big, big games. yes, your money is indeed looking good. give me that number again, 197 points away from the dow 26,000. one big rally away. look who is here. james freeman, "wall street journal" editorial guy. welcome to the show. this is earnings season. tell us how much they made and how much they expect to make in the future. those experts haitians raising the market. you say why. >> for a few companies of course who started reporting the same story we saw the last few quarters where it is earnings better than expected.

revenues better than expected. one thing really exciting lately as we went through a long period of slow growth where companies were looking for ways to cut expenses and now the sales are going up but that's encouraging. >> would make it to the guidance faith, and the ceo gets online and there's a guidance for the future. if they sent en masse they look at profits going up 10%, would that translate to a 10% gain in stock prices? >> hard to say, but it certainly does justify higher prices than those companies are earning more money. you saw that speaking of guidance from the banks seem low, depending on the accounting some banks this quarter may show a loss or post worse than expected numbers because of the tax change. long-term they are saying big winners from the big earners growth over time and you will

see that across the economy. stuart: up 40% on the dow. let's turn to nasty politics. arizona senator jeff flake republican comparing president trump to joseph stalin. roll tape. >> he was popularized by joseph stalin now enemy of the people and it should be noted that khrushchev saying now was too loaded and aligns the whole group or class of people and not shouldn't be done. i don't think we should be using the phrase that's been dead as too loaded by soviet dictator. stuart: the republican senator calling out a republican president sounds like joe stalin. what do you make of that? >> the one difference would be stalin killed millions of

countrymen. this rhetoric is completely uncalled for and especially in the context of trump's use of language, which often you would say you should say you should've express something differently, but it's very clear the greater threat to the first amendment right now is in the opposition to the president. he says a lot of tough words for the media, but unlike his predecessor, and he is not sought as far as we know wants to eavesdrop on journalists unlike his opponent in the last election, president trump is not thought to reread the first amendment to prevent movies from being distributed. in terms of actions, and he is the free prize alternative to the other party. look at his record with the federal communications commission. his appointing reduce government control over the communications

network. and not what an authoritarian does? no. ashley: senator flake is a huge critic of president trump. he has nothing to lose, getting out, leaving congress so he will say what he wants to say. when he uses those analogies that makes him look to be honest with you. stuart: got it, ash. moving on to the anxiety producing false missile alert. within moments of the alert, some democrats blaming president trump. what tulsi gabbard said over the weekend. >> what makes me angry is just a false alarm when out and we have to fix that in hawaii, but we've got to get to the underlying issue of why you're the people of hawaii in this country facing a nuclear threat from north korea today and what is this president doing urgently to eliminate that threat? >> don bolton, fox news

contributor. your reaction to that. moments after the alert went out, before we knew it was a false alert, tulsi gabbard said demanding peace come in that president trump sue for peace was a classic appeasement sentence. >> she also said the reason north korea was seeking nuclear weapons was because of our record of overthrowing regimes in that kim jong un and his predecessors one of these which is a badly misinformed and irresponsible understanding of history. the north korea nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs began in the early 1990s or late may 1880s perhaps well before any of that it happened. but i think it is important for everybody to understand, this failure in hawaii with a state failure. it was a bad mistake that needs to be correct it. it has absolutely nothing to do

with control over the nuclear warheads by the defense department in washington. all this luke talk about wanting to push a button could bring nuclear war is inexcusable for people to be talking like that. stuart: was a blunder obviously in hawaii, but what does this say about our alert capabilities? >> i think it shows that for many years we have not taken threat seriously and now we've got both in the case of north korea and the likely case of iran, a threat becoming more and more imminent. for congresswomen tulsi gabbard to negotiate peace with kim jong un plays into the hand of baghdad hitter and others nuclear weapons. this is the sort of rhetoric that jeane kirkpatrick once called the blame america first approach, that it's our fault kim jong un is seeking nuclear

weapons. no way, historically utterly incorrect. stuart: ambassador john bolton, we will see you soon. appreciate it. let's go to a totally different subject. we are talking nfl playoffs. jacksonville jaguars upset the steelers 45-42. now the patriots in the afc title game. also talking about the miracle in minneapolis. the saints had a one-point lead on the bikes quarterback threw a touchdown. there you see it. the vikings won 29-24 and played the eagles in next week's nfc championship. dear viewers on this holiday monday, bear with us. there was another remarkable sporting event and you've come to the right place. manchester city lost its first game of the season. make this exciting for viewers.

ashley: i don't know if i can do that. they lost at liverpool this weekend. great game if you love soccer come even if you don't would've enjoyed this one. we didn't think they were. you stay out of this competition. >> save that for later. >> i was the better stored sporting event. >> has to be the vikings. so dramatic. stuart: lesser viewers are suspecting our background. ashley: i love sports and i was a heck of a device. look at this. this is from the indignation in jakarta, a balcony. it was in the building's lobby, the balcony collapsed. more than 70 people injured. many were youngsters on a tour

of the exchange. what you're looking at is the aftermath. we do have video of the actual collapse itself which is truly horrifying. chelsea manning announcing she is running for the senate as a democrat in maryland. manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking classified secret information. she leaked day. president obama committed her sentence. she's running for office. you heard it all before. left in the mainstream media bringing president trump are racist. the president is responding and you'll hear his response after this.

.. hi i'm joan lunden.

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stuart: i did want to show the actual collapse of the balcony on the stock exchange. you did see it. all those people there were youngsters but the collapsed like that. nobody died. 70 odd injured i believe. then we have this. convicted secrets leak or putting it mildly says she is running for the u.s. senate in maryland. ashley: yes, going to go for the seat currently held by ben cardin which is interesting. sent out a tweet saying yes, we are running for senate, soliciting donations. as you know, sentenced to 35 years for leaking the information to wikileaks, but was released after being pardoned by president obama. now she wants to go to the u.s.

senate. stuart: james, but i call her a traitor? i know it's harsh, but is it legitimate? >> yes, sentenced to 35 years, which probably wasn't enough. by president obama chose to commute her sentence was one of the mysteries of his late-term. this is really going to test how radical it's become if she can mount a credible challenge. you'd have to assume ben cardin is a safe incumbent, but he is relatively more moderate. obviously a lot of talk in the republican party kind of the insurgent wing and we saw the debacle in alabama, but now in maryland this is going to be interesting to see if she can rally the most progressive radicals. ashley: it is interesting, just getting this a little bit more whether they will run for

senate. she's yet to file for the primary and maybe it will, then. stuart: if you're pardoned you're done. >> commuted, not pardoned. >> i don't think -- stuart: it was commuted here that's the difference. president trump is now responding to critics who say he's a racist. roll that tape. [inaudible] >> on the least racist person you've ever interviewed. stuart: you saw it on the front. jesse lee pearson. there's no question hit the mainstream media has essentially branded our president a racist. what do you say? >> you know, the liberal democrat and liberal media have nothing else to hang their hat

on. they have not done anything to improve communities around the country over the last 40 years until president trump has been there for a year almost in its done a fantastic job and is bringing jobs back, dealing with the crime, making america great again by cutting back on taxes. this president with the lack of responsibility from the liberal than they can't handle it because they don't want people to see it. stuart: came in the modern age the united states president disparaging foreign country like haiti, for example? >> you know, the president told the truth and democrats are having a fit because the president told the truth. if you don't like the condition of haiti, clean it out. we've got a deal with the reality that does not make the president racist because he told the truth.

we're looking at haiti seen how can he say that? when you look at haiti, you see a. you don't see paradise. but paradise. that's how it is an urban areas around the country. chicago, gang violence, unemployment. the president telling the truth. he's not a racist. democrats have nothing to hang their hat on and they don't like this president is revealing their failure because they know she may generate more black votes. stuart: jesse, we do hear you. come again soon. the centers for disease control says hundreds of people have died from the flu this season. that number will go out. not just a step in the elderly. young, healthy people are dying. mark siegel on not coming up next. -- on the that coming up next.

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stuart: it is a very bad flu season. every day with the affection of a wide of a widespread flu outbreak here at 493 deaths have been blamed on the flu. cdc said the number is going on.

not just elderly and sick people. 21 the audi builder in pennsylvania died from the flu. 51-year-old mother of two died two days after going to the hospital with the flu. tax vehicle is here. is this the most dangerous flu outbreak in many come in many years? >> yes it is, strong strain. we don't have a lot of immunity to it. cdc has estimated this is going to be closer to the 60 million. we are getting an early peak. this is one of the earliest i can never remember it had been dating for a long time. this is peaking now, which is early january. stuart: you have a tamil flu here. is that the way to stop it? >> early diagnosis. i can do rapid flu test 10 or 15 minutes most of the time. if i give this to people most at risk for chronic disease are getting really sick or pneumonia that can cut down severity and spreading of the flu.

dramatically. i love this drug. stuart: someone comes into your office and you test them, they've got the flu. does that work still? >> very much so. i can also tell by symptoms. you have a sore throat? pettitte is common with the flu. if it knocks you out and you get a high fever and muscle aches come about the flu. not everyone that has sniffles has the flu. >> how come a bodybuilder and a mother of two, young healthy woman succumbing to die. spin the flu attacks the immune system. a storm of inflammation and then you get secondary infections. pneumonia is that killed people in 1918. the flu knocks it down in a serious bacterial infection comes parading in. it is a two type thing going on. not just the flu. a systemic illness and everyone has to be on the lookout for it,

especially elderly people, very young and the chronically ill. 10 the flu can still get the flu vaccine. not too late. stuart: and you made that we appreciate it. chief executive officer telling fox business he is not going to give out businesses. you will hear it maxed. -- next.

>> please the stock market is closed today in observance of martin luther king day, however, futures show that when the market does open up again, tomorrow morning, if this holds we will be up big. right now, futures are showing a gain of 150 points or for the dow industrials which would put us real close to $26,000. keith with money map press is with us. this is all about expectation of profits now that we're in earning season. is that right? >> absolutely, stuart you know the market is always a forward looking mechanism in you're seeing that at work today even though u.s. markets the most dominant liquid in the world are closed it is still propelling global trader higher. >> if people are looking for say -- and if these ceo say well maybe our profits are going up 10%. does that translate into a 10% gain for the stock price?

>> not necessarily. the math gets kind of funny because it depends on how they accrue things and put their reserve what they're doing with it. chief financial offices are are more to play here. but the lengthage is very clear you bring more to the bottom line eventually that trance lates into stock prices up they go. >> am i right in saying this is earning season and get announcement of expectation cans big profits is that accurate? >> that's the key stuart inspect real thing to look for is not necessarily top lying numbers themselves but forward guidance because as we're talking about it is a forward looking mechanism. so that is the critical piece i would hate to be a ceo that misses his number this is year. you know, keith i have to tell you that i was watching mfl games yesterday -- and up popped an ad for ibm, and as they were saying ibm the word block chain came many. because they've got a block chain project. does this give cryptocurrency some respectability do you think?

>> i don't think so stuart it doesn't whether it is ib m or old pets.com commercial from 1999. i think people are getting ahead of themselves technology is clearly valuable there's no tout about that. but situation for the first time since the internet bubble reminds me of people talking about a technology without really unctioning how it is implemented that worry me. >> but yeah i'm beginning to see the light and turn corner on block chain. one of our camera guys is big informsment many block chain beginning to see it his way okay i'll put makeup on this guy and wring him on the set keith for you facebook down big friday after announce changes to his news feed make post from business less prominent from friends and relatives more prominent so raises the question i think keith does facebook -- mr. zuckerberg does he have a primarily obligation to shareholders owners of the company? or to customers? what do you say? >> i think he has a little of

both stuart. you know, i felt for a long time that silicon valley and forgive my words this is a harsh judgment is inhabited by spoiled brats with no understanding of the social responsibility of the products they create. i think what is happening is mr. zuckerberg is suddenly having adult moment and recognize aring that his product has cons questionses well beyond just a financial component of facebook so i -- appreciate his had efforts i like to see what he's doing. i think that stook o is going to have a little bit of headwind until he develops a clear vision and articulates that to investors. fnlings james i'm sorry james freeman, what do you think shareholder or responsibility? or customersesome >> -- i think all the of the social media companies given the -- huge role they play in media should expect more questions about how they filter and serve as gait keepers is wirt, is twitter minimizing ore blocking many some way conservative point of view?

i think this is going to be a natural healthy conversation as people increasingly use these as their primary news sources. fnlings one with of the days we have a discussion about how ho technology is or is not user friendly. >> more trouble with technology -- keith last one for you. do we hit 26,000 this week? >> it is close, stuart yes, i want to say yes we are going to, and depend on next couple of earnings that come out of the gate. >> real fast wal-mart is cutting corporate jobs is that related to o the closure of 363 sames clubs. >> you don't carry that overhead with technology and i think clearly a move to get to a kind of bottom line for wall with mart another effort to keep up with the amazon effect. >> thanks so much indeed good to see you again and see you real soon this week when as you suggest we might hit 6 -- okay. wal-mart, though, is best competitor to amazon.

fnlings it is ironic because i say wal-mart was bully that put the mom and pop stores out of business and wal-mart is biggest of those bullies to take on amazon. >> i remember in the 80s people were saying wal-mart is killing america. main street comerk. now fighting the big -- amazon. yeah. look at this please. that quinnipiac poll 49% of responders think that president obama is responsible or for the current state of the economy. only 40% believe president trump's responsibility for the good economy. joining us now someone who does credit president trump is name is bob funk ceo and founder of express limit professionals. first of all, bob, you are giving bonuses i think, to all of your employees , is that correct? >> we gave bo us ins at work excited about giveing bonuses to nonexecutive employees. just because trump tax reform bill gave us extra funds and cash to give to our people

there's nothing more important than employees of a company i believe, that you're only strong as employees that you have many your company and these are our treasures of the future. and we want to give something bag to them. >> how much are you giving them, and are you -- taxing all of the gains from the tax cut all of those ingas passed long to your employees? >> we're giving them 2,000 dollars each and not passing all of it on to them. hopefully later on in the year, of course, as we see what happens to the economy which we think is going to be extremely good, we'll pass them around to them and we gave them, of course, o -- a 1,000 raise and profit sharing bonuses in december also this last year. so -- we're expecting some great things. >> i have a few people who would like to work for you now hen qsh why do you think it is that that quinnipiac poll shows that -- more people think president obama's responsible for the good current economy than president trump? why do you think those poll results came through like that? >> well we saw the gates it

shall open fairly wide when trump was elected of course once the tax bill was passed, we saw job orders flowing in like we've never seen them for many years so we believe that -- the trump tax reform bill really opened up gates for more employment, and what's a better place to put your are money than back into the employees into a great job for you. >> you're a staffing agency i think and you're telling me when tax bill came through as soon as it was done, you got a flood of orders for new jobs opening up, is that correct? >> that's correct. we have as many as 20,000 open job orders per week, and we're excited about trying to fill those of course it is beginning to be a recruiting crunch as we look forward for the next six to nine months, and we expect to find, of course, people that have good values. we expect for them to have good work ethic, and a expect them, of course, to be -- trainable with soft skill and

heart skill both. >> you have to pay them to attract them and that's a fact. that's a fact in the wages are going up. just because of the -- shallow job market. shall is low employee market. >> out of time sorry about that. but express employment professionals, bob funk thanks for joining us, sir, appreciate it. >> have a great 018. >> yes, sir. ford ceo name is jim he tells fox business -- his employees the people who work at ford should not expect a bonus because of a tax bill. roll tape. >> last year we paid a $9,000 bonus to employees who were profit sharing that way. so any kind of effect in tax improvement goes in the profits and then is distributed so we're paying bonuses to our employees with something that we already were counting on doing. smtion bigger as a result of the tax, well i wouldn't say that. because some of the tax -- moves are actually enhancing profits so yeah, employees will see a benefit. but there's not a stand alone distribution that doesn't make

sense. >> while not a stand alone distribution but get a bonus for his -- >> extra money that will go into the operation os and will be reflected in extra profits of which, the employees already get a share of the profits. so they'll see it in the send his theory fiat chrysler handed out $2,000 for every employee and they alsos have profit sharing, so it interesting take. >> i don't think we should say it won't pay a bo mous that's not strictly accurate they will pay. profit sharing that might go up because profits are going to go up. >> his point. not so harsh -- no. [laughter] come on. be fair here. [laughter] this could be bad news for the -- for private space travel. and nasa safety panel is raising concerns about if you put strawngts onboard a spacecraft made by boeing, and/or spacex we've got details on that coming up for you. box.com, the the onis line big box store owned by our good

friend reportedly in talks to sell itself to a major grocery store chain. we'll tell you who he's talking with in just a moment. hey, what are you guys doing here? we're voya. we stay with you to and through retirement. so you'll still be here to help me make smart choices? well, with your finances that is. we had nothing to do with that tie. voya. helping you to and through retirement. every day we hear from families who partnered with a senior living advisor from a place for mom to help find the perfect place for their mom or dad

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...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. >> well big news for this guy, owner of box reportedly he's in talks to sell the company to kroger. what, howsm? >> well that's a good question when people with knowledge of the situation i always love that but they say that probably kroger is the favorite how much? maybe up to $500 million.

let's not forget that shay who is permanently smiling with good reason, started this business out of his back in 2013. so in just under five years he's gone are from starting out of his gouge to $500 million a very smart young man, and -- >> got a lot of help from us. he did. and commission checks i would assume are are coming if m >> you never know. [laughter] get him on the phone see what he's got. inch pretty much. serious stuff on took. they're making change tots news feed more updates from family and friends. fewer from businesses. galloway is with us now he's author of the four, the had you hadden dna of amazon apple facebook, and google. scott welcome back to the program good to see you. >> to see you. >> do you think as head guy at facebook -- that zuckerberg should show more responsibility to his share hold

percent, the owners of the company or his two billion customers where does his allegiance lie? >> typically when you're good to your customers it is sail as being good to share hold percent to offer a feras aric experience and put them at the top of the peer pyramid but you'll figure out ways to monetize it. >> the the power amassed by big technology companies is just too much. and you got to reign them in it strikes me that stuker or burg has enormous power. he decides -- what goes into the news feed or o the feed of two billion people every day. most powerful person and influence elections could influence your mood as possibly facebook is probably the most -- talked about drug or product in terms of teen depression now but

i find in your last segment this bad for business i think mark zuckerberg would rather wear snap spectacle every day than anything bad for business. you're seeing an acceleration in the ad revenue not a decline. this is a head pretending to be concerned about some of the criticism they fallen under. the ad load will not change. it is stilt the most robust collection of target it is in the world. with the most robust targeting, the business is not going to -- business will continue to accelerate. >> another example of the power of amazon. amazon says it's onis line grocery sales have surged since it bought whole foods last year. again, there's no stopping the amazon effect and there's no stopping it this company even though you would like to reign it in, there's no mechanism for reigning it in the moment or is there? >> whole foods to amazon will be -- amsterdam was to facebook best in the last decade for $14

billion they're able to say fastest growing offline retailer now in addition to being fastest online growing retailer so what that means it a market cap company, had is probably a 30 or 50 billion creative acquisition based on their ability to announce four consecutive quarterly press releases say we're fastest growing offline retailer so genius and when i push back a little bit we can reign them in and big believer many republican trust at some point it is healthy to reoxygen the rate. >> so or far what amazon is doing is helping customers and consumers. i mean they've lowered rate of inflation for heavens. >> it is good for consumer we keep it away from it but you need to show abuse to that power or restrain a competition i would argue when every consumerring to in the world trades on underline performance

was stock macroenvironment, and what they're doing you have what the power that is restraining competition so i think there's actually a intervention here. >> i don't care which side of the political fence you're on. and there's five -- and you know it raises questions because can you really put that power in the corporation or -- right on brother. >> i'm with you, and let's look at the object of everyone's affection in terms of ambition economy google 750 market cap would google exist today if the doj had moved on microsoft and said stop killing companies -- and many that state. google would not be here had we not have doj intervention to say stop killing small companies. so the antidote to regulation is u trust busting and it is time stuart. >> it is a very interesting

argument when you've got so much power a mass by these giant corporations. four companies now with a market cap trader than gdb of france or india. quite a statistic. if you're not careful you will. see you later. >> thank you, sir. all right brand u new season of strange inheritance that use tonight on fbn fox business network toangt miss this one. matt turner's bible a national treasure -- >> what do you think it is worth, that is morris's cousin. i was told by a reliable source who could have written a check he said, several millions of dollars. >> they could have sold it certainly but it never crossed our minds. you walked away from millions of collars but i won't earn money off of slavery i see it still that way. is priceless. with adt, you can feel safe with an adt starter kit

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>> i just wanted to share this with you doc siegel told us this year's flu was extremely dangerous our colleague james freeman promptly submitted to a flu shot about two minutes ago. right in the middle of the commercial break. oab. painless. painless he said watching hill keel over right now. now then, the season four of the strange inheritance premiers tonight on fox business say look

at this clip from the big show. big stuff. roll it. he was a cool, cucumber, he was so calm. every time i presented a bid he would say, yes. all of a sudden 5,000 that happened in no time. are you thinking that people on the tone are making a mistake or are they know something that you don't? >> they know something that i don't. [laughter] >> this is jamie colby on camera right now host of strange inheritance. the gentleman there, they were talking about a found in a new jersey basement. >> he didn't expect it to be but it looks like a painting. you would are from bloomfield, new jersey these three brothers i loved characters that we met and i don't mean their characters yeah they are, it is strange inheritance. so many of these families contacted us but when they said i was going to bloomfield, new jersey i didn't expect to find a rem brangt but moving ping-pong table and decided to get rid of

some of moms things they were going to have a garage sale but wisely at least took to john who you met you could tell from looking at him to bill nye the science guy and he knows art. but nobody in the united states believed that this lost rembrandt could have ended up here boys are not sure how their female got it but sold for $1.1 million and since resold to a very famous rembrandt collector, and it's believed to have been priced at $4 million. >> new jersey -- good story. a good one. >> a great story. today is martin luther king day, and you found nat turner's bible. a important figure in the fight for freedom and he carries this bible during a slave rebellion that he had the guts to lead, and a family who lost loved ones in that rebellion killed by the slaves --

they were given the bible after senate turner was hanged since they had experienced some of the wrath he held on to it for years. wrapped in a dish towel in a cabinet again unremarkable as it turned out it was authenticated by the smithsonian instead of accepting millions of dollars because it definitely would have sold, they actually donated it to the new smithsonian museum on african-american history and culture the soundbite at the beginning they said we cannot profit off slavery and that's the good that is happen hadding in the world right now. some people believe in unity and freedom and kindness. and i get to see it all. i visit families, i talk about families. and family seem to be watching altogether wire really proud. j tonight you've got rembrandt in the basement episode and senate turner bible episode but it is season four kicks off tonight. >> 9 p.m. eastern did did you know about company town? i never did a man in

pennsylvania inherited entire town of the reduction recycling plant where they have the homes in the school and tbroash rei store on one piece of property. and he's -- put it up for sale for a million and a half -- it's like a bunch of homes in everything else if you want to buy a town. >> a gold mine. >> so inheritance. >> a gold mine. i have to run but thank you very much indeed. great to see you. thank you. quick looks at up futures please we're going up when the market opens. it is open today opens tomorrow morning. look at that gain of well over 100 point. straight up. flashback two years ago, nancy pelosi she said, a tax cut of $40 was a good thing. today, 1,000 bo mouses to millions of americans are near pathetic crumbs. my take on that in the next hour. here we go.

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stuart: in 2011 during the obama administration, nancy pelosi thought a tax cut worth about $40 to working people per paycheck was a good thing. my, how times change. now the former speaker thinks that the 1,000-dollar bonuses being handed out are, quote, pathetic crumbs. i beg to differ. america needs a raise. that was a democrat election slogan. now millions of people receive ad bonus or a wage raise. because of result of tax cuts for business the left doesn't like it. there is no pleasing some people. the point is business is on trial. corporations were the major beneficiaries of the tax cuts and now we want to see what they're going to do with the money. it is an opportunity to look food. if the money is used to buy back stock or boost dividends the left will pounce. see, told ya. just another giveaway to the rich but in economic terms there

is great value plowing money back into the company and its owners but politically it will be dem gogged to death so watch out. in contrast, used for better wages, more hiring, better equipment, it looks good politically. that is why nancy pelosi is so keen to dismiss the bonus surge as insignificant. in doing so she exposes herself to ridicule. she is extremely wealthy. who is she to say a one this dollar bonus is just crumbs. at the very least she looks out of touch with very people she as a democrat is supposed to represent. we're about to enter earnings season, at a time big companies tell us how much money they make and how much they expect to make in the future. they will tell us what they will do with the money. i'm expecting a slew of new bonus and wage hike announcements as well as stock buybacks and dividend increases. add it all up, business is going to get some positive pr for a

change. i don't expect nancy pelosi will be spreading the good news. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ well, will you look at this? stock futures trading shows a big gain. the markets are close of course for martin luther king day, but when they open, they will open up. we can expect to come very, very close to dow 26,000 tomorrow if that increase in the futures market holds up. by the way, we're only 197 points away from dow 26,000. and look who is here? charles payne the man himself. now why are foughttures showing this kind of gain? i have been saying this morning because profits look really, really good. what say you? >> profits look amazing and

wall street, remember, wall street didn't understand, no one knew what the final tax bill would look like. there was speculation the ultimate tax cut would be 23, 24% to get n everyone is behind. even though they're ratcheting up earnings expectations they are way behind. you will see beat after beat after beat. more importantly the top line i'm looking at. we always talk about earnings. we had a recession, top line revenues recession for a while like three or four quarters in a row. corporate america can buy back stocks, they can do certain things to manipulate the earnings. you can do nothing to manipulate the top. that is pure reflection of the economy. already began if december, national federation of retailers, numbers came in much better than expected. homebuilders reported bass week reporting to a consumer coming to life in a big waist look for the top line even more so than

the bottom line this earnings season. stuart: i think you're right, charles. good stuff. just a few moments i pointed out nancy pelosi pulled a double standard. she was all praise for a 40-dollars tax cut in 2011. now she dismisses 1000-dollar bonuses as just crumbs. i think she is out of touch. >> she is out of touch. honestly just despicable the double standard that she is using. $40 is great. 1000, 2000 doll are crumbs. mean-spirited thing. she has one page in the playbook. identity politics, racial politics, class warfare politics, politics of division. she want pass a compliment. nancy pelosi extolled virtues of massive welfare. she talked about the multiplier effect. give someone a dollar in food stamps, they will spend dollar 50. that is great thing. give someone $2,000, nancy,

apply the same math that is a pretty good thing also. stuart: that's a good one. i'm sure, you like i was watching the vikings game. >> oh, yeah. stuart: did you notice the ad for ibm and they used the word blockchain in the ad? they linked ibm with blockchain? they have a blockchain project. does this give respectability to cryptocurrency ands and blockchain? >> it gives respect for block chain. block chain always had the respect. even jamie dimon dissing bitcoin everyone knows -- everybody knows blockchain can revolutionize the world, particularly financial industry. ibm, sort of missed the cloud if you will. they made some acquisition. they're trying to get ahead of the curve. what is the next hot thing? where can we be. a smart move i think on their part. they have to follow up to become a real leader. but to your point blockchain is real. i also think the cryptocurrencies when all said and done a couple of them will be part of our everyday lives

and they will survive the onslaught. it is like the wild west right now though. stuart: i'm dying to see if old tech ibm goes up tomorrow because they incorporated the word blockchain. ashley: it has been done by others. msnbc could have blockchain to give it credibility. >> kodak, kodak's stock, remember their stock took off, that was legitimate blockchain news story. ibm is hot because it is the dog of the dow. it underperformed so poorly last year. people are betting they can get their act together this year. stuart: i know you've been following the electric car. i know you have. you're right out in front of that one. gm is showing off the new electric autonomous car. no steering wheel, no pedals. on the road in 2019. ford and nissan are making new driverless cars. do you have a dog in this hunt as electric, robotic, what is the word, autonomous car maker? >> software companies are

thinking of ways to deploy it. he have one will have to make them. by the way i will make a prediction on this show i haven't made publicly. i will say 10 years it will be illegal for people to drive cars in america. stuart: why? >> they say our inefficiencies are complicated for the computers driving the other cars. stuart: is that constitutional. >> why not? and i, what i would like, i'm probably getting a big wide swath of land somewhere and open up a car driving port. ashley: like a racetrack. >> that is only way we'll be ever able to drive. i say it happens in 10 years. stuart: i have a big chunk of land. you want to -- >> start with the four-wheelers. stuart: charles, you're all right. i do think we'll hit 26-k quickly. >> we're going 200 point clips. you know what we're seeing, stuart? panic buying for the first time. stuart: all those people, 401(k), ira, get to choose where the money goes.

>> money managers that underperformed for a long time have zero excuses. they better get in the game. sitting on billions. now putting it to work. stuart: futures are up 163 points. you're all right, sir. two republican senators in that oval office meeting last week refute democrat senator dick durbin's claim that president trump made racist comments. roll tape. >> are you saying that the president did not use the word that has been so widely reported? >> i'm telling you he did not use that word. >> i didn't hear it. i was sitting no further away from donald trump than dick durbin was. i know what dick durbin said about the president's repeated statements is incorrect. stuart: now, pastor darrell scott, national diversity coalition ceo, pastor, the media is calling the president a racist. i want your response to that, please. >> having known the president for years now i can state unequivocally that the president is not a racist and in fact when he and i engage we're very

comfortable with each other talking about matters of race. there is no discomfort there. we talked candidly and frankly about racial issues, black-white issues, his pan first quarter issues. there is no discomfort there. we have frank conversation about it. he is not a racist. he is not a racist at all. stuart: may i chuck my own opinion into this, the word racist is wildly overused and is therefore undermined its validity. it doesn't mean as much, if you just chuck that word around to everybody. what say you? >> well, i agree with you. i think the race card is becoming a worn out card that the left is trying to use because think about it. the president had a good week last week. he started off seeking a solution for the problem of daca and the "dreamers." so that affected the left's base as far as brown people were concerned. then we had had a tremendous meeting on prison reform, criminal justice reform, probation reform. that affected the

african-american community. so as a countermove, because those are two great moves by the president, as a countermove because it affected that base, that black an brown base as a countermove they played the race card. stuart: sir do you think -- >> that is all they have. stuart: do you think the president should rein in his language, rein in his twitter account a little bit and think a little bit more carefully before he tweets something? rein himself in, do you think. >> well it depend. it is situational. i mean to be honest my daughter loves him. she has his twitter on notification. when he gets up in the morning and tweets things such as sloppy steve begged for his job back, to be honest it is very amusing. i like the president. i like his personality. he has a tremendous sense of humor. if he is being politically correct he could rein it in. it doesn't bother me a bit. stuart: that is good out cue.

pastor darrell scott. thank you, sir. >> god bless you. stuart: god bless you too. check this out, a driver in california going so fast when he crashed into the center meridian, he launched car into a second story of a nearby building t stayed lodged there for hours. both men inside of the car suffered minor injuries. we used to say only in california. we say it again. ashley: oh, my god. stuart: coming up next the hawaii false alarm. ballistic missile threat. we're talking to someone who was on the island and got the alert message. we'll bring that to you next. ♪ i'm thinking...

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stuart: alert in hawaii, false alert t had said a missile was headed for the state. it wasn't corrected for 38 minutes. we have extraordinary video of a father putting his daughter down a manhole for safety, right after that alert was issued. hawaii state representative cynthia felan joins us on the phone. representative, you to the the alarm. what is the first thing you thought when you saw this alert going out? >> everyone was pretty panicked. those of us that received that alert on our cell phones, many people were home with their families.

i had my grandchildren here and was able to immediately grab them, move into a center hallway, bring in water bottles, bring in the dog, and be prepared to hunker down and keep everyone calm. stuart: that is extraordinary story. you must have been extremely anxious obviously? >> absolutely. there were high school students over on magic island at a big out rigger canoe club competition, the finals. when their parents and coaches got the cell phone text, they told the students, run, run. and what happened is, they all fled across a rather busy highway to get over to the big shopping center to go down into the lower level, or run into a store to shelter. i mean people were, they were

just panicked with this information. stuart: that is extraordinary story. i want to bring this to you attention, i know you know this already, hawaii representative tulsi gabbard she said president trump was to blame, within a couple of minutes of the alert going out, she was demanding peace with the north koreans. what is your input on that? >> this is entirely a state error, a terrible error, but it was done by the state people as, they were the civil defense people. they have been going around the island holding community meetings in the, and i put it in quote, unlikely event that we were ever to have a nuclear weapon aimed at hawaii. and you have to remember that hawaii lived very vividly with the memories of december 7th. it started world war ii. so the civil defense state

again, the state was going around talking to community members when we had a meeting in kalua, almost 200 people showed up. people were told you will have maybe up to 2010 minutes to be shelter place -- 20 minutes. it was the state has been doing this, setting the stage for people to be ready to be prepared. so when the actual scary alert came, when the text came and our cell phones went off saying this is not a test, people reacted as fast as they could to grab their loved ones and find a place to shelter in place. stuart: cynthia, thank you very much for joining us. we used you as a reporter for this. we do appreciate your input. clearly high anxiety time. representative cynthia thelen

thanks for joining us. come on in christian whiten former with the trump administration. what does this say about our alerts and civil defense system. >> civil defense has been largely neglected since the cold war and latter days of the cold war. no one wants to think about a nuclear weapon going off in the united states, but actually having citizens prepared to take simple measures you can actually save a lot of lives. the worst thing you can do is what happened. people are out exposed, driving around to places et cetera. it should be a reminder we do not have perfect missile defense. people boasted we have greater than 90% chance of shooting down incoming nuclear missile. that is not true. everything would have to go right with the russian, chinese, or north korean icbm. stuart: christian i'm told we have equipment in place to shoot down a missile had that missile

been real, but it is only 50% effective. that system has been starved for money s that accurate? >> that is. frankly even the 50% is highly subjective assessment. sort of again everything has to go right. the equipment has to be in the right place. the icbm flight path has to go on a predictable course. we have also constrained missile defense throughout the clinton years and subsequently to focus on terminal and midpoints of a ballistic missile flight. that is done for political reasons. people don't want to put weapons in space or consider using nuclear weapons as a defense against nuclear weapons using anti-ballistic missile technology that has a nuclear warhead. you can be less precise and much more assured hit as nuclear missile. those are things we think should be considered especially with north korea that can not be deterred but a country you don't want to rely on deterrents alone. stuart: especially after this.

christian, we'll see you again real soon. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: we have news from fiat chrysler. their ceo sergio sergio sergio l be a big boost of confidence for his business. he is paying big bonuses to his employees. he wants other companies to follow suit. you will hear it all next. ♪ whoooo.

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stuart: now we'll take you to the detroit auto show. jeff flock spoke to fiat chrysler's ceo about tax cuts and bonuses. go, jeff. reporter: yes. sergio marchionne, good man.

we talked to him on fox business one-on-one. they unveiled the ram 1500 pickup trucks. the heavy-duty versions are made in mexico. he is bringing them back from mexico. he is paying a huge bonus. why? he told us quite directly because of the tax reform bill. wouldn't have done it without it. here is what he said. >> the tax reform that was done in december went a long, long way giving huge jolt of confidence in this country. reporter: you know i asked him, stuart, what do you think of the trump administration? he says i'm not going to comment on the administration in general, but i tell you their economic policies are something that has been very positive for this country and i point out they're doing this at fiat chrysler in addition to typical profit-sharing which they do every year anyway. talked to jim hackett, the ceo of ford earlier, he said that they are just going to do the profit-sharing.

they will not do an additional bonus. fiat chrysler, $2,000 to 60,000 employees. stuart: jeff, it is a pathetic crumb. you know that let's see, i'm told -- you're smiling. ford is going to bring back the smaller ranger pickup truck? that is a big deal if they're doing that. are they? reporter: you know the star of the show has been trucks. as i said, they just unveiled the 1500, the ram. yes, the ford, last night unveiling the ranger smaller pickup truck. i own a ranger, 2003 version. a lot of people thought ford made a mistake when they did away with the ranger. and there are some concern this could cannibalize the larger pickup trucks that ford makes which are the most, best-sellers for the past 40 years in the u.s. that is the 150. that is the concern for ford but the ranger is a good truck. my daughter drives it. it is 2003. it will last forever. stuart: well-said, jeff.

good stuff. thanks very much, jeff. good stuff. check those futures. we're up very significantly. the market's closed of course. martin luther king day. when it opens, if it stays like that we're going straight up. 26-k, here we come. we'll be back. jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill proven to both significantly reduce the chance of dying from a cardiovascular event in adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease... ...and lower your a1c. wow. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration. this may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, or lightheaded, or weak upon standing. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, and trouble breathing. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis or an allergic reaction. symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash,

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♪ stuart: it is 10:30 eastern time. so cue the beatles. they do it every single day. i love it every single day. dow industrials, if market were open now, the dow would be up 160 points, challenging 26,000 on the dow. we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens. less than half of all americans believe the economy is

doing well under president trump this is "cbs news poll." 48% say yes, we're doing well economically in trump's first year. that's a very low number in my personal opinion. joining us now, reagan economist art laffer. why do so few people think the economy is doing okay under the first year of president trump? i think it is doing really well? >> i don't understand why so few people do but let me say it takes a while for the momentum, euphoria to build, 48% to 22% doing well is really good ratio and it will increase. stuart: you're missing the media here. when did any ordinary american look at front page of a newspaper and a newscast see the strong economy broadcast loud and clear? they don't see that. they see, russia, russia, russia and the president is a racest, et cetera. >> that's true.

when the economy is not in play that is all they will ever see. now that the economy is coming back in place, stuart, i think the economy you will see every day increase the exposure on front pages of all the papers in the country. i think the economy will be the message by the end of this year going into 2019. stuart: dream on, art laffer. >> i am a dreamer. i will be allowed to stay here, aren't i? stuart: yes, you are. >> just joking. stuart: you're okay, so don't worry. >> thank you. stuart: you're a great-grandfather, i couldn't kick you off the set. >> no, you couldn't. stuart: that same "cbs poll," more people, tax cuts benefit the elite. that is it. why do they get that impression? >> who knows. who knows. all the democrats can do is say that, say that, say that, and they're wrong, wrong, wrong but i think as time goes on i think you will find that feeling and that view of the world will dim finish dramatically. the booming economy, more jobs,

bonuses, all of this stuff will take center stage. i am very optimistic, stuart, that our story of the economy, yours and mine and some others will become the at the end of this year in 2019 and into 2020. this is the long bull market. i watched the same thing happen with reagan. by the way, identical set of events. it really played out very well in our favor after the tax cuts once took effect and we won the election. as you know in 1984, only 49-1 in states. stuart: oh, i remember it well, actually, art. >> wasn't it wonderful? stuart: it was just great. okay, now as you know, protests are beginning in switzerland because president trump is planning to attend the world economic forum in davos. i want to know, art laffer, what did you say, what did you do, when you first heard that our president is going into the belly of the beast, davos? i nearly fell off my chair.

what say you? >> i did too. i really did thing. i think in davos thing is worthless. it is a silly little thing for elite people to play with each other in switzerland in nice fancy hotels. i know who started it. i was on the board of vivendi with john marie messier. they wanted me to go. i don't do those things. i think they are a waste of time. the administration is going, almost all of them, top seven or eight are going together to do that. god knows what they think they will accomplish. let them go. that is their call, not mine. stuart: i would love to be a fly on the wall. i don't want to go. i would love to be there in certain way. >> i don't think you would. if you were a fly on the wall you would freeze to death up there. it is about the most desolate place ever seen. it is rich europeans playing with each other and skiing. it is terrible. stuart: why do you think i left europe, for heaven as sake? >> why do we go back there?

i have been to davos it is just -- eh, it is exact community -- i love rural kentucky. that tells you where i am. stuart: would you go out on a limb be and call davos a hell hole? >> no, i would call it a fancy little club resort. those little fancy clubbers. by the way president trump does like those type of milieus, those types of places. he likes them a lot. i personally don't. i was raised in fairly fine conditions and got to go to these places when i was young. i really never liked them. i still don't like them. stuart: that is a good outcue. art laffer, you're all right. you can stay as long as you like as a dreamer. >> i am a dreamer. stuart: now i have to bring a warning to everyone's attention here. it is from nasa, the space people. they are warning about astronauts who may be traveling to space on the spacex dragon or

the boeing star liner rockets. issued a warning, may not be safe. tariq malik space.com managing editor is with us now. do you share that concern? this is private enterprise putting astronauts into space. it used to be a public enterprise. are you worried about this. >> what is a bit surprising that the concerns these companies, spacex and boeing may not meet nasa guidelines for safety for astronauts themselves. they have to be certified to be able to fly, astronauts and customers too, private customers and tourists to make sure they are safe. nasa says they are not there yet. the risk nasa will accept is one in 270 chance of someone being seriously injured or god forbid a loss of life for astronaut. that is stricter than nasa's own space shuttle risk. it is a high bar they set. they're not there yet. stuart: was it a play by nasa to bring the entire space business

back into the public domain and take it away from private enterprise? >> i don't think that is the case at all. i think right now nasa says we have to meet these guidelines to make sure our astronauts are safe, your customers are safe, you're making a safe spacecraft. now these companies are still not even at the level of testing that is supposed to happen later this year. spacex and boeing are slated to launch the first test flights. after those missions launch, they will look at this to say how did this perform? do they meet the guideline. what do you need to change? nasa's contract with russia to launch american astronauts on russian spacecraft ends in 2019. there is finish line to get these things done. the same advisory board says you can not rush these things. you have need a gap if needed. the companies can't have go fever which nasa experienced with the in the past with challenger accidents.

stuart: you know what happened to the supersecret spy satellite lost on the spacex rocket? >> the zuma is saying accident spacex. northrop grumman which built the spacecraft saying nothing at all. there are reports that it fell into the indian ocean. spacex says the rocket did fine. the sightings from pilot seem to suggest spacex's rocket did all the things it needed to do. very possible of what happened is on the contractor. stuart: it might be in the indian ocean. are they trying to get it back with big nets? >> they can do that the national reconnaissance office have gone up and fished up spy satellite stuff from the ocean in the past. jeff bezos found old poll low 11 rocket engines from the ocean floor. they really want the thing back they can go out and find it. stuart: they bet get it before the chinese or russians do. ashley: if it iser secret it

could be doing exactly what it is supposed to do. >> that is possible. >> there is whole cadre of people look for the things in space. they are really excited this, is the week if it did get up there, its orbit would come over north america. so they're looking to see if there an extra thing up there. stuart: that was good. that was good. conspiracy theories are good every time. thank you very much, terry. now this, the tax bill, it takes away "salt" deductions and caps property tax deductions in high-taxed states like california. joining us is eric eckerd. from the real estate brokerage firm purple bricks. i know up something going on in california. why would anybody want to buy an upscale, sort of a 1%er type home in california when that group of people is going to get so hard hit with the tax cut? >> first off, thank you for having me on the show. entering into the u.s.,

specifically california is part of our national progress. we launched the uk in fought fourth. in three years we came -- stuart: that is your talking points. that is your commercial. what are you doing in southern california. >> to get to your question, particularly california opportunity to enter a market with largest market based on transactions. stuart: what are you doing to convince people to buy upscale home in california in general. >> california has attributes. number one, quality of living. opportunity for strong economy. it is the sixth economy -- stuart: wait a minute. if i buy an upscale house in california, presumably i'm an upscale kind of guy, i will get clobbered by this tax cut. what are you going to do about that? >> in purplebricks, there is cost side of 3200, specifically why california folks buying in that demographic given where "salt" is today, only impacts 6% of the market specifically, or 5% rather paying above 10,000 in

taxes. stuart: that is a lot of people. >> it's a lot of people. look at mortgage deduction, it affects 6% of the economy. vast majority of americans across the u.s., including california which is your focus it will not have an impact on. we believe the low levels of inventory in today's market will offset any potential price reductions in the price range. stuart: potential price reductions, that intrigues me. you're saying yes, there could be price cuts on upscale homes because of the tax deal? >> i'm saying it is still too early to tell. there is a lot of speculation last year when the bill was going through the house and the senate because folks didn't really know where certain caps would be placed or what some of the changes would be. what i'm saying we fast forward six months from now, we have some data, i could point back specifically what happened to the markets. our view given the lack of inventory, that is the theme in the u.s. market. inventories are down 10% last year 6.1million. market absorption is 3 months.

what does that mean. it is seller's market. we think that could offset or counter any potential de. stuart: eric, thank thank you fr being here. good stuff. >> thank you for having me. stuart: a passenger jet in turkey plunging down the side of a cliff after skidding off the runway a few feet from the black sea. don't worry, all passengers and crewmembers got off the plane safely. that is quite a scene. look at that. ashley: how would you like to be on that plane? stuart: wouldn't want it. wouldn't want it. i hope my seatbelts with on. futures predict and show when the market opens we'll get real close to 26,000 on the dow. yes, we open up tomorrow morning. the dow should be up 26 points. we'll be right back. ♪ hi i'm joan lunden.

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responsible for the current economy. 40% believe president trump should get the credit. bob funk says mr. trump is the one who should get the thanks. roll tape. >> we saw the gates open fairly wide when trump was elected. then of course once the tax bill was passed we saw job orders flowing in like we've never seen them for many years. so we believe that the trump tax reform bill really opened up the gates for more employment. and what is a better place to put your money then back into the employees that do a great job for you. stuart: you're a staffing agency i think and you're telling me when the tax bill came through, as soon as it was done you got a flood of order for new jobs opening up, is that correct? >> that's correct. we have as many as 20,000 open job orders per week. we're excited about -- okay, i picked out my dream car.

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the mud down, consolidate it to try to bring it up. they had to clear out several vehicles. a lot of debris as well. but i want to walk you through the damage. at least 65 moments have been completely destroyed. nearly 500 others have been significantly damaged. eight businesses have been burned. 20 have major damage. only 35% of damage has been assessed. we're expecting those numbers to rise. the surge of mud stormed through here a week ago but they're still looking for four missing people. crews are working through, digging through debris, hoping to find some people still alive, trapped below, but right now, the main order of business here getting this roadway clear because hundreds of thousands of people have said they're going to be out of their neighborhoods for several weeks. they have no timeline yet when this could possibly be cleared. this is all mud, a two-mile

strep of one of the busiest freeways in southern california. they have no idea when this will be clear, when people can get back into their neighborhoods, what is left of it. more bad news, the rain is on the way. all this work here, could be completely washed out, stuart. stuart: extraordinary pictures of 101. i know it very well. when you see is a sea of mud that is incredible. thank you, hillary. as you know this is martin luther king day. the markets are closed but those futures contracts are trading and give you a very good indication how the market will open when it opens again. we'll get close to 26,000 on the dow industrials. more "varney" after this.

stuart: will you look at this? this is the indonesia stock exchange. that was a balcony looking into the exchange. it collapsed. 70 people were injured. no one died fortunately. many people on the balcony were youngsters. ashley: incredible no one lot of their lives in that. first thing was considered this was terrorist attack. this particular exchange had

been the target of an attack. no, it was the balcony gave way. incredibly no one killed. stuart: extraordinary. then there is this, chelsea manning, convicted secrets-leaker. many people call her a traitor. says she is running for the u.s. senate seat in maryland. ashley: she is indeed. taking on two-term democrat senator ben cardin. chelsea manning just announcing this weekend she will be running. there are questions about whether or not she will be, as far as convicted felon be allowed to run. what are the rules on that. she was granted clemency to be absolutely clear by president obama after given 35 years for leaking secrets to wikileaks. he gave clemency last year. clemency does not allow the crime to be forgotten. the question when she files papers, there are question, will she be allowed to run?

at this point no one said anything. she is accepting donations for her senate run. stuart: when she runs there will be a primary, how many votes she gets in the primary. ashley: will be interesting. stuart: interesting idea about the state of the democrat party. ashley: right. stuart: because ben cardin, a sitting senator. ashley: two-term. stuart: he wants another term. he is kind of a moderate, at this point. ashley: i think so, chelsea manning clearly will be way out there on the left. ashley: she is. stuart: how many votes will she get? a good indicator. we got this one, a driver, with a video, making a mistake while hitting a police officer in times square. what happened, ashley. ashley: that driver as you can see there, was doing doughnuts late in times square around midnight that police officer identified as 26-year-old ian wallace. what he tried to do, tried to stop the car, putting his hands on the hood. the car got around him for a little while dragging him. he gets off chasing after that car. that is new york's finest.

look at this, trying to stop this car, the car eventually, oh, he falls on to his hands and knees there. he is okay. he had a few minor injuries. doing fine. stuart: then the cops went after him with guns drawn. ashley: you know what the car got away. stuart: still looking for the driver. ashley: got away. we're waiting to see. lost them. stuart: he is in trouble. that's is fact. ashley: yes. stuart: you are watching the second hour of "varney." stay tuned for the third hour coming up next. ♪ we came to manage a trillion dollars in assets under care, by focusing our mind on whatever's on yours.

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serious sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common. or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. since enbrel, dad's back to being dad. visit enbrel.com... and use the joint damage simulator to see how your joint damage could be progressing. ask about enbrel. enbrel. fda approved for over 14 years. stuart: a recent poll asked who should get the credit for the economy's recent strong performance? 49% said president obama. 40% said president trump. why does mr. trump get so little credit for what i believe is his

successful economic policy? first reason, the economy, the growing economy is hardly covered by the media. what comes at you on a daily basis is not growth, jobs and business, it's trump is a racist, trump is a threat to humanity and impeach him! when your news feed is so dominated by contempt, it's hard to break out and see what's really going on. there's another reason. several, actually. the academics have been feeding us a line that tax cuts don't produce growth. wrong. they do. john kennedy, ronald reagan and bush 43 cut taxes and gave us growth. and then there's the left telling us the benefits of tax cutting go to the rich. but if almost all federal income taxes are paid by the top 10% of income earners, of course they'll do well with tax cuts. while the left ignores deliberately this time around tax cuts are being passed along to millions through bonuses and wage increases, and the whole country benefits from a growing

economy. we must also say that on occasion the president is his own worsting enemy. worst enemy. surely, if he reined himself in, he would give less ammunition to his political enemies, and he would get more credit for the extraordinary success of the trump rally and the trump economy. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ >> while cnbc is on tape, we're open for business. stuart: oh, yes, we are. [laughter] wall street yet closed today, martin luther king jr. day, but we are indeed live, about as live as anybody can be. >> yes. stuart: vice president pence and his wife karen laying a wreath at the memorial to the civil rights leader yesterday in washington. there is also free admission today to our national parkings.

martin luther king day. yep, the markets are closed, but they are actively trading those futures contracts. we're going to go up when the market opens tomorrow morning. we are roughly, what, 197 points away from dow 26,000. it has been an extraordinary rally, has it not? >> yes. january the 15th. stuart: january the 15th, that's right. come in capitalist pig hedge fund manager, i always pronounce that word with some venom. how are you? [laughter] >> i have to say, stuart, presidential name drop on the twitter feed? stuart: yes. >> ball out of the park, my friend. stuart: shall i tell our viewers that, yes, the -- >> stuart, stuart was name-dropped on the president's twitter feed to his 45 million followers, and the tweet was left up there for quite some time, stuart. so -- stuart: thank you. >> nailed it. [laughter] stuart: now what are you going to do for me today? >> well, let's talk about the market -- stuart: yes, we are.

are we going to hit 26,000 this week? >> we're right there, stuart. and, you know, it's -- we're essentially there, we're just a couple of points away. it's indicating that the trend continues to be up. i think as you said, much to many people's disbelief that a trend that admittedly started under president obama has continued and even quickened under president trump. there's no argument to that. and as long as we continue to see stocks making all-time highs in the market, making all-time highs, there's just no reason to think it will reverse other than people are getting too bullish. more money invested in stocks than they did in the 2000 bubble, so i think that's the one reason for worry i have right now. stuart: okay, understood. i want to talk about facebook. they're making business posts less prominent and posts from your family and friends more prominent. you think that mark zuckerberg's obligation is to his investors, the shareholders, the owners of the company or to his customers?

which is it? >> it's the same thing. stuart, it's the same thing. how do you deliver to investors without delivering to customers? it's, there's no, there's no schism, there's no schism there. and i think people have always tried to second guess zuckerberg. remember when they put videos in the news feeds and said, oh, it's going to be so distracting. or remember when it was only -- the young people are leaving facebook. you know, the stock continues to perform. and there's tremendous competition in the space, i'll give you that. this might be their downfall, but mark zuckerberg and facebook have continued to innovate, and i don't doubt them on this move either. they see something, and they're leaning away. stuart: a, do you own it, b, will you buy it at 179? >> i don't own it, but i should have. again, stuart, it's a classic case of could have, should have, would have. buy what you know, and those who bested the doubters on facebook have made bank. stuart: yes. well said. [laughter]

jonathan hoenig, capitalist pig kind of guy. thanks for joining us, jonathan, you're all right. >> be well, stuart. thank you. stuart: now, i want to talk retail. this is the sector which benefits significantly, if not more than any other sector, from the tax bill. however, we are told that 12,000 stores will be closed this calendar year compared to nearly 8,000 closures last year. on your screen right now, these are retail stores that have featured closures across the board. lots of big companies, lots of closures. and look who's with us, the guy who runs the national retail fed ration. his name is matt shay. frequent guest on the program. you don't look so happy this morning. >> no, really? [laughter] stuart: you are the principal beneficiary of the tax cut deal, and yet we are told -- and i don't think you're going to contest this -- 12,000 brick and mortar stores are going to close. >> no, i won't contest it.

60-80,000 stores will open this year including many, many retailers, that's out of 1.7 million, so i don't want to argue some close, but we've got to put it in context. stuart: it's the big guys, the malls, the department stores are closing left, right and center. that's a big deal. >> we can have a conversation about the real estate, i think, and we can talk about the people who represent the -- there's no question the u.s. is overbuilt. we're coming off an amazing holiday season. we released our results on friday, 5.5% growth. we haven't had growth like that since before the recession, 2006. and to your earlier segment, your lead-in to the top of the hour, the administration, the president, the republican congress deserve enormous credit for that result. it's due to the fact consumer confidence is high, unemployment rates are very, very low, and businesses are finding a way to compete success isfully in that environment. -- successfully in that environment. stuart: you are one of i think it was 100 ceos who signed a letter urging congress let the dreamers stay, protect the

dreamers, get daca. why did you sign on to that letter? >> well, i'll leave out the humane reasons, and i'll talk about the business reasons. the business reasons are one of the fundamental strengths of this country is the diverse work force, the immigrant population that has always looked to the united states as a place to build new life, business and be entrepreneurs and risk-takers. if you look at the businesses that have been created, how many of those are founded by immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrantings. with an unemployment -- immigrants. with an unemployment rate this low, we need to feed some fuel into that big furnace -- stuart: still going to get a million immigrants per year coming into america. that's hot going to be stopped. >> i think this is sort of representative of a bigger issue. this is a component and a very important one for many people, 800,000 that are going to be affected, but we need a fundamental, comprehensive -- stuart: and i agree 100%, but are you okay with a deal that says, yes, build the wall, end chain migration, but the

dreamers can stay? would you accept that deal? >> we haven't had that level of detailed conversation with our leadership and our board. i think -- stuart stuart i suspect you would not accept that deal. you don't want a wall, and you don't want end of chain migration. do you or don't you? >> i think we'll have to -- stuart: are you, are you going to tell me that you want the wall or no? >> i think a wall is a question that most retailers don't think about every day. they think about how they operate their businesses in a dynamic, and changing environment, and that includes investments in people like immigrants who will continue to -- stuart: you know, you used to be a favored guest on the program because you answered questions directly, but you won't tell me whether you and your organization favors the walls or not. >> not until i ask my ceos. we haven't had that conversation, no. we're talking about tax reform, we're talking about moving forward on regulatory reform. we've got 7,000 people -- 37,000 people at our convention. stuart: you're good. shift the story away.

>> 5.5% growth, a great story. stuart: okay. matt, you're all right. we appreciate you being with us. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: all right, now this, visa, the credit card company, they'll no longer require you to sign for purchases. i think you know that. they say that improved security features on cards -- chips, for example -- allow for this move. mastercard, american express, discover they've already said signatures are no longer required. we're in it. and this, ford increasing its investment in electric vehicles. it'll spend $11 billion in the race to catch up on battery-powered cars. it plans to develop 16 fully electric vehicles, 24 hybrids by 2022. a total of 40 electrified vehicles in one respect or another. that's ford motor company. looks like the student loan debt crisis going to be worse. according to brookings, 40% of students who entered college in 2004 will default on their loans by 2023. 40%.

that's to combat the crisis, experts say there needs to be an increase in borrowing protections as well as increased education on loans. i haven't a clue what that means. [laughter] now, to the hawaii false alert. the feds say hawaii lacked reasonable safeguards. the governor has apologized. but who should be held accountable? the person who pressed the button, the wrong button? some on the left are already blaming the president. we'll be joined by hawaii resident who woke up to a frantic call, and she'll tell her story what was it like that morning. and democrat senator dick durbin came out of the immigration meeting swinging at the president, slamming his use of the words "chain migration." we have a clip of senator durbin using the same term back in 2010 when he apparently okayed it. ann coulter on that in a moment. first, i want to show you this, president trump giving me another shout-out, this time on twitter. i guess he's watching.

[laughter] yeah, he's watching. third hour of "varney & company" only just beginning. we'll be back with more. ♪ ♪

stuart: senator dick durbin, he's the dt leading the charge saying president trump did use racist and vulgar terms during that oval office meeting. okay. here's what dick durbin said last week about the term "chain migration." roll tape.

>> i said to the president do you realize how painful that term is to so many people? african-americans believe that they migrated to america in chains, and when you speak about chain migration, it hurts them personally. and he said, oh, that's a good line. stuart: all right. he said it was chain migration described as painful. okay. now listen to senator dick durbin in a clip from 2010. roll that tape. >> the dream act would not allow what is known as chain migration. in fact, dream act students would have very limited ability to sponsor their family members for legal status. stuart: okay. seems to be a little bit of difference there. [laughter] look who's here, the author of "in trump we trust," ann coulter. is mr., senator durbin's credibility in question? i'm sure you would question it. >> i am so glad you ran that, because i don't know if you've noticed, i mean, the media has talked about nothing -- >> right. >> -- since, but they haven't mentioned this line from durbin. even the left realizes, um,

that's not going to help us. [laughter] don't mention it, don't tell anyone he said something so monumentally stupid. once again i'm reminded trump's instincts are so good. it is just the right thing to say, that's a good line. [laughter] it is so silly, and let's -- oh, sorry. stuart: before they went into that meeting, i'm being pejorative here, but do you think it's possible -- [laughter] stop laughing. do you think that the democrats went in thinking, you know, whatever he says on immigration, anything he says on foreign countries, anything he says about foreigners, we can make that full of hate, and that's what they did? am i imagining things? >> well, durbin has a history of this. he invents conversations. he did when obama was president claiming representative cantor said something nasty to obama. the white house denied it, cantor denied it. no, durbin's famous for this. also it needs to be pointed out

that of the people in that meeting, so far four of them have expressly denied president trump said anything along the lines of what durbin is claiming. durbin has had to retract his description of what he said. one of the big, in fact, the nastiest thing according to durbin that trump said was about the haitians, kick them out. like kick them out of the country. well, durbin later clarified -- and jake tapper on cnn, i'll give him credit for that -- when he said take them out, he meant take them off the temporary protected status deal. not take them out of the country, but take them out because they're suffering so much. it's exactly the opposite of the impression durbin -- so he's already retracted. meanwhile we have, well, trump himself even if you want to exclude him, senator perdue, senator cotton, director of homeland security expressly saying this is a lie, trump did not say this. so, yes, of course the whole thing was made up. i also want to point out here

leaks are treated very differently by the media. if it's a leak that hurts the republicans, all that matters is what the substance is. but let's flash back to the memos that leaked from the democrats on the judiciary committee back in 2001, 2002 when bush had nominated miguel estrada to the d.c. circuit. the entire -- it was called memogate because how dare you access, there was no hacking involved. how dare a republican access memos that democrats were sending to one another. you know what they were saying? we've got to block miguel estrada because he's hispanic, and he's headed for the supreme court. what was the media fixated on? no, no, we can't talk about the substance. we want to know -- and the guy who accessed them, miranda, i think his last name is, another hispanic working for republicans, he had to resign because he accessed memos. how about pentagon papers? no, we don't care that those

were leaked. no, no, else burg, he's a hero. stuart: hold on, i've got one minute left, and i'm determined to get this in. nancy pelosi blasting the tax cut bonuses. roll tape. >> in terms of the bonus that corporate america received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic. it's so pathetic. i think it's insignificant. stuart: we couldn't resist. [laughter] we've overplayed it, i know, but we couldn't resist it. by the way, that compares to a tweet back in 2011 during the obama administration where nancy pelosi said, and i'm quoting now, today's agreement is a historic victory for the american people. they spoke out clearly, and $40 each paycheck will make a difference. [laughter] >> you know, it's very bad for liberals if you remember what happened yesterday. [laughter] very bad. stuart: that's very good. very good. thanks for coming on again.

always appreciative. thank you very much, ann. >> thank you. stuart: we've had many people on this program champion legalizedded marijuana. very soon we're going to be joined by a district attorney in colorado. he's going to give us a firsthand account of what the effects of legal marijuana has on communities. he doesn't like it. kentucky becoming the first state to approve work requirements for medicaid recipients. more on that coming up for you. but first, check this out. new video released by nasa showing the orion nebula. that's right -- >> whoa, cool. [laughter] stuart: okay. i was confused there. that is impressive. you get it all -- and that's the empire state building. [laughter] you get it all on "varney & company." ♪ ♪

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retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected technology that's moving companies forward fast. e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. ♪ ♪ stuart: the markets are closed, we are open. our competitors are on tape. now this: nasa has unveiled its new parker solo probe, it can go from london to new york in 28 seconds. this probe is built to travel to the sun to analyze the dangers of solar wind. virgin galactic has completed another successful test of a

space plane, richard branson says they're on track to take passengers on test flights as early as april. 700 people have reserved their seat for a trip to space. last one, nasa scientists have picked up an ice sheet on mars. the ice is relatively pure, partially exposed on mars' surface. some saying this could be a game-changer for human exploration of that planet. next, we have another company that's giving bonuses as a result of the tax plan. yes, another ceo giving out the bonuses who was -- who is with us on program next. ♪ ♪ whoooo.

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get a job or training or you're off medicaid. joining us now is peter cove, the work first foundation founder. a lot of people say this is cruel, that if you're getting medicaid and you're able-bodied, you should stay on it. what say you? >> they said the same thing when welfare reform happened in 1996. stuart: under a democrat, bill clinton. >> that's exactly right. and what happened? work worked, and the rolls went down by over 60% in ten years. and despite people like senator monaghan saying women and children were going to be on the streets dying, didn't happen. stuart: now, it sounds harsh, but are you flushing out the people who are just freeloading? >> well, you may be, and that may be harsh, but i think if someone is able-bodied and we have a job available for them, why not have them go to work? because it's mlk's birthday, i

just wanted to read, quickly, a statement he made. he said all labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance. that resonates with me. stuart: okay. suppose, just suppose, a hypothetical, you're a mother, you've got three children, you've got to stay home to take care of those kids, and you are a single mother, single parent. you get medicaid. would you be kicked off? because you really can't go get a job ebb when you've got three kids at home. >> as long as daycare's available, if it is, she should be able to go to work. that is what we did in 1996, and that's why the rolls went down, and people went to work and no one went starving. stuart: you were in a meeting just the other day with speaker ryan and other senior officials in the administration. he was saying, look, we're not going to get to entitlement reform this year. what do you make of that? >> no, he did say that, but there's so much the administration can do with laws

that are on the books right now. for instance, we could have and should have under the law of 1996 mandatory work for people who are on food stamps. during the obama administration, they watered that down. they can just take that law that exists right this moment and reup it and really exert work requirements. there are many other places within the law where the government can execute welfare reform at this point without any new laws. stuart: and it sounds like president trump's going to push it too. peter cove, thanks very much for joining us this morning, we appreciate it. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: yes, sir. now, one colorado official says the legalization of marijuana for recreational use -- and that's happened in his state -- he says it's bad for his state. he joins us now to explain. his name is dan may, he's the el paso county district attorney. so is would you list -- so would you list what's the problem that you have with legalized recreational marijuana?

>> good morning, stuart. if you want to look behind me, you'll see it's a great day for skiing in colorado. [laughter] it's sort of what area do you want to talk about, our crime increase, our black market, what it's doing to our kids, what it's doing to our environment. i mean, it's -- stuart: okay. let's deal with this one at a time. you say there's a crime increase. what kind of crime do you link directly to recreational marijuana? >> i can't tell you why, but we've had the opposite effect of what you saw with prohibition. we have had a huge spike in our black market. the black market is greater today than it's ever been in the history of colorado. we have cartels from around the world, laotian, vietnamese, i cuban, mexican, you name the south american country, you name the asian country, china, they are here. we have grows that range between 2500 and 22,000 plants. my favorite last year is when they found an island on the colorado river, 9200 plants,

illegal operation. stuart: but if you made it illegal all over again under any circumstances, well, nothing changes, does it? you've still got the cartels, you've still got a black market. >> no, we've had a huge increase since -- when it was illegal, we didn't have these kind of black markets. denver itself, mitch morris who was the d.a. up until last year, said they had a 900% increase in illegal growth. they've had a 99% increase in illegal distribution. stuart: but that is explainable in that if you're a state that legalized it and you're surrounded by states where it's not legal, you've got to understand people coming into the state. they want to buy it. and so the growers supply it. i mean, i don't see how it would change that much if you suddenly reverse course. but anyway, how about other forms of crime? you say that other crime has spiked. like what? >> well, we've certainly seen, if you have seen our articles on

vehicular homicides or auto accidents, at the same time, i've got to tell you aye been doing this for well over 30 years. when i first got elected, i was shocked at the number of marijuana murder cases we have. last year at this time i had five separate murder cases in my court -- stuart: hold on a second. i don't mean to interrupt you, and i'm sorry, i don't want to be rude. but you say marijuana murder cases. are you telling me that people get stoned on marijuana and go out and murder somebody? or are you telling me that they murder each other in the middle of a deal on marijuana, illegal marijuana? which is it? >> yeah. it's the latter. it is, people are fighting over marijuana. stuart: well, then that's not the nature of the drug, is it? i mean, how many times do we have to hear this? you're walking down the street, six guys coming toward you, they're drunk, you cross the street. you're walking down the street, six people coming toward you are stoned, you say hi. >> again, what i'm saying is that they're fighting over marijuana. they're killing each other over

three ounces of marijuana, in grow operations. boulder county just had a triple homicide in a grow operation. we didn't have these things in colorado before. we didn't have these murders before. they're both legal and black market operations where we're seeing these murders. you're asking me where the increase is, that's an absolute increase. you just can't deny it. you can't deny that we have a huge black market. i'm hoping with california opening, they're going to move out there. i'm hoping that our homeless that have gone up 50% in 2014, 50% in 2015, 50% in 2016 go to california. stuart: okay. >> but i don't know that that's going to happen, and my police don't report that it's happened so far. the last homicide of 2017 in my jurisdiction was, again, over wax. a $65 sale of wax which is a marijuana product. stuart: i'm sorry, i'm out of time, dan. >> oh, you bet. stuart: it's interesting. it's an interesting -- >> i do want to throw out one other, i do want to throw out one other real quick, stuart.

it's had a huge impact on our kids. every hospital has noted that babies are born with a higher incidence of thc in their system. penn low right now -- pueblo right now, 50% of the babies are born with thc in their systems. that's something people aren't looking at. stuart: that's understandable, and i take your point. dan may, everyone. come back again, because it's an interesting debate. thank you, sir. all right. now, we've been following a story, the growing number of companies giving back to employees after the tax bill went through. listen to what one business owner told us last week. roll tape. >> when we looked into our employees' eyes and made the surprise announcement, some people had tears, there was applause. it showed our company, the flemington car/truck company family of brands, respect their employees. stuart: joining us now is justin hill, lawrence paper company owner and president. you are giving back to your employees. how much and to how many?

>> stuart, thank you for having me on. we're giving $500 to every employee, and they got paid that last friday. and i think they're very happy out here in flyover country unlike pelosi's san francisco, that's not crumbs. [laughter] stuart: okay. now, are you -- you're obviously going to get more money coming into the company because this profits tax cut. so are you giving it all to your employees, or are you going to hold some back and reinvest more in the company? >> we're investing a lot more in the company. we're doing a big expansion of our plant up in fremont, nebraska, doing about $5 million worth of new machinery for about 9 million, and we anticipate that if this economy continues to expand, we're busy right now, it's going to result in higher wages and more income for our employees down the road.

stuart: can you find the talented and qualified employees that you want? >> it's difficult right now. we're basically, from our standpoint, at full employment. we work at it to get more employees. stuart: if you were to just give me a brief impression of the overall state of the economy and where it's going, would you say that we're about to get into an economic boom? >> yes, i would. traditionally, our industry -- which is cur gated -- core gated boxes, tracks gnp, it tracks it. the last few years it's gone up a bit more because of e-commerce and the phenomenon of amazon and all the boxes going directly to homes. so our industry is strong, and we anticipate when some of this money comes back home from overseas, that it's just going

to get stronger. stuart: fascinating stuff. you make boxes and you're on our show, and you're giving bonuses. thank you, sir. much obliged. thanks for being on. >> thank you. stuart: totally different subject. oh, and i mean totally different. look at this. nfl playoffs, the jacksonville jaguars will play the patriots in the title game. new england is 8.5-point favorites, how about that? the so-called miracle in minneapolis, it is the talk of the sports world. the saints had a one-point lead, you're looking at it right now, that touchdown won the game, 29-24. last second play. the vikes play the eagles in the nfc championship. and now, ladies and gentlemen, bear with us, please. [laughter] that is a manchester city soccer player. >> yes. stuart: that was -- he's been involved in another remarkable sporting event. youyou've come to the right plae for coverage. that man plays for manchester city. >> yes.

stuart: up until yesterday, they were unbeaten for the entire season, and then -- >> 33 games, they lose. stuart: oh! what? >> they lose at liverpool in a barnstormer of a game. stuart: well, no, the vikes was a better game. we'll give them that. [laughter] now this. the hawaii false alert. who should be held accountable? the person who pressed the button? the heft, by the way, is blame -- the left, by the way, is blaming president trump. we're going to be joined by a hawaii resident. she woke up to a frantic call. she's going to tell us her story, what was it like that morning. and we've talked about buying real estate, that is, with bitcoin. but block chain technology could eventually reshape the way people buy homes. i want to hear more on that, and we'll given it to you in a minute. big news from the auto show in detroit. the ceos of both ford and fiat chrysler, they're talking tax cuts, and they're talking to us. that story, 90 seconds.

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♪ ♪ stuart: am i on? i am. [laughter] >> reporter: the national auto show. with your fox business brief. or it could be stuart, who knows? that's the new ford ranger behind me, by the way. i can tell you, they're talking tax reform here. sergio marconi telling fox business he has big bonuses for his employees and new investment in the u.s. listen. ♪ ♪ >> tax reform that was done in december went a long, long way in giving a huge jolt of confidence to this country. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: a lot of confidence here at the show.

more "varney" is coming up and more of the auto show. stay tuned all day to fox business. nap) achoo! achoo! (snap) (snap) achoo! achoo! feel a cold coming on? zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45%. shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam.

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real estate industry. i'm not sure how that works, but that's what i'm told by the property man himself, bob massi. come on in, bob. [laughter] you've got to explain this in a way that i can understand, which might be a difficult task, but go at it. >> well, i think we're both baby boomers, so i'm sure my grandchildren know more than i do about how this works. let me explain it this way: the way i understand it, it's this huge database of information, and there is a theory out there now that by having accessibility to this database, stuart, that it can be used on several different levels of a real estate transaction; i.e., finances, title issues on the property, just about any information you want to find out could be made available to the consumer. stuart: it seems to me that the whole concept of block chain and what it is and what it does is beginning to explode. for example, i was watching the nfl game yesterday, and i saw an

ad for ibm, and they've got a block chain project. >> yes. stuart: so it seems like it's exploding into your industry, the real estate industry -- >> oh, yes. stuart: -- and this is the moment when it's exploding, am i right? >> it is. and my -- here's some concerns i have because i think, you know, it's an evolving concept. and as a result of that, we're not sure the good, bad and the ugly of this. but one of my initial concerns is i'm not sure if it's going to eliminate, stuart, the professionals from advising people of the information they find out; i.e., real estate agents, brokers that are competent, lawyers, financial people that are involved in assisting people on purchase of residential or commercial property. i'm not sure what role they will play if this information becomes available. and as a result, i'm concerned about litigation issues, i'm concerned about anybody that's going to break into some of this information. they say that it's, you know, that it's very secure, but we've

seen how that works out sometimes. so i think it's an evolving area that we have to be very careful of. stuart: it sure is. it's an evolving area, that's for sure. bob, you're also fox news legal analyst, so here's a question: can anybody sue or be sued over that false alert in hawaii over the weekend? >> well, obviously, there's standing for people to sue for emotional disdress issues. -- distress issues. there's a hot of complicated legal areas. the sovereignty is always protected, the government protects itself from being sued. and i think what's going to happen here is you're going to see -- we know there was negligence on a part of this person that caused this problem. you're going to have of to see what's the measure of damage. for example, my son's in-laws had just landed in maui, and i just texted them, and they sent me this e-mail saying, well, we're in lockdown, we've been told it's a missile coming, not a test. needless to say, it wasn't a

comfortable feeling. they're stuck on an airplane. the question's going to be how to quantify that, and are there protections from the government so there are caps or they can't be sued depending on the circumstances. stuart: what a mess. by the way, don't miss the property man with bob massi fridays on the fox business network. bob massi, thank you very much, indeed. here's what's next, you will hear a firsthand account from an hawaii resident. is that right? a resident of hawaii. >> that's better. stuart:okay. she'll share what it was like to wake up to panic. stay right there, we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

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stuart: there were 38 minutes of panic r that false missile alert, 38 minutes in hawaii where they didn't know that it was a false alert. 38 minutes before it was rescinded. joining us now with a firsthand account of what happened, virginia francis. virginia, i know that you didn't see the alert on your phone, but i think you were woken up by the chaos around you. take me through it, please.

>> well, yeah. i didn't receive the alert on my phone. i was woken up by a friend who had called me, and the first thing he said was there was an incoming missile. i was kind of in disbelief, of course, so i i asked him are you sure, and, you know, he said it's not a joke. and then i looked on my phone, and i was seeing all over that everybody was posting about it. stuart: and then what did you do? >> i, i went to the windows to try and listen for the sirens, and i didn't hear any sirens, so i didn't know what was going on. stuart: what did you see? >> but i -- i saw cars were driving pretty fast. it seemed like people were

getting kind of frantic. there was people walking on street. some people, i'm not sure if they knew, and i was wondering about, you know, the people that hadn't been alerted. i was kind of worried for them. i started to close all of my windows. i didn't really know what else to do other than just try to listen and, you know? so i closed all of my windows, and i got my son -- stuart: looking back on it, how do you feel? >> um, i'm still a little uneasy about it. that was -- stuart: well, we'll let you settle down, okay? [laughter] i think you're still a little upset about what happened, and i do understand that, for sure. virginia, thank you very much for being with us. i'm sure it was a traumatizing experience, and thanks for being with us.

we appreciate that. thank you very much. okay, as you know, it is, indeed, martin luther king's day today. we're honoring the man, and the markets are closed. but futures are actively traded, and we're going to go up. the market reopens tomorrow. hope you can be with us, because we're going up. more "varney" after this. ♪ ♪ copd makes it hard to breathe. so to breathe better, i go with anoro. ♪go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way" with anoro. ♪go your own way once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. anoro is not for asthma . it contains a type of medicine . . . p . should not be used more thn

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think about all the double miles you could be earning. (yelling) holy moly, that's a lot of miles! shh-h-h-h! ( ♪ ) shh! what's in your wallet? man: shh-h-h! stuart: yes, we are. a let going on. >> poor virginia, i think she was still in shock as we were speaking to us. when we open tomorrow, 25,941, up 140 points. 26,000 by wednesday? stuart: looks on the card, doesn't it. we're 197 points away from

26,000 on the dow. futures suggest a gain of 140, 150 points. you have got to tune us in tomorrow morning 9:00. the market opens at 9:30. my time's up. neil, it's yours. neil: that is why the markets aren't moving? stuart: they're closed. neil: now i know. stuart: we're moving. neil: thank you, my friend, very, very much. we are looking at a tow not budging. it is so weird. i connected the dots. closed for martin luther king day. we thought as a financial network though your money is at stake. there is a lot going on now with a deadline disappearing fast. we are talking about friday. they have got to come up with some sort of a budget deal. there is no sense of