with legs in the the air like -- belly rub. she wants belly rub doesn't everybody? that's sweet. have a great weekend everybody. great show everybody. >> michael black dagen always a pleasure. always. a great weeks us with you. yes maria sunday and futures have a great day everybody. stuart take it away. >> it does good morning maria good morning everyone. here we go again, with a headline driven stock market up one moment down the next. these days it is not unusual for dow to go through what, 5, 6 or even 700 point swing had a single day. here's how we start this friday morning. down triple digit for the dow. red are ink for nasdaq and s&p as well investors don't like this volatility they pulled a record 46 billion dollars out of stock mutual pungdz etf last month what's the problem today in answer chinese economy reare tail slows at the slowest pace

in 15 years this will not help the global economy which is already in trouble that is a problem on wall street. and what do you think of this? congress is taken off on vacation -- they're out until next wednesday. that means they have or very little time leftover to come up with the $5 billion the president demands to build the border wall. if he doesn't get it he says shut the government down. that shutdown now looks very likely but i don't think wall street really cares about about that at all. one last one, and i'm absolutely determined to get something positive at the top of the show here we go gas yes. down again, for the 65th day in a row. 2.39 is your average state with the cheapest gas still missouri. the average price there is or $1.97 a gallon. "varney & company" is about to begin.

china economy is in trouble if it is it is because of me because i placed billions and billions we've taken in 11 billion dollars worth of taxes that i tax ad china 11 billion dollars we never made any money with china we lost money with china in the last four months we've taken in almost 11 billion dollars of taxes. nobody has ever heard of that nobody knows that. people don't report on that but -- >> comes out with it doesn't he? president says if china is in trouble it is because of me. well market is lower this morning because china is in trouble. now let's bring in fox news contradict are tore bill he's "the wall street journal" editorial type guy. so -- is -- it did president trump do that to china? >> well i think he's done a lot to china and this look china is more trade are dependent than we are with on -- and they're at a lower level i think still they're rising. so i think china is in a lot of trouble because of president trump that's scares some of pus -- too china cheats in all sorts of

things but question is, can you punish china without hurting yourself in the process? smtion well i think the answer to that question is -- they're hurting more than we are. but that's a bad dynamic that's war of the roses from 1 point michael douglas says i have more square footage than she does. i don't remember that. but however, that does give us leverage doesn't it? it depends where we come out and ting trump is guy who settles for a reasonable deal rather than hold out for everything. if he come out ahead he's got a very hardline right. you get a deal in 90 days or i'm sticking up the jacking up the tax. that's a hardline. >> the deal they've agreed to drop was it tariff on -- cars which is big deal and i think that they will do a few things because look everyone -- most people want a deal very few don't apt deal so they'll a

little around edges. i think it is reagan strategy when he was president he always said he got it from being a union with leader yet 70%, 50% plus of what you want and come back later for something. but solidify what you've got don't hold out for pewest position make some deal that -- just better than it was yesterday. >> okay the president's other hardline son the border wall. he's telling congress he says look, you give me five billion, or i'll shut this government down. i say, shut it down. [laughter] that's kind of what i said back when newt gingrich didn't work with as well. the problem is when you shut down you don't know where it is going to go. he's put it all on his head pl i thought that the meaning in the oval office was designed to show this is pelosi and mr. schumer as opposing border security. right i think he did a pretty effective job on that. >> democrats went into that meeting nancy pelosi especially determined to get prump to say i'm going to shut it down. and that's what they got.

but in winning that statement, i think they lost. >> look he's never going to give up the border wall it was the signature issue of his campaign. so he's either going to get it or he's going to campaign that i tried everything and the democrats won't give to me. i think there's a reasonable deal here. he could give them daka agreement that he offered that's what they want. this should be a moment to make deal something that democrats want and it any deal would be better than what we've had our big problem is that legislature is flopped. this is their issue, and they've not been tiebl come to any agreement at all. >> i don't wall street cares ab government shutdown. >> well you know better than i do by any answer to that i would get rich. >> cool to duck -- hey bill thanks so much for the story we'll see you soon. thank you. i have a big number for you. an important number, a record 46 billion dollars was pulled from

state side stock pungdz just last week, and ets by the way. who's with me right now brian chief investment strategist with new serene that's a very big number 46 billion is biggest withdrawal in a weekly period ever. what's that tell you? >> in the same period we saw survey net bearish survey turn bearish and consistent with the action we're seeing -- >> where are you? >> 2019 outlook expecting tougher climb for global growth but also not as difficult a time for investors so a lot of time when is you're seeing investors pull money out that tengdz it be a reverse indicator of how market dos over next 6 to 12 months when everybody is getting scared maybe time to get more greedy we think there's uncertainty about trade brexit what the fed is going to do in march but we think next year will be a constructives investment year for our clients than 2018 was. >> what do you make of this news on the economy this morning -- retail sales figures -- if you strip out the sale of

gasoline and autos and you look only at stuff that people are buy for holidays that's a very strong growth rate up .9% that's strong. j control group number feeds into gross domestic product so thing about what gdp is shaping up like so very good on consumer front as you like to point out low gas prices tend to be good for the consumers. so between high savings rates, higher income low gas prices, we're seeing higher retail sales. >> suzanne is laughing. you like to point out gasoline price you don't drive maybe on the weekend you have a chauffeur he pays for gas price what do you care? [laughter] stuart: because the show has a friday feel to it. you know what i mean? thank you for that susan. i was going call you -- no brian. we do appreciate it. and in 2019 yes we think so.

we'll take it. in other words there's other news president trump's former attorney michael cohen telling good morning america today, that president knew about those hush money payouts. roll tape. >> he directed e me as i said in my -- i said as well in the plea, he directed me to make the pams he directed me to become involved in these matters. at what point in time did this -- matter came about about two weeks or so before the election so yes he was very concerned about how this would affect the election. >> well the market does not appear to care much about mr. cohen's comment there. the future is now indicator loss of about 180 points. as is news was breaking that he said this, they were down over 200 points so i don't think there's any impact from a political scandal is hitting wall street today. i do have a question, though, does the average voter care about what mr. cohen had to say.

we'll be asking that question throughout the program. i've got a couple of individual stocks that are moving today. more money coming over about adobe that's photoshop people a profit fell short and that stock is taking it down 2 and a half percent. how about costco? one of my favorite stories actually. down to goes what was the story there? they've got lower sales -- lower sales growth not as great what was it again? j same store sales. sales are not as great as expected so down 3.5% that is costco. >> i they the that word expectations. use it more often then. [laughter] stuart: that friday show. friday -- let's get to france serious stuff. police have killed the christmas market terror suspect tell me more about that one. >> a massive man hunt in strasberg that injured three and a shootout between shooter was now been identified as cherif a 29-year-old strasbourg man

tragically dying in the shootout was a suspect police have been searching for since tuesday night. now he's a long rap sheet on a watch list a potential extremist. so i guess this goes back to government and police as to why he was not identified -- prior to tuesday night shooting. >> did you notice there people applauding they were applauding police at the scene they shot the guy so people were applauding. dengt see that very often. >> brave in pranging the suspect. >> got it. all right the market we still down 1830 points and open up 20 minutes starbucks rolling out delivery service across this country. they're partnering with über eats starting early next year you get your coffee delivered to your home or office from 2,000 starbucks, premarket starbucks is down 3.5%. more on the news from apple about them spending billion to open a new data center in texas. question, what kind of economic benefits can austin expect from

this. we're going spell out the benefits for you. and the latest on the arrest a of the huawei executive in canada chinese state media urging canada to ignore america's request to detain her. full details on that one coming up for you. y. i think there are some ways to help keep you on track. and closer to home. edward jones grew to a trillion dollars in assets under care, by thinking about your goals as much as you do.

♪ tesla is cutting the price of its model s and model x in china. this at the beijing suspended additional tariffs on american made cars. tesla lowering prices. the stock is at 374. chinese state media urges canada to defy america and free huawei executive you have to tell me more please. >> as you see on your screen there huawei cfo daughter of a founder released on bail awaiting trial for extradition to u.s. in the meantime chinese state media in china foreign ministry itself has been pleading with canada to basically tell them just to let her go at this point.

and they have arrested two canadians detained they say it is separate from this case although it has a lot of people thinking the a little too convenient at this point. but the global times which has one of the tabloids in china has called canada 51st state that's what you're acting like in this -- in the case. sharp edge coming. i think people have heard that before. but huawei people thought it would intrude some of the u.s. chienl trade talks with positive developments over last few days. >> okay let's get more on this thank you susan and get reaction to a weakening chinese economy. it does raise concerns about global growth but i want to know what it does to the trade talks. come on in, danielle clifton is with with research partners, okay so they're weakening very clearly they are weakening retail sales at the slowest pace in gain in 15 years. they're weakening. does that push them towards a

deal on trade with us? >> well that's right good morning thank you for having me on. you know, the trade talks between u.s. and china have been going much better than consensus expects and i think there's a lot of skepticism still amongst investors if in opponents of the president that there is progress being made now stuart you were hitting it right on the nail right on the head is that the chinese economy weakening before the the president begun to up the ante on this trade policy. and that is not only showing up on consumer side it is also showing up on industrial production side. and so as we started to see the chinese meet with the president at the beginning of this month and continue to make movements towards progress, in reaching some sort of deal whether that's 90 day or 120 day, that progress is being reached because they need to list a cloud of uncertainty i think it is very bullish, though, chinese slowing economy is very bullish for potential u.s. china trade deal sometime in the first half of 2019. >> that is interesting you think that there will be a deal they'll fudge language and get

everything they want but both sides will save face. you think that's the likely outcome? >> maybe even more substantive than that. the president has been arguing that china's tariffs are 10%. the u.s. 3 and a half percent. you cannot be one of the world largest economy and have a 10% tariff. even like to see that more in line with the developed nations status in terms of their tariff rate in terms of nontariff barriers ideas they are stealing intellectual property through forced transfers you're starting to see china make progress in that area. like you said it won't be everything the president wants and they are espionage issues but we've been able to separate issues at least for time being and then finally there's a lot going behind scenes on artificial intelligence. and other issues that we're probably having been to yet so i don't think it is going to be a grand slam. but for the first time you're seeing meaningful reforms coming

out of china a long time between now and say march or april and may when this deal will happen and a lot of issues develop between now and then but i think progress is being made because both side have insen toif it get a deal done given state of the chinese economy. >> that was a clean cut opinion and that's what we like tan clifton you may return. seriously dan thank you very much indeed. good to see you this morning. all right check futures not much moving to last few minutes but now we're going to be down about 1909. roughly on the dow industrials down about 60 that's roughly 1% on nasdaq. now, we've got two big brother stores for you. number one, facebook developing technology to predict where you're going before you get there. i don't know how they do it but that's the story from facebook. number two, amazon working on using facial recognition soflt square to create a database of suspicious individuals. i don't like sound of that. kurt the cyberguy that has the

details after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ what if we could turn trash into money? plastic bank is doing just that, by exchanging plastic for digital credits redeemable for everything from food to education... powered by ibm blockchain. when you understand the potential of new technology, you can put smart to work.

two big brother for you hate them both by the way amazon, let's hear with who we've got to address this kurt he's the cyberguy. joins us frequently on a friday morning and he's here now aren't

you? >> first of all amazon creating facial recognition technology to look at suspicious bad guys. i don't like sound of that kurt testimony >> you remember royal wedding recently they didn't get guest list out but they have the same technology from amazon that would identify the selects that were walking in doors to instantly report them on news. well this same technology is being available you know made available globally and now, actually gene guy is jam you see in commercials behind the ring doorbell. that now so many americans have, and earlier in the year, he -- he made the company bigger by launching an app called neighbors. so if you and i have video doorbell and somebody say steals package off your front porch you can say watch out everybody i just lost this package and here's a half of the guy's face at my camera caught. well, i might live down the

block and say same guy came to my door and then takes image of my -- his left face and your right face of this guy, and then suddenly composite and identify the person. then he gets listed as a suspicious person. >> i can see the point and i can see the use of it and i can see value of it. but you expand that out to -- they know everybody, everybody and then label everybody. and what happens if your twin is a gad guy? and you're the good guy no seriously what if they get it wrong and now you're labeled in life by technology as a bad guy? >> i have to get to the facebook story this is where they can tell where you are going before you get there. they are predicting where we're going next, and this comes down to again, creepy data monitoring to such a degree that -- you have to look at it and say what in the world would be be

doing this for and convenience it can offer if we know where you're going then we might know before you get there how long it is going to take to tell you. we could notify your friends that you're about to arrive. we could also sell something to you along the way. or we might be tiebl offer traffic da to you or other modes of transportation to you. that's -- that's the good part of it. the bad part of it is, this is just again, one of those moments in life where we go, are they really watching me that much? yes. they are. do i have any control over it? no you don't anymore. and how do we get control? we need to. i don't know the answer. but it starts up in washington. >> it is just big brother and i don't like and i don't know how on steroids how you do thistology. take away europe is doing i think that is the best lead for us. kurt thank you very much indeed hope to see you again soon thank you, sir, check futures we have to be down about 180 point that

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>> it is friday morning markets about to open shall we all brought a sigh of relief a remarkable week a remarkable month and a lot of people don't like it because of the

volatility how do you know when to invest when it is going up and down like this? the traders run the show the computers run the show not you and i. well you can hear opening bell clanging away there. trading will begin in precisely three seconds boom up we go up running it is a friday morning please remember the dow was down yesterday -- and close a little higher actually yesterday now where we open -- down 247 points. and it is a sea of red left hand side of the screen for regular listeners it is indeed a sea of red i've got 29 of the the dow 30 on the downside. what's the winner up on left there? proct and gamble only stock in green among the dow 30. and we're now down -- just over 1% 260 points. show me the s&p 500 please that also is down. a little less down about .95%. show me the nasdaq here's where we find out whether the selloff is concentrated in the

technology stocks and it is. down 1.25% on nasdaq composite. john leifield here and suzanne lee all right david first to you the market seems to be reacting to this -- slowdown and the economy of china. is that the story? >> this is a story because we're in a vacuum earning season is over. we're wait for news from fed next week and waiting to hear from congress as potential shutdown but volatile but i don't think people should be focusing on what's going on in china focus on what retail consumers story. >> okay so yesterday 260 point swing on dow that's the least volatile session according to charles brady that we've seen in close to three weeks volatility is a reality. especially so late in the cycle right we've expanded close to 10 years. but yeah, i mean that's a big concerning red flag out of china when they're trying to move to consumer led economy and missing in november as well. it makes you rethink that 6%

growth bigger definitely. >> i have to wonder if computer read hl and sell, slowing china, sell i wound per that whatted because now we're down 275 could be the case. by the way, 46 billion dollars came out of stock mutual funds and etf just last week 46 billion dollars. john come into the discussion please. what does that mean to you? people are scared volatile city is massive right now people are scared to go along into the weekend because this brexit is an absolute disaster that eu could be on potential breaking up. i think market is hoping there's another referendum but no guarantee of anything and we have second biggest economy in world slow. market is not moving, though, on the economic fundamentals of what markets move. they're moving on what playings are doing whether it is trade war is going whether this government shutdown could happen and where brexit could go.

> headlines thrive this they think and politicians are making headlines. >> headline for you 18 month higher for dollar index strong dollar means money comes out of emerging market to rotate it to where you find value. >> okay. got it one last one here. the 46 billion dollars. out of mutual funds last week that doesn't mean much to you does it? >> put into context a 20 trillion global market and 46 billion is not much and also remember, who is taking money out unfortunately it is small retail investors and historically when they're exit that's a good time to be buying. when they're buying that's a good time to step back from the table. >> all right i got to show you it shall tell you and show you actually what president trump said about general motors he's really going after him. gm listen to this. >> i don't like what you did. ting it was nasty. ohio is going to replace those jobs like in two minutes but i don't like the general motors u.s. mca i made make it is very

uncomfortable for people to go out the country and she's making a big mistake going into this model that she's doing i think is a mistake. to tell me a couple of weeks bever christmas that she's going to close in ohio and michigan not acceptable for general motors not treated well. >> a attack on general many tores from president of the united states now john you are a general motoring to holder are you going to sell after hearing that? >> no i think general motor stock is punished baa of this unreasonably i could not disagree more with the president of the united states interfering into a private business. one of the reason it is that the gm had to have a bailout was because they weren't profitable and ran a business poorly they're starting to run it profitly and now politicians upset about their business decisions and it may have been before christmas but a business decision before gel and it is a pretty good buy. >> let's have a look at starbucks stock because they are going nationwide with coffee delivery. the market doesn't seem to like it very much.

they're down 4%. now, well -- >> keeping up with über eats frankly they've seen falling traffic at their domestic u.s. stores in the last few quarters and a also say last few years overstored 8,000 across the country, and you know they're trying to do different things at this point but i would say that it is a brand that -- probably is stagnating at this point. >> david dietz thinks it is a good thing because consumers command coffee delivery really? >> absolutely. they want the tap on the app and have goodies delivered so you only -- >> forget to pay for it. but they're willing to pay for pizza and other type of foods coming to or door. people want convenience today. so only thing worse is is this starbucks did not respond to that demand. >> it is you millennials doing that. >> but do they keep it warm that's going to be -- >> good point i like my coffee hot. dominoes can keep the pizza warm if they can do it so can starbucks. >> now i'm moving down 260 points on dow industrials 24,300

that's the level take a look at google please. that stock has been actually up this week. it is down 15 bucks day all stories about big brother hasn't really hurt google stocks. not that much although it is down 20% from the high i think. facebook same story, playing a big brother all of the time. they've been up this week but they're down today 1.3%. how about tesla cutting the price of the model s and x in china because beijing suspended additional tariffs on u.s. made cars stock is reacting with a three dollar decline 273 upon tesla. teflon -- more money coming over to a.i.g. done bee they are the photoshop people a profit fell short and adobe is down 5% weaker sales at costco i suspect that stock is down yes it is 5.28%. general electric, they've got a pop when the analysts who said it was going to go down to 6 it

hit 6 and analyst said yeah it is up from here. and it has been up from here. 7 dollars share now -- we have a 3ge believer on the show this morning his name is david dietz sitting right here so -- you buying is it? >> i appreciate it when biggest fair on street endorses my position but what was far more important to me was -- the news we've gotten out of ge last 48 hours it wasn't talk about our earnings per share three years out it was concrete steps to focus the business. they're selling some asset at silver lake to close shortly in new year and dropping down technology initiatives to a separate company potentially spunoff all good news they were walking the walk and just not talking that. >> but they're half of the price from eight months ago. i mean, ge going to be around in three years? >> absolutely. at a price of sale basis best deal in town. >> john are you buying ge is that your kind of stock at this kind of price? >> it's not my kind of stock i

own a small sliver of ge unfortunately high per price so susan is talking about it a absolute disaster i'm not sure why are anybody would want to buy it i agree with david there's a value and best wind energy business and a great -- a great aircraft manufacturing business. so there are a lot of positives there. it's just a zero, though. >> how cheap is it eight times earnings that is cheap if i was to look at something that's a big name -- >> a trade kind of guy i might buy ge for my ira or 401(k) and sell it if it gets to eight and reasonable prospect to get to eight and i wouldn't pay tax within my 401(k) what's wrong with that as a trade are aing vehicle make some money. >> with time -- [inaudible conversations] wait, wait, wait -- you think i'll live longer to see it get to eight suzanne?

>> that's a question -- [laughter] sorry. moving swiftly along here before i die on camera. [laughter] take a look at the price of oil at a 52 dollars a barrel and down to national average 239, 65 days in a row gas has gone down. come on in john, you say cheap gas is a buy signal for wal-mart. i read your stuff why wal-mart? >> i think it is huge look we have lower income and middle income spending up significantly in the past retail sales and i think the reason is that we have almost full unemployment in the united states. i think people like wal-mart will benefit from this this christmas season is going to be the best christmas season that we've had in our history now what happens next is up for debate but i think we have a great really tail christmas season. >> do you agree with that? >> cut in gasoline prices like another tax cuts so two -- retail consumers have had two tax cuts this year and it is reflected in numbers. >> i like those retail sales figures this morning. very strong performance as we

head right into the key holiday season. that's suggest a very strong fourth quarter and holiday selling period. >> that depends how much is priced in to the shares. because they've had a huge runup this year a lot of retailers. >> okay susan. >> it is a reality. [laughter] merry christmas to one and all. it is 9:40 you know what that means good-bye to david and john but thanks very much gentlemen good stuff indeed susan -- okay check that -- [laughter] you make it sound like it is a appointment. it is not. you're all right kid dow industrials is down 250 pointses that just over 1%. another reporter on tesla. it says e.g. lon musk was so prone to firing people going on firing sprees and employees were warned don't walk by his desk. don't even do that. because you might get fired. got more on that one too. more trouble for hillary clinton donations are way down at the

clinton foundation since she lost the election and the top lawyer and judicial watch says, there's enough evidence to warrant a serious investigation into pay to play. yes, we're on it. see that's funny, i thought you traded options. i'm not really a wall street guy. what's the hesitation? eh, it just feels too complicated, you know? well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. jj, will you break it down for this gentleman? hey, ian. you know, at td ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step until you're comfortable. i could be up for that. that's taking options trading from wall st. to main st. hey guys, wanna play some pool? eh, i'm not really a pool guy. what's the hesitation? it's just complicated. step-by-step options trading support from td ameritrade

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(tonand all thro' the house. 'twas the night before christma, not a creature was stirring, but everywhere else... there are performers, dancers, designers the dads and the drivers. there are doers of good and bringers of glee. this time of the year is so much more than a bow and a tree. (morgan vo) those who give their best, deserve the best. get up to a $1,000 credit on select models now during the season of audi sales event. still down just over 220 points as we get into this session to the tune of 13 minute. the dow at 24,300. better take a look at johnson & johnson. reportedly they knew for decades there was asbestos in baby powder facing thousands of lawsuits. j&j is biggest drag on dow it is down a strong 3.3%.

how about tesla an article in wired magazine talking about elon musk's firings sprees. the moral is don't walk past his desk because you might be out is it as bad as that? >> it is a strong article a from wire. they talk about his rage firings apparently elon musk you don't want to walk by his desk even if he's in a good or bad mood apparently so in a statement tesla is disputing quire version of events calling overly dramatic sensationalized but been calling people idiots, especially if you make a mistake in a conversation or maybe you've rub ared him wrong way he's going to call you that or fire you that's the gist of it. >> do they have an hr department? >> head left recently there's a lot of senior executive departures at that. but you know what, the stock has been rallied because of the model three, and ramp up to

5,000 so even exceeding that now at this point. >> teflon if you can produce model three you're teflon 376. i would say he has a lot of anger apparently according to wire. he does. get become to the holiday selling season, i want to bring in burt with strategic reare source group right right in the middle of the holiday season. i want you to tell me the number one brick-and-mortar store. >> offprice, burlington offprice i'm not sure i know. >> burlington coat factory and now just burlington and they're killing it in offprice. >> they depend on very, very is low price as i recall. >> very low prices in the max and multiflyer going from regional to national when you get that in retail good place to be especially as you said low price leader cold leader. >> burlington stores that's brick-and-mortar let's move on to -- online selling. what's the number one the big winner online seller this

season? >> amazon clearly will be for a decade in janice of the two of brick-and-mortar and online is maceys with macy's.com. >> but the growth rate is important for amazon that's what the stock depends on. they've got a show growth rate in online sales this christmas. better than last year. >> better than last year, and amazon's growth rate every year to year -- important points stuart is as big or bigger than combined sales of all of macy's and macy's largest department store chain in the world. >> you've got a call on -- amazon to go to 2,250. goldman sachs 2150 but eclipses 2,000. >> it is coming year. okay. talk to me about starbucks they're introducing a nationwide coffee delivery service. seems to me that delivery is the nail of the game in retailing. all kind of retailing. that's it, isn't it? >> delivery is nail of the game they've raise ared prices with

impunity so not buying as many in stores so they have to deliver to your point to catch up to great growth rate are of dunkin' donuts in a number of others to catch up. i don't know about you burt but i can't magicalling up and asking for deliver riff a cup of coffee. ive got to get über eats to bring it to me to pay for über eats an pay for coffee and i'm not sure it is hot when i get it. >> you can go to lennys and great great hot coffee quickly but not from starbucks. >> do you think it will work? >> no. for exactly the reason you said, you don't want to pay or for hot coffee and get it lukewarm to cold and pay more than any place else. >> why are they doing it? >> because they're december frat for same store sales greet and he's gone on to turn around other companies. howard shulgt took e over company but didn't found it and he's run out of other people's yods to grow. >> is this all about millennials like my colleague --

>> it is a call for coffee to use an app to order it first of all that's how it works. >> you're right. but i would say at this point it might be too little too late falling same store sales couple of years now. overstoreed and in america -- it is a tough turnaround especially with howard shuttle focusing on say 2020 instead. susan is complete like a baby driver fastst car driver they've ever seen goes to store to pick it up himself he doesn't deliver it or get it delivered. [laughter] >> i will never ever call for coffee. hey burt you're all right. appreciate it. >> check that market we come back a built. we were down 250 just a couple of minutes ago. now we're down 177. but it is still a lot of red on the left-hand side of the screen. back 2009 apple opened a data center in north carolina. you know that well they did. since then, hundreds of jobs have been created, apple invested billions in the community and taxes actually

went down. is that what austin, texas has to look forward to? when they get an apple data center? more varney after this.

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we're down 20022 minutes into the session. down, 208.

apple investing big in texas you know that, that is a billion into data center? austin, texas what happens to a local community and economy, when apple comes to town? come on in randy eisenhower from county, north carolina. welcome to the show randy because you've got an apple data center in 2009. you spell it out for us what do they do for you? >> that's great thank you for having me on the show and we always like to take opportunity to talk about the good things in north carolina. we have with had a good relationship with apple since 2009. they've created 400 jobs they've 2.8 billion dollars invested in the county with the commitment for another billion dollars to expanding as they are now expand their data center and this is really one of the largest data centerses in the nation. >> what did actually lower taxes in the county because they were paying a lot. and that lowered it for everybody else is that accurate? >> that's true. they're in the town of maiden

i'm sure citizens in maiden are enjoying a lower property tax rate because of that they have a new town hall and i think fire station. and apple really we net about one cent on our tax rate that -- from the investment it a l put in the county. >> what did you have to do to get them to move to the county? >> well i think we didn't have to do much a great place to live and work. >> you know what i'm getting at tax breaks was it a road to the facility? what did you do? >> right there are some incentive like i said we net 1.5 million of the incentive about on our tax rate also city and there was a collaborative effort with town and hickory also ran are a water line out there to them. >> now what do you think will happen in austin texas when they move in over there? j well, apple has been a great corporate partner for us i'm sure the citizens of austin, texas will also benefit from them. i know they have a presence

there initially but i think as thes will see a great partnership with a l as we've seen. >> i'm not sure whether you can are answer this question but you can't come on the show say there's a sheer murder i don't to touch with a ten foot pole you can't say that but can you give e me a honest answer? [laughter] we have had a great partnership and building inspector i have a small town law practice in the town of newton eight miles away i've never heard one bad thing with citizens regard to this good corporate citizen we enjoy our relationship with. >> thank you very much for coming on show today we want to show austin texas what they're in for and it is pretty good. randy thanks very much, sir. >> thank you also hope for business we have nc data campus available for any data centerses that wish to come to the county run for business.

>> randy thanks so much for joining us sir. we'll see you again soon. talk about gee wiz i can't believe this. a cruise ship with a roller coaster. look i get seasick anyway what's going on? >> not going on the new mardi gras carnival ship expected tore delivered in 2020 in just a few years called bolt ultimate seacoaster 800 feet long and reach speeds of 40 miles per hour. and i would say with a rate are for cruise lines, used to cover cruise lines for a few years only 17%. 17 to 20% of the population has been on a cruise. once you've been on one return rate is 70%. >> i've been on one. since you return ared -- i guess that's a no that's not the part of 70%. but trapped and where a lot of people know me and i don't know anybody else i'm not sure i want that. hardline trump is full effect and not on border wall and with china on trade, that's how he

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stuart: hard-line trump on full display. number un, fund the wall or government shuts down. that is hard-line. china, make a trade deal in 90 days or face huge tariffs that will already hurt your already hurting economy. this is how this president negotiates. tell them what you're going to do if you don't get what you want. we're not really used to this. the rest of the world is not really used to it. previous presidents may have taken a tough line, not so publicly and actually not so tough but will the trump style work? we simply don't know but the hard-line has clearly had impact. the president came right out with it in his interview with fox news channel harris

faulkner. china's economy is in trouble because of me, he said. and china is indeed in trouble. today they're reporting a sharp slowdown for their economy. and they have lowered the tariffs they charged on our cars going over there. we don't know whether his threat to shut the government will actually produce $5 billion for the wall it has certainly put his opponents in a bind. how would they stop the illegal flow? the trump hard-line will force an answer. the president understands where america is coming from. he knows the country wants solution to the endless border problem. knows the country is fed up with china. remember, it is "the art of the deal." he may get a little less than he wants. the language of the deal may be fudged. what is a wall, what is really border security. but the hard-line, is the only line in my opinion that will get us anywhere. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin.

♪ stuart: the markets have been fairly consistent this morning. a loss between 180 and 210. right now we're in the middle of the loss, down 192 at 24,400. look at the big techs please, alphabet and facebook rallied this week but not today. facebook is down over 1%. google down about 1% as well. look at starbucks, partnering with uber eats to deliver coffee. starbucks down 2% as we speak. by the way this delivery system starts next year. check tesla, wedbush, an investment analyst firm, says buy it because they have got a target price of $440 on tesla. right now it is 375. susan: wow. stuart: tesla is cutting the price of the model s and model x

in china because china is cutting tariffs that they impose on american-made cars. want to get back to my editorial at the top of the hour. trump taking a hard-line on the border and a hard-line on china. tammy bruce with us, independent women's voice president, fox news contributor. i say it is a hard-line. i say it is the only line that will work and do you agree with me? >> i do. not that you're not a man always with opinions but let's make it very clear. i view the president as chemotherapy. very aggressive framework needed to deal with a very particular thing but in the long run, to make the body healthy and strong again. so it can be a shock. it has to be a shock. it has to be a hard line, as you say. he cannot withdraw. and this is why we also know of course the difference for him is, he is not worrying about what his next job will be. he is not doing this for himself. he is not doing this because of the long-range people he has to pay back in a political party. he is doing it for the american people.

and he is also learned in the last two years unlike in business, politicians don't necessarily have everyone's best interests in mind, and really getting the job done. it must be a harder line than maybe he expected but that he will be able to deliver. stuart: but it will be a hard-line in public but i suspect the hard-line will not carry through, for example, any agreement with china. we're not going to get them to say we'll never ever take your technology ever again and we will never ever, steal your software and intellectual property. that is not going to happen. there will be a fudge. >> they will cheat. they will say certain things. they will make certain steps to do better but where this strength comes in is when china is in deep trouble. that eventually will occur. so we will then even have more leverage, when people as the world is learning the president means business, he does what he says. he is not kidding. we are stronger than they are, and they will need us. this is the beginning of establishment of the relationship what they will really eventually have to do,

but we've got to shock them out of what they are doing in the past, both politicians here, tyrants around the world and socialist governments gotten very fat and cozy. now they're realizing daddy is home. stuart: you threw me with the last line. >> yes. stuart: hard-line trump, hard-line tammy bruce. >> there you go. hard-line americans. we want the future back. stuart: susan giving you a look. susan: i like that last line. hard-line. stuart: tammy, we have something later on. >> yes, sir. stuart: i want to get back to your money in a moment. we'll show you stocks on the screen, mcdonald's, coca-cola, walmart, p&g. got it. all the stocks weathered a recent selling storm, so says our next guest, david bahnsen, cio of the bahnsen group? what do they have in common? if you're right, they weathered the storm so to speak, what is the commonality between them?

>> commonalty between them is dividend growth. is the fact that they have a non-cyclical flow of earnings that enables them to continue growing free cash flow, continue a stable and dependable, something investors can invest on in terms of the consistency of the return. so they're not high growth names. they will not be the biggest returners in every period of time, but you know, you're looking at proctor & gamble, up 16% over the last thee months. mcdonald's about the same. johnson & johnson which is a full 30% of consumer staples and their revenue is up 6, 7%. coca-cola up eight. these are names we own. all names that are significant positions for us that weathered the storm very well. stuart: johnson & johnson reportedly knew that there was a little bit of asbestos in their talcum powder. they knew for decades. that stock is way down today. did you see that coming because you own it? >> yeah.

did i see that coming, that's funny. the headline risk around these different litigation things of johnson & johnson has been going on since 1935 and i believe there will be various issues that pop up on that name but my point being, that the cash flows, the balance sheet of all these companies too, stuart, that is another thing we have to look too, they're not overly indebted so they are not as susceptible to reversals in good fortunes, when they come across a cyclical problem or challenge, they have the ability and the financial strength to weather through it. i like all the names. i don't think you can say it about every name in the sector. stuart: that's true. >> look at kellogg, kraft heinz down almost 20% in the last three months. it isn't just the entire sector happens to be a flight to safety. we hear people say that a lot. it is actually a bottom-up,

really strong company, performance-driven dynamic. stuart: what are you buying right now? as i understand it you are buying blackstone, bx is the symbol. as you know, david, as our viewers know i bought it on your recommendation because it pays six, maybe 7% dividend, but the thing has gone down since i bought it. explain yourself? >> well, first of all, if i recall where you bought it it went straight up, then came down and went down and then wint up and then came down. it has been a roller-coaster of price ownership. i think that will continue for some time. it doesn't get a lot more cyclical with capital markets than blackstone, but what is not sick is call, stuart, why i told you to buy it is the dividend, return of cash to share hold, which at this price the yield is actually about 8%. stuart: yep, that's right. >> it's a direct flow that is coming through to investors, quarter after quarter. right now, the stock is at the same place it was 10 years ago

except for the company has grown 500%, because they return so much cash to shareholders along the way. i can make an argument i can make the stock is deeply undervalued. it is the same argument steve schwarzman, the ceo, would make. my point high leverage of blackstone to global capital markets. they are asset managers. you don't have the risk of their balance sheet. they're not investing with their own capital. blackstone is getting fees to manage assets, and they're unbelievably good at it. stuart: okay. >> so you get the fee revenue which is highly consistent, comes through to you and i through their dividend but it also has what they call realizations or carry interest, when they make profits we're petting a piece of that that is the kind of growth cat lift. that is my argument. stuart: i'm reassured. i'll not selling. i will milk the dividend. >> good.

stuart: david, good to see you ben, fellow. >> great to see you. stuart: facebook, a bug that might affected millions of users. susan: might have access to photos you didn't up load on the site forker one to see. stuart: whoa. susan: 8 million users. 1500 apps built by 876 developers that may have had access to photos you up loaded to the site but didn't post for public consumption, how about that? still that is concerning. because of the bug, some third party apps may have access to broader set of photos for 12 days. they're being very specific. september of this year, facebook is recommending they log into any apps which they have shared their facebook photos too, check photos that have had access, change your log-in at this point. stuart: that takes your breath

away. that really does. susan: another bad headline. the stock is down over 1%, isn't it? stuart: breaking news. fox news confirms senator jon kyl, republican arizona is going to resign his seat at the end of this month. kyle replaced john mccain after he decide earlier this year. the governor of arizona will appoint a new senator. in a letter to the governor, he intended to complete the work of the 115th congress which does indeed end december 31st. got it. big hour for you on this friday. one week away from a potential government shut down. president trump standing by his hard-line, shut it down over wall funding, that's what he says. i want to know what is happening right now on the border. we have a guest who says, people who cross are actively looking for border patrol agents. why are they doing that? he will tell us why. as for the president's hard-line on china, the 90-day clock is ticking. we'll talk to a former trade fish, mr. trump is in a way, a

better position to negotiate. we're on that one too. number of big brother type stories. new facebook patent will predict your location, your destination, before you get there. i don't like that. i don't think i'm the only one either. we're on the story. you're watching the second hour of "varney & company." ♪

stuart: not that much volatility. we've been down 200 points virtually from the opening bell. look at costco. surprised at this. weaker sales. the stock is down a whopping 6%. that is a serious drop for a big company like that. how about general motors and ford? deutsche bank says buy them

because they have large upside potential. apparently that's what they're doing. they are up just a fraction show. the border crisis, let's get to that. migrants want to get into that. i want to bring in the border security council president nelson ridlido. >> how are you doing. stuart: i'm remarkably well. i know you came back from the border, you're telling me, the people cross the border, first thing they do is look for a border patrol agent. why? >> we have to separate the folks that come over what they call economic migrants, those looking to do us harm as opposed to folks seeking asylum. you have almost a travel agency program in central america where you have the cartels almost handing out leaflets in the streets, saying hey, we'll give you a one-way ticket to the u.s. border for 4 to $7,000 a head. they deposit those folks -- they

are with an unaccompanied minor or a family unit with a minor. they seek asylum. they have credible fear of return. then they are processed in our system. they are let go. they're asked to come back two or three years later. and because we have -- stuart: is that still true? i thought we fixed that? i thought we stopped catch-and-release? >> no, sir, no, sir. let me give you a statistic. just in march of 2017 we catching about 2,000 of these folks, family units and people. today, last month, over, nearly 31,000 were caught, and processed, eventually released into the general population asking them to come back, obviously for a hearing, which 98% of them, or 97% of them never show back up. stuart: if you want to fix this, you have to fix the law and you have got to do something about border security, in terms of a wall or a fence or electronics. you need help from congress.

but they're not working right now. they have gone on vacation until next wednesday. what do you say? >> they're not even talking about this issue. we talk about sensors, a wall, more people on the border, more agents, absolutely we need all those things but why aren't they talking to the root of the problem? if the idea is to fix immigration problem, not folks that are here but folks continuously arriving and -- stuart: why don't they, nelson, answer that question? >> that is a great -- i wish i knew that stuart. i wish i knew that all we're talking about for a wall. we need to fund these things. they need to take a look at that. there is negotiation happening with mexico right now. this is left-leaning government. things will not improve unless we improve the southern border of mexico. we need conversations with guatemala, el salvador,

honduras. we need to solve that economic problem. stuart: come back, nelson. >> thank you, stuart. i appreciate it. stuart: from the nfl to tech, one former football star launching a app. it tells how a politician voted on all issues, a bit like an athlete's stats? sounds to me like that. we have the full story for you. coming up later this hour. more "varney" after this. ♪

stuart: price of gold is $1238 an ounce. it has been down.

it was around 1250. now it is down around at 1230. trouble at the clinton foundation, donations way down after hillary lost the election. some in congress are looking to pay-to-play allegations at the clinton foundation while hillary was secretary of state. tammy bruce till with us. i haven't heard much about this. >> isn't that weird? the media doesn't want you to know there is trouble over there. when she lost the race in 2016 by tens of millions of dollars the donations went down to the foundation. that is the opposite is of what normally you find with either ex-candidates or ex-presidents, like jimmy cart ear es work with habitat for humanity. donations usually go up, right? the work increases. strangely with hillary everything kind of collapsed. and then we have whistle-blowers, this is are with we, everyone may remember about a little over a week ago the fbi raided a whistle-blower who turned things over to the

fbi and the department of justice regarding shenanigans at the foundation. stuart: i didn't hear about that. >> it was a little burst of news. then it went away. they were in his house six hours looking for other material apparently. we don't know what they gathered, obviously something happened. hearings going on in congress as well. of course at the last minute by the republicans. but this is serious business. even "the hill" reported a few months ago, or even within the last month, that internal documents have indicated from their own investigations of themselves that there was a problem with, that appearance of pay-for-play. a problem with other rules and regulations. bill clinton, commingling personal money with foundation money. so all of these things we believe are being investigated by the fbi, at least, and yet we don't know because we're not being told. stuart: besides the democrats run the house as of january the 1st. it is all over. there will not be an investigation. >> well, even when we lose the house, you have senate

investigations possible and inspector general investigations that can continue. of course the justice department investigations, any of that with the inspector generals can continue. the house of course will stop any investigations there. stuart: absolutely. >> and continue to obstruct. stuart: if adam schiff runs the intelligence committee, and he will, he will defend hillary as far as he can possibly go. >> it is important for the american people to see that, isn't it? i welcome it. i think the president would welcome it. the americans should welcome the clarity we will finally see for a while. stuart: tammy, sterling work today. >> thank you. stuart: two segments. >> wow, i'm grateful. wonderful to be here in your -- stuart: stop it. >> susan li. fabulous. stuart varney. susan: we like her. >> thanks for having me. merry christmas coming up. stuart: okay, you're done. susan: go, tammy. >> i'm irish. i can't shut up. stuart: i thought you were italian? >> i am italian and scottish in there. i'm tough.

i can sing. stuart: markets, remarkably consistent, down 200 points virtually throughout the entire day's session. i guess you could call that volatility, but not really, down 200. staying down 200. more pain though could be coming. our next guest says that markets are being held hostage by uncertainty, uncertainty over trade. let's see what he really got to say in a moment. speaking of trade, president trump says china is in weaker position because of him. question, is the hard-line working? we're on it. ♪ i'm snow. and just like you, the further into winter we go, the heavier i get.

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♪ stuart: you know what it is? they play that first chord. you know what it is. susan: you know what it is. stuart: well i do. susan: everybody knows what it is. stuart: it is 50 years old. 50 years old! susan: everyone still has a hard day's work, right? stuart: great song. got some rhythm to it. dow industrials taking a leg down. we were down 200 literally three minutes ago. now we're down 268. dow down 1%. big tech names all down. amazon down 32 bucks. amazon down $4 at 166. alphabet is down 10. microsoft down over one dollar. big techs down today. let's bring in market watcher, mark luschini. mark, i read your stuff and you're telling our audience we don't get any serious upside move until the fed turns dovish

publicly, the trade deal with china is in place. have i got it right? >> i think so, stuart. i think that captures the concerns that i have at the moment. i think there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty associated with both of those risks that lurk out there. until we get some resolution, perhaps not complete, but at least crystallization around what the fed will likely do into 2019. what the trade tension will melt into between the u.s. and china obviously. then i think the market, while the fundamentals remain quite good for it, will be captive to the news flow out of those two events. stuart: we stay in fairly narrow range. 24,000, to 26,000, on the dow. all right, let's suppose that we get a trade agreement. it is a good one. we can all live with. suppose we get some indication from the fed, it will not be four rate increases. if we get the two items and settle them, do you think we

significantly go higher next year? >> stuart, i do, all else equal. the u.s. economy, another positive year of growth. and also growth well above trend. that will be supportive of corporate profit growth. so as consequence of growing profits, i think six to 8% year-over-year, coupled with the fact that we could see the risk premium melt in equity prices allowing for a melt-up in stock prices i think we could see significant gains in 2019. if we get resolution of both those items. stuart: okay. if we get red solution, okay. -- resolution. first of all, do you think we will? the fed, do you think we get resolution they will not raise rates four or five times next year? do we get it? >> they are careful but how many in 2019? i think we're likely to see the fed pause in 2019, just to look around to make sure the blunter

instrument of raising rates hasn't harmed economic activity. i think we'll see some movement on trade ultimately if we don't see out right resolution to it, at least some agreement to, not necessarily metastasizing into something more sinister. stuart: i think the market would be happy if we don't get a big bump up in tariffs we lay on chinese products coming to america. that would be a positive. so overall, you think we might get a resolution of these two areas? you sounding pretty positive? >> i think on balance we do. i think parties are vested in seeing a good outcome. certainly jerome powell and fed wants economy to expand. certainly trump administration want the u.s. economy to prosper. they know settlement of trade hopeful to our advantage work to the u.s.'s favor. those certainties receding will go a long way to market participants increasing their sentiment towards equity prices why i believe overall we'll have a gain year-over-year. stuart: gotcha.

mark, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: thank you very much. the dow taken a turn south. we're down 310 points. that is my latest read. i have the monitor up there. now we're down 320. 319, 320, one 1/4% on the down side. let's get back to trade obviously because this is central issue in the market now. i have to ask the question, with the 90-day clock ticking towards some kind of a dial or end of it, i don't know whether we get a deal or not, you have to ask a question, who is the better negotiator here, trump or xi? donald trump or xi xinping, president of china? who is the better negotiator? will you make that judgment, daniel, who is the better negotiator? >> i would be glad to. my guess donald trump would be a better negotiator. honed his skills in free market

setting, new york city real estate which is a tough place to negotiate. stuart: that's for sure. >> xi xinping honed his skills, whatever they are, in totalitarian communist setting. my guess you learn more in new york than xi's setting. xi remind my of the joke they tell about al capone, who is said to have said, i fine things go great with a smile and a gun, but they go pretty well with just a gun. xi is experienced. donald trump is experience is better. stuart: so mr. trump is going into this with a very hard-line. i mean he is saying, look, you get a deal in 90 days, or we hit you with 25% tariffs on $250 billion of products. do you approve of that negotiating style, hard-line trump? >> yes i do. the key point this negotiation is, if you like, less about trade but other matters. the other matters are national security and bringing jobs back to america. so it is only partially about

trade. the chinese have been stealing our secrets. they have been requiring companies to divulge intellectual property secrets as a condition of doing business in china. trump wants to put a stop to that. the problem is that the chinese won't know how to respond to that. stuart: daniel, a lot of people say, yeah, we need a hard-line with china but please don't do it with tariffs. there is an enormous opposition to tariffs in general. i think, however, that is the only way you can get any leverage with china. what do you say? >> that's the only way they will pay attention. trade is much more valuable to them than it is to us. they buy about 100 billion from us and we buy about 525 billion from them. so if we pull up the drawbridge, stop all trade, they take a much larger hit than we do. we're in a much better negotiating position. i'm sure donald trump knows that we'll see if xi knows it. stuart: daniel, we really appreciate you being with us

today. an original opinion and we like it. thank you, sir. >> thank you. stuart: yes, sir. i want to check the stock price of general motors. they started to send layoff notices. give me more. susan: general motors laying off 15,000 in north america, five states, three factories impacted. gm started to send formnal notices to u.s. government agencies is of its plans to end some of the production at the auto plants, cut thousands of jobs. 2800 they say hourly active users four american plants are eligible to be shifted to new jobs at other plants at this point. stuart: interesting they're doing it right now, the day after president trump said this is not acceptable. susan: that is a very good point. stuart: now they're doing it. susan: he said this for a while, right? ever since the announcement came out. >> mary barra ceo has been to

capitol hill. 1200 are eligible to retire. this is far short, you know, 12,000 jobs are going in the u.s. 2,000 and change are going in canada. when we have the report that gm was going to make these job cuts, they said most of the jobs would be shifted to other plants across the country. i'm looking at the numbers, they don't add up to 12,000 at this point. 1100 here, 2,000 here. stuart: a little fudging. susan: a lot to make up for. stuart: but notices went out. thank you, susan. now this, we're one week away from a possible government shutdown. president trump is keeping up his hard-line. fund the border wall or, yeah, shut that government down. i'll ask the head of the border patrol union, is a wall worth a shutdown? that is in our next hour. first though, apple reportedly making a big push into health. it is not the only big tech company pushing into health care. i want to know, who is going to

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stuart: down 273 points for the benefit of radio listeners. the dow at 24,300. a down day so far. don't know how we close. another sign apple might be gearing up to get into health care. new reports that they have, quote, dozens of doctors on staff. loop managing director gene munster is with us. seems like health is kind of the next frontier. big techs seem to get into it in different ways. who could get into the battle of getting into health care? >> stuart, there are different pockets of health care. what happel is trying to do,

google in certain ways as well, capture the wearables components of this, apple watch has accelerating growth over the past few quarters after a slow start. part of the reason people use that more for health care related topics, they recently announced a ekg feature within that. to answer your question, i think apple is really at the forefront in terms of real time data around health and wearable assegment. i don't want that to be confused with other headlines. there is a lot related to amazon. them potentially wanting to be a primary care provider. i want to be clear, i do not believe the tech companies will become primary care providers. i do believe they will provide tools to enable that. stuart: plus they have the information to get it all together and create a whole picture of someone's health care needs. they have got that information. that is big tech. that is their area they're going into?

>> exactly. they can, they capture the information and then the traditional health care providers will hopefully use that to provide health care that is more week to week versus twice or once a year or maybe, many cases, once every few years. stuart: this is really a story about the computing power and big tech's got it, computing power taking over all kinds of industries or penetrating all kinds of industries, modernizing them. health care is a very big industry. seems they're going at that now? >> exactly and health care, 15% of u.s. gdp. huge market but still is relatively a tech laggard. i recently had a health care executive describe it as still cavemen running around with clubs when it comes to the level of technology that they have. so i think there is a huge opportunity. the big tech companies recognize this.

whether it is the wearables piece but another segment, using more a.i. to be a tool for physicians. a key area we have seen a lot of a.i. use is diagnosing cancer, screening different films related to that so i think you're exactly right, stuart, tech needs to enable the future of health care, health care is slow to move, inevitably it will be impacted by tech. stuart: do you have a problem with big brother? i absolutely do. i don't like the power over us of a handful of multibillionaires who know everything about us? case in point, amazon a new patent shows that amazon may be creating a database of suspicious persons using facial-recognition technology. we've got new facebook patent, it can predict your location, where you're going before you get there. that to me is big brother and i don't like it and what say you? >> i don't like it either.

we are so early in the phase of being able to track, we're basically a decade into this. if you think about the arc of humanity, we're just starting this path around these tools that can be more big brotherrish. i think there is going to be a reckoning for some of these companies around that. i think facebook in particular is a company that has been reckless with consumer's privacy. they have paid a price for it over the past year. the stock is down 33% from its high, but i still think that consumers will get a better view about how to manage this and the companies will have to be more clear about what kind of data they're capturing. ultimately i think bringing brother will be there. we should have at least better tools knowing when we're being watched. stuart: gene, absolutely. thank you for joining us. this will be a long-running story. this is the big brother story. it is not going away. it really is not. i think it will get worse, the big brother aspect, just getting

worse. gene, thank you, sir. >> thank you. stuart: ever wonder if there was a place that told you everything you need to know about, politicians? you know their voting record, the bills they put forward. well there is a single place to provide that information and this single place is an app. it was made by a former nfl star. what a switch. football to technology. we're on it. we've got the guy own the show, shortly. ♪ ♪ there's no place like home ♪

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stuart: been remarkably stable. down 250 points. it has been down 200, 250, virtually all day. that is where we are right now. how about this one? new app will make it easier for voighters to make informed decisions. one-stop shopping about statistics. this was created by former nfl player. walter powell, jr., he created an app called politiscope. well-done. >> thank you. stuart: i finished playing football. all the right connections, you

come up with the idea of politiscope. if i get the app what will it tell me? >> tell you politician statistics what they voted for or against on any legislation. we showcase notable articles, media, anything you need to know about your politician. you can follow them on the app. you can follow any piece of media legislation. it goes to your own personal profile. you don't have to see every politician. just ones you're interested in. just really like i said, maybe it a one-stop shop for you all politics. stuart: politicians, there are a million politicians, governors, state legislatures. where do you draw the line? >> starting ad federal. we'll work our way down. once you get local you need a lot of hands on deck. stuart: this is this politiscope, is it free. >> it has to be free. stuart: i get it.

i dial up and i punch in, say, senator chuck schumer, what do i get? >> you are going to get legislation, bio -- stuart: every piece of legislation he proposed? >> proposed, cosponsoredded, vote for or against. stuart: vote for or against, no matter what? >> vote yes, no, once you click into it, breakdown of statistics, which side republican democrat, percentages who voted yes, who voted no. it is pretty much -- stuart: in all seriousness, walter i can use that kind thing. >> i feel like anybody can from all the way up top, all the way down everybody can use it. it is simple to use, easy to navigate through. instead of spending a whole hour figure out one bill means, you can figure out what 50 to 100 mines with this information. stuart: you're a entrepreneur, but entrepreneurs have to make some money at some point. >> of course, of course. stuart: this thing is free, all the information going out there,

how eventually will you make money? >> of course you know we're trying to get a big user base. develop the trust and with all our users. eventually we'll have upgrade, politician upgrade. you can campaign on their profile page. right now we're focusing on gaining the users. stuart: so what you need is eyeballs? >> eyeballs basically. stuart: users, eyeballs, got a couple million, whatever. how many do you need before you start making some money? >> i have to say anywhere, in 50-k, somewhere in that area. we're not worried about it right now. we're trying -- stuart: we got it on the screen, there you go, politiscope. see if i can get you 50,000 subscribers. >> i hope so, dream on. i think we might get you a few. >> one or two would be nice. stuart: politiscope. good stuff. great to have you on the show.

>> thanks for having me. stuart: you're a christian, aren't you? >> yeah. stuart: appreciate it, walter. now this, waymo cars, self-driving thing on the road in arizona but people are threatening them. they're harassing these vehicles. tell me more. susan: slashed tires. pointed gun, bullies on the road. stuart: really? susan: there was an incident of road rage driver who pointed a gun at one of these driverless cars. you see the chrysler vans across phoenix and other suburban parts just near arizona, and basically this is testing by waymo owned by uber. they are starting their commercial operations the next few months they have mentioned. they told us 2018 into 2019. the first customers will be mostly commercial corporate client because walmart might need to ship employees to work. stuart: they need acceptance by the public. don't sound like they have in arizona. susan: yeah but no drivers --

stuart: how do you respond to that. susan, thank you. now this, britain prime minister theresa may barely survived a leadership vote. i have called her a lame duck. but when it comes to her personally i tip my hat to her. she has poise and strength, she has shown that in adversity. my take next. ♪ our dad was in the hospital. because of smoking. but we still had to have a cigarette. had to. but then, we were like. what are we doing? the nicodermcq patch helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. nicodermcq. you know why, we know how.

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stuart: 11:00 in new york city. 8:00 in california. let me check the market for you, because we're down 300 points. that is very close to the low of the morning. what's going on? there is concern about china's slowing economy. that hit the market first thing this morning, and it is slowing. maybe there's some concern coming in about politics. we have had some interesting developments in political scandal this morning. that may be another negative for this market right now. as of now, we're down 300 points.

now this. i've called her a lame duck and in political terms, britain's prime minister is indeed a lame duck. she leads a divided government and barely survived a leadership vote. now, in personal terms, theresa may shows remarkable poise and determination. we don't usually consider personal characteristics in politics. it's all about votes, strategy and the nuts and bolts of policy. in this brexit showdown, however, the prime minister's character may play a role in the political outcome. she took office at an important moment in history. britain had just launched the populist anti-establishment movement that became a global movement. talk about pressure. she came from nowhere to lead the brits out of their 40-year marriage to europe. she was treated a bit like donald trump, reviled from all sides. have you seen prime ministers question time? it's tough. no holds barred. she has to face 650 aggressive

and ambitious politicians. she always kept her cool. the negotiations to get out of europe were extremely tense. they were not happy, the europeans, that the brits wanted to leave their union. the prime minister engaged in shuttle diplomacy, thrashing out an exit plan. she kept her cool. she came back with a plan only to find that parliament would not support it. a disappointment which did not show. right now she's back on the summit road. she never stops. throughout all of this, theresa may has acted with a calm dignity that transcends ugly politics, and her energy almost matches that of president trump. granted, she is ten years younger but i'll take my hat off to a leader who shows such poise under such difficult circumstances. i think her character is an asset and i think it will help her as brexit unfolds. yes, i am a brexit supporter. i want the country of my birth

to get out of socialist europe and at the end of the day, that will be march 29th next year, theresa may's character and perseverance i think will be a big help. you heard what i had to say. here's dennis gartman, editor of the gartman letter. we always like to see him on friday morning sitting next to me. he's always got a smile on his face. i think she's got poise, character. what a woman. do you think it will help? >> i'm impressed by miss may. i have right from the start. she's handled this with an amazing amount of diplomacy and aplomb. i think she's been attacked from the left and from her own right wing in the party. she's been given a hard time all along. she came in, she took the position of prime minister having been opposed to brexit. she assumed the role of leading into it nonetheless. i think she's done an admirable job. we disagree on the economy, we might disagree on mr. trump, but we agree on what she has done. i think it's extraordinary how

facile and well done she's handled this. stuart: to see her attacked like this in vicious terms from all sides, she could get the sympathy vote. it's not out of the question she will get a vote in parliament. not out of the question. >> she survived monday's vote which was i think extraordinary. now she has one full year to maintain as long as there's not a vote of no-confidence in some piece of legislation that might come to the floor. stuart: that's true. >> that could happen. nonetheless, she's done a great job. tireless worker. in an airplane all the time. we have to fly enough, she's flying all over europe on a two-day basis. it's astonishing. i don't think she gets enough credit. i think she should be applauded. stuart: market is down today significantly. 250 to 300 points down. probably instigated by the weakness in china's economy, maybe our political scandals. you are still bearish, aren't you? you're selling? >> i'm selling. i have been bearish for quite some period of time. i have been bearish globally for

eight months, here in the united states for about eight weeks. what i write in my newsletter, i do. i'm selling, i have been short. i just got shorter a few hours ago and told the young man who handles my account in the office if we're down by 350 at 1:00, i'm getting shorter. stuart: when you say shorter that means you're selling more? >> i'm selling more. stuart: but you're not taking a short position. you are betting that -- >> oh, no, i've got short positions. stuart: you do? >> absolutely. i am absolutely aggressively net short of this market and have been for some period of time. as i said, i will be adding, if we are down by more than 350 at 1:00 this afternoon, i will be getting shorter. i use derivatives to accomplish that task but i'm doing exactly that. i put my money where my mouth is. stuart: i'm smiling because many years ago, i was sitting next to someone, we were talking about eastman kodak and i said are you shorting eastman kodak and he said what are you, some kind of communist? that was back in the day. thanks very much, dennis.

>> always good to be here. stuart: appreciate it. back to china's slowing economy. retail sales over there growing, yeah, they're growing, but at the slowest pace in 15 years. michael pillsburry is with us, author of "the 100 year marathon." president trump says this slowdown in china is because of him, it's me. that's what he said, it's me. is that accurate? >> i didn't hear him say that, sorry. i think he's been putting pressure on china, no doubt about that. stuart: he did say it. we had an interview on fox news yesterday with harris faulkner and he was very explicit. he said you see what's going on in china, that's me. that's what he said. >> to some degree, what's going on in china focuses a lot on him but there's a very important meeting yesterday. xi jinping chaired the political bureau of the central committee of the communist party. they have an annual meeting to discuss what the economy is going to do in the coming year. there's no change.

they did not announce anything about the negotiations with president trump. they did not commit to trade concessions. they said everything's fine and they said actually, the figures for the year, for the first three quarters in china, are 6.7% growth ahead of the forecasted 6.5% growth. so some indicators are going down, yes, but overall, the chinese press claims a very high level of confidence and there's no concessions yet to the united states. now, president trump says something that only he can say, that president xi agreed with everything verbally in their dinner. but it's a long way from that to having a trade agreement in writing. i'm sure you can agree with that. stuart: i would indeed. but look, if the chinese economy is not slowing down that much, if it's still doing pretty much okay -- >> that's what they say. yes. stuart: that's what they say. then we don't have quite as much leverage as maybe we thought. >> that's my fear. i think it's been a bad week for the outcome of these talks.

on monday, lighthizer and mnuchin telephoned, postponed the first meeting into january. that's not good. it's already been two weeks now. number two, the amount of soybeans purchased, everybody is complaining, it's a very symbolic purchase, yes, it's good news, but it's not a full-scale purchase. number three, there is this discussion in china not to make concessions to the americans and this rather flagrant picking up the two canadians to bring leverage on that situation. so i don't see a lot of progress this week. doesn't mean that we can't get a deal by march 1st. stuart: but it means both sides have a hard line. either publicly, privately, both sides digging in. you could say that, i guess. >> it looks like the chinese economy may be much stronger than some of the critics have been saying over the last ten years. we don't have accountability, stuart, in the china field. people can write books that are just wrong later on, and nobody ever calls them on it. there's been a lot of books about the collapse coming in

china. china is on trajectory, on course to double its gdp between 2010 and 2020. they were bragging about that yesterday in their announcement. this is not a collapsing economy that's on its knees begging for mercy from president trump. not by any means. stuart: so we're going to get a lot more of this he said this, he said that, up goes the market, down goes the market. it's going to be all over the place for another three months, isn't it? >> it's a test of strength, and i myself as an american have confidence in president trump but i'm getting kind of worried about the nationalistic fervor being stirred up in china that we must not make any concessions to trump. stuart: okay. michael pillsbury, right on it. we appreciate it. thank you. see you again. we have some stocks i need to check. first off, tesla. they slashed the price of the model s and the model x, their cars in china, because beijing suspended additional tariffs.

it's not helping the stock. it's a big down day, of course and tesla is down just three bucks at $373 a share. general motors, it's beginning to send layoff notices and offer job transfers. they are under a lot of pressure to withdraw those job losses. they're not doing it. they are sending out the notices you're laid off. the national average for a gallon of regular gas is down again, $2.39 per gallon. wow. good stuff. president trump not backing down on his threat to shut the government if he doesn't get money for the border wall. i want to know what's happening right now at the border. what's going on with those migrant caravans? not as much news about where they are and what they're doing. a group of democrat senators going after big tech companies like google and facebook. they want new legislation that would require them to keep your data private and secure. i'm all for it. gavin newsom takes over at california's governor next month. a new poll shows a majority of people in california want him to

implement universal health care. our voice of reason from the formerly golden state is coming up next, and this is the third hour of "varney & company."

stuart: i believe this is the low of the day. we're down 330 points, back to 24,200. that's a loss of 1.3%. a group of democrat senators introducing a bill that will protect online data. tell me more, deirdre. >> 15 democratic senators, i want to point out the timing, one day after google's ceo went before that house committee. i do think the timing is apt. it's just saying listen, if you're going to do business with us online you need to protect our data better. so there's a few key points.

the most important is give the ftc authority to essentially fine companies that don't protect our data better, which include if a company is hacked, they need to let us know. a lot of these things you would think are basic, they just have not been written down in law. if a third party, you know, for example, amazon, they sell to a lot of third parties. it also means if amazon becomes aware a third party it does business with somehow has misused our data, they also, amazon, as the primary contact, needs to let us know. stuart: that's pretty tough because it's the imposition of a degree of liability. >> it is. that's exactly right. it is now threatening hey, if you're not going to be responsible, mr. company owner, there are actually going to be consequences for you, financial ones. stuart: thanks, deirdre. welcome to the show. california, here we go, incoming governor gavin newsom takes office next month with a number of ambitious issues that he does plan to tackle. evidently, these are popular issues. listen to this. 60% of californians say that

implementing universal health care should be newsom's top priority. that's according to this poll from the public policy institute of california. california appears to want this. larry elder is with us, nationally syndicated -- i don't know why you're laughing. if you get universal health care, you can't afford it. >> also, i will be the one paying for it. look, the majority of californians as you point out want universal health coverage. one bill that was introduced a little while ago suggested that the price tag would be $400 billion annually. that is higher than the entire budget of california, yet the majority of californians still want it. they don't care. most californians feel they are overtaxed but they also feel the rich are undertaxed. as you well know, stuart, the top 1% in this country who make about $350,000 or more pay almost 40% of all the federal income taxes. the majority of americans have

no blooming idea how much the rich are already paying and in california, they want the rich to pay even more. it's absurd. stuart: it is absurd. the poll also found that a majority, a clear majority, wants free tuition for community colleges in california from the incoming governor, gavin newsom. has former future governor newsom, has he ever said where does the money come from, or is he joining the chorus and saying tax the rich? >> no, he doesn't say that. already in california, full-time first year community college students already have tuition-free. there's a bill for second year first year community college students to have tuition-free already. on tuesday, the outgoing governor jerry brown gave an interview to npr and said democrats are becoming increasingly out of touch with the rest of the country. they are becoming increasingly left wing. he blamed republicans for it somehow, follow that logic, but the point is the outgoing governor has told the incoming

governor, our party is too left, the incoming governor is more left wing than the outgoing governor in california. go figure. stuart: i just can't -- i just can't believe this. how can a state which has the highest poverty rate in the nation, some of the highest taxation rates in the entire nation, it's got a whopping great big pension liability unfunded of about $1 trillion i think it is, somewhere like that, and yet they are gung-ho to truly break the bank. honestly, larry, i'm astonished. i don't get it. i don't. i really don't. >> well, people in california believe there's a free lunch and that these guys over here, whether it's republicans, whether it's donald trump, you name the bad guy, is stopping them from eating said free lunch. that's what we have taught people in this country and especially people in california. they believe that they are overtaxed. they believe government is too big. but when you ask them a specific program that they want cut, they don't want it.

don't cut you, don't cut me. cut the other fellow behind the tree. that's how people in california think. stuart: i still have a room available at my place in new jersey if you really want to get out of dodge. i don't think you do. >> it's becoming increasingly more tempting, stuart. i may show up. don't say you don't know who i am when i knock on your door. don't call 911. stuart: i've got that doorbell ring thing, okay? larry, you're all right. i hope you come out of this okay. financially okay. i really hope you do. >> i'm all right. i'm fine. stuart: i know you are. thanks. check the big board. we are still down about 300, not quite on the low of the day, but down 310 points. 1.25%. you better look at johnson & johnson. reportedly, this company new for decades there was asbestos in baby powder. they are currently facing thousands of lawsuits. j & j is the biggest drag on the dow. look at that. that accounts for 80 points of the dow's 300 point loss.

look at that. you don't very often see a gigantic company like johnson & johnson down almost 10%. that is unusual. better check this out, too. a 102-year-old grandmother from australia just became the world's oldest tandem skydiver. she jumped to celebrate her birthday and is raising money for charity. she says she had a blast. rather you than me, ma'am. carnival unveiling a new cruise ship with a roller coaster. the mardi gras expected to set sail in 2020. going to have a coaster which will be nearly 800 feet long, can reach speeds of 40 miles an hour. i get seasick already. i don't need a roller coaster. we'll be right back.

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so why are we playing it? i've got to tell you, it's america's favorite christmas song to sing in the car. 37% of people say they sing in the car. that song leads in the holiday season. santa claus is coming to town is number two. rounding out the top five is rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and we wish you a merry christmas. thank heaven the little drummer boy does not make it on that list. okay. i'm done with that. alaska airlines wants you to wear your favorite ugly christmas sweater. passengers wearing their best or i guess worst sweaters to the airport next friday can board their flight early. airline employees will also be wearing their ugliest sweaters all month long. i don't think this is why the stock is up 2% but it's a good story. tomorrow's the deadline to sign up for obamacare and get this, president obama says the average plan is cheaper than your cell phone bill.

is that a bogus claim? we will ask about it. we are watching your money, of course. now this is the low of the day, off 400 points, the best part of, 397 to be precise. we are right at 24,200. we'll be right back. meeting the increased demand for lithium, an estimated 800,000

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stuart: a tweet from president trump, here we go. china just announced their economy is growing much slower than anticipated because of our trade war with them. they have just suspended u.s. tariff hikes. u.s. is doing very well. china wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. it could happen and rather soon. okay. he just said that. check the big board. we are still way, way down. 368 points, to be precise. the dow 30 shows 25 of them are in the red. close to the low of the morning, but we had been down about 400 moments ago. jonathan honig, capitalist pig hedge fund manager with us now. jonathan, the reason that the market is down is supposed to be china's slowing down, europe's slowing down, but i wonder, is

there some influence here from political scandal? michael cohen has been speaking this morning in rather provocative terms. >> it simply gives one no impetus to buy but think about so many other factors, even some of the trade issues that have been weighing on this market or even something seemingly off the wall as democrats investigating banks in the house, in congress. i think all that weighs in just to this general feeling of malaise. keep in mind this isn't like one day the market happens to be down. stocks were down in october, they were down in november and they are having a very difficult december now. about 500 new 52-week highs, only 20 new 52-week lows so this market trend is down. in a bear market it's very difficult for any stocks to get any traction high or long term. stuart: tell me about the banks. you mentioned the house members want to investigate the banks. you think there's a real financial crisis coming centering on the banks. spell it out. >> i don't say it lightly.

i'm not a cassandra. i don't predict doom and gloom but i haven't seen banks this weak since summer of 2007 when you started to see citigroup, bank of america down 2%, 3%, 4% day after day. people would be surprised if they saw the carnage, the real damage, the selling, hasn't even been to technology stocks. we talked about that. it's been to the banks. citigroup, goldman sachs, morgan stanley, all down between 20% and 30% in just the last year and we always say the stock moves first, the news comes along. my fear is that something is brewing in the banking sector. could be leveraged loans, could be with some of the debt that's been taken on. those bad headlines i think are still yet to hit. stuart: frequently on this program, you said take a look at gold. take a look at gold, because you have been buying it. now, i believe you've got, as opposed to buying gold coins or silver coins, how would you get into the gold and silver market? in a way that our viewers can get into it, too? >> well, you always have to do

your due diligence. a rising tide tends to lift all boats. i do think, i'm not a gold bug but i do think now is a good time to look at commodities as an asset class, and there's many ways investors can play gold, various gold stocks, for example, there's gld which is an exchange traded fund which tracks the price of gold. if you're looking for diversification, now is a good time to look outside the s&p 500. look outside the stock market because you know, as bear market, stocks that tend to go down tend to stay down. i think now we are continuing to be in a bear market for stocks. stuart: you got us all worried about the banks, capitalist pig. thanks for joining us. >> don't blame the messenger. stuart: fair point. your analysis is strong. we like it. thanks, jonathan. see you soon. >> have a great weekend. stuart: you, too. now this. according to the latest fox news poll, we showed you this yesterday, show it to you again, 83% say health care is their number one concern.

betsy mccoy, author of "beating obamacare." >> your concern really isn't health care. it's the cost of health insurance. well over two million americans who originally bought obamacare plans and paid full freight, weren't eligible for subsidies, have stopped buying them because the cost is so high now. $832 a month for the lowest priced bronze plan. that's over $10,000 a year for a family of three. stuart: two million have dropped out. >> over two million. over two million. in fact, 500,000 just in the last year. stuart: okay. tell me how president trump, what is he doing to get -- >> he's doing a lot. stuart: is he talking about getting the insurance costs down or the cost of health care itself? >> insurance costs. stuart: how is he doing it? >> because he's deregulating. stymied by congress, he's rolled out several big deregulations that will open up avenues for people to buy much lower cost

plans that aren't -- do not adhere to the obamacare one size fits all definition of benefits. many of them don't include maternity care, for example. but they are on average 70% less money. stuart: so obamacare said you've got to have a policy that covers this, this, this, this, this. >> washington knows best. right. stuart: you've got to have that. >> now trump is saying no, you can pick a policy that doesn't include maternity care or in-patient mental health treatment, for example, if that's what you can afford. the fact is, in half the nation, americans are already buying these new called short-term plans. stuart: you can only buy them in certain states. >> that's the point. if you live behind the health care berlin wall in the health care gulag, massachusetts, new york, connecticut, new jersey, california, maryland, solid blue states, their governors and legislatures are saying oh, no, you can't buy that, we won't allow you. we know better than you do what

you want. stuart: can they do that? >> yes, they can, because health insurance has always been regulated by the states and still is. the police powers of the states over many, many things, including health insurance, is very big. so every state has the power to dictate what you can or cannot buy. andrew cuomo right here in new york is prohibiting new yorkers from buying these low cost plans so millions of people are uninsured, literally, because they can't afford obamacare. stuart: on a similar note here, listen along with our audience, to what president obama said about obamacare prices. roll that tape, please. >> you can do it right now and most folks can find coverage for $50 to $100 per month. that's probably less than your cell phone bill. stuart: he said that recently, right, producer? last week, he said that. >> let's call it a lie. because the average price of the

lowest cost plan is $832 a month. what he's saying is -- stuart: what? wait, wait, the lowest cost -- >> bronze plan. stuart: bronze plan. >> for three people. a family of three. $832 a month, over $10,000 a year. what he's saying is if you are eligible for a subsidy, the taxpayers will foot part of the bill. that doesn't mean it's as low cost as your phone bill. that means somebody else is paying. stuart: am i right in saying that 80% of the people who take obamacare, get a policy through the obamacare exchanges and all that kind of thing, are actually getting a whopping great big subsidy -- >> of course they are. stuart: a large proportion get it for free. >> that's right. you are seeing fewer and fewer people who have to pay full freight actually buying because it's such a bad deal. stuart: it's not sustainable. you can't charge those prices over a long period of time -- >> it was a ruse from the beginning. the president was saying this is a good deal, we are going to save you $2500 a month. in fact, if you earn over for a single person, $46,000 a year,

you are paying a whopping big premium and most of that money is not going for your health care. right? it's going to subsidize other people who have very serious health problems. stuart: we got all fired up, didn't we. thank you very much. we got a big tech guy who used to work at facebook. he wants us to be on our phones less. you spoke with him. >> i did indeed. his name is tim kendall. he's responsible for facebook's successful mobile monetization strategy and he was the president of pinterest. he realized he was getting more depressed and anxious being on his phone all the time and he shared this personal anecdote. >> i found myself hiding in my pantry reading news and texting with friends as opposed to spending time with my two young daughters, and i had a view that there were probably other people like me who were suffering, who wanted to figure out even though they had trouble doing it,

wanted to figure out how to use their phones less. if they're not used deliberately they steal your time. >> they steal your time. his background is impressive. he's been part of a few of the brand names we know. interestingly enough, he has a lot of psychologists on board. they are really developing this cognitive behavioral therapy so you can wean yourself off. he says essentially it's social media apps that are making people anxious and depressed versus using phones for work or using a browser such as chrome to research things. he said there's really a difference in the way it affects people's wiring. stuart: we are just not used to this brand new extraordinary technology. even though it's been around for a few years now. >> he also said seven million people are using his app across the world and he said it is a bit self-selecting because obviously the people who sign up feel bad about what's going on in their lives so they are willing to change but he said they have a 30%, if you use the app, 30% less, you get an hour of your day back.

stuart: i'll take it. good stuff, deirdre. thank you very much. starbucks going to make it easy to get your morning cup of coffee. they will offer delivery all across the country. we have details coming up for that one. congress on vacation. did you know that? they don't get back until next wednesday. are they going to be able to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown? i think that's dubious and doubtful. but we'll address the issue after this.

new accusations of pay to play at the clinton foundation, while hillary clinton was secretary of state. listen to what fox news contributor tammy bruce told us about those allegations. >> we noticed, of course, when she lost the race in 2016, by tens of millions of dollars, the donation [ inaudible ] to the foundation. that is the opposite of what normally you find with either ex-candidates or ex-presidents like jimmy carter's work with habitat for humanity. donations usually go up, right? the work increases. strangely, with hillary, everything kind of collapsed. that internal documents have indicated from their own investigations of themselves that there was a problem with the appearance of pay for play. (vo) 'twas the night before christmas

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hello! the best ai for the job. stuart: we haven't seen a rebound from the selloff yet today. we have been down 250, 300, nearly 400, now we're down 382. that's better than 1.5%. and the government, well, they have got until next friday to work out some kind of agreement on spending, and the border wall. going to be tough to do that, because congress is on vacation until wednesday of next week.

fox senior capitol hill producer is with us. chad, what are the chances, i mean, handicap it for us, what are the chances of a government shutdown? >> well, they are pretty high, because there's no deal on the table right now. there's no paperwork going back and forth. the house of representatives isn't in until next wednesday. the senate is back on monday. they are going to be working on criminal justice reform. but there are only so many exit ramps out of this right now. one thing would be to do all seven bills together, you know, with the wall, all seven bills together without the wall. six of the bills, everything is worked out there, and then do what they call a c.r. just for the department of homeland security. i tell you, this crunch, the reason the house isn't back until next week, they don't really have any other traffic to tackle. the senate has to deal with this criminal justice reform bill. by shrinking that amount of time next week, what they usually do, that's an effort to put pressure on members to agree to something. what they might be doing here, stuart, is putting pressure on

the president to agree to something. if there's not much turning radius at the end of next week, it could be a take it or leave it deal for president trump. stuart: in which case, close it down. that's the way it looks to me. >> right. and that's the challenge here. what is he willing to accept? nancy pelosi, the minority leader, indicated that when she gets the gavel on january 3rd, i'll pass a bill that reopens the government. i said well, what if the president wouldn't sign that bill, if it's something that lacks the wall, and she said well, how long is he going to keep the government shut down, forever? one of the things to watch here is federal workers in the washington, d.c. area, and watch the senators from maryland, from virginia. don bier, the congressman from northern virginia. if there is a prolonged government shutdown, if they start to give. but at the end of the day, if president trump gives, remember there was a lot of talk a couple weeks ago when president bush died, remember when he went back on his big campaign promise, no new taxes. that was central to his campaign in '88 and if president trump

gives in and reverts on that, that's a problem for him. stuart: he can't back off, really. that would be a political problem. chad, thank you, sir. i'm glad you saw it through the weeds for us because i could not do it. that's a fact. chad knows his stuff. all right. i want to bring in brandon judd. on the left side of the screen, the dow is down over 400 points. come on in, brandon. activity bore border patrol age. brandon, you were just at the border. you support the president on a very firm line. shut the government down to get that wall. you support the president fully on this? >> i do. i've got skin in the game. as a person that puts on the uniform that goes out and patrols the border, this is going to affect me, if the president shuts the government down. i will personally be affected. my agents will personally be affected. but border security is such an important topic that i would be willing to support the president in shutting the border down in order to gain the border security that the american

public needs and demands. stuart: you used the expression border security. that's not quite the same thing as a wall. i suspect there could be a fudge there. >> no. there's no fudge at all. the wall is a very key component to border security. we have to have the wall. what we're seeing right now, as you see people cross the border illegally, they are doing it in locations where we don't have walls. so all they have to do is cross the border illegally, claim asylum, they get released into the public to disappear into the shadows of society. that's the magnet that draws people here. a wall, a physical barrier is what will stop that, it will force the people to actually follow the law, cross through ports of entry and legally ask for asylum instead of breaking our laws. a wall is absolutely necessary. stuart: i've got a minute left. please, update me and our viewers on the status of the caravan, are these people still on the other side of the border?

>> they are. what they have done is they have dispersed into smaller groups and are crossing the border illegally instead of going through the ports of entry. that's why you have been seeing this huge spike in the numbers of illegal crossings, and we are going to continue to see that unless we do get that wall. so i will say it, i will say it all the time. a wall is absolutely necessary. stuart: the crisis rolls on. brandon judd, thank you, sir. appreciate it. see you again soon. >> thank you. stuart: better take a look at that market because we are going south a bit more. right now, we are off 420 points. that puts us back at 24,100. if you look at the course of the market in the last couple of months, it stayed in a range of roughly 24,000 to 26,000. it's at the bottom of that range now, down 1.7%. weight watchers, that stock has taken a beating over the past few months. some market people are blaming oprah winfrey. why her slimed down role with the company could bring the

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stuart: low of the day, down 460

points. we haven't had a serious bounce yet today. now this. wall street analysts worry about oprah winfrey's scaled-back role at weight watchers. i think she's still got a piece. >> she does. she has more than 5.5 million shares, she has a seat on the board. she's very much there. it's just that at the beginning, when she signed the partnership with them, she would tweet. now they're saying she's actually reached her weight goals and she's sustaining but that doesn't mean she -- the stock has lost actually half, as our viewers can see, since june. by the way, she also has her own line of healthy foods. there are some people wondering, oh, is this why she's going to begin to put her eggs in that basket. it's called oh, that's good line. her contract does end with weight watchers in 2020. i think they are looking for new spokespeople. the kardashians, two kardashian names have come up. beyonce's name has been floated by analysts. serena williams. they are looking for new

celebrities. stuart: there's not a draw quite like oprah winfrey, i don't think. >> no. she's an amazing story. stuart: a shot in the arm for them. got another one for them. starbucks planning to offer coffee delivery all across the country. okay. stock's down. >> it has some challenges, right. you have to pay, they are partnering with uber eats. that basic delivery costs $5 so you have to order a lot of coffee. i don't know, maybe have a coffee party. stuart: for the office. i could see that. how do i know it arrives hot, the way i want it? >> that's another challenge they are working with. they don't want to get into all these unfriendly environmental styrofoam, they really do have to figure this out. what i think is more interesting actually is they are talking about their earnings growth slowing. two years ago they had this sort of projection, 15% to 20% growth. this year they are saying it's going to be closer to 10%. that's a pretty big difference for a company whose same store sales are down. they are making huge bets on

china. something like 6,000 stores they want to build there in the next four years. even the same store sales there have been less robust, something like 1% growth versus 2% to 3% they were hoping for. stuart: tough story. i just happened to believe there are too many starbucks stores and they have got a lot of very good competition. >> i think competition is really what most analysts cite as this is not the only place to get coffee. stuart: plus i'm not prepared to spend, what is it, six bucks for -- >> you can get something -- you know what's weird about iced coffee? half their drinks are cold now in the u.s. stuart: really. it's winter. >> i know. that's not stopping anybody. stuart: thank you, deirdre. inside knowledge there. a look at the market, i'm not going to say it's come back. we were down 460. now we are down 430. not much of a comeback, is it? more after this. i switched to liberty mutual

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stuart: one of the reasons the dow is down so sharply, 460 points, one of the reasons is johnson & johnson, which is a dow stock which is down over 9%. now, deirdre, let's get this clearly here. it is reuters, one news service that says there is some asbestos in baby powder? >> even more damning they say there has been asbestos in baby powder for decades. here is the underlying part that j&j new the asbestos was there for decades. the stock is down the most since july 2002. a quarter of the dow drop. stuart: they face thousands of lawsuits but what we do not know how much asbestos. >> point 0001%. this will really hurt them. their whole motto, front-facing marketing campaign, we're good

for your baby. we're here for your baby's health. this is the entire premise of their business. stuart: it is an ugly headline. you use the word asbestos you don't want anywhere near you. deirdre, thank you for being here. >> my pleasure. stuart: my time is up but here is neil. neil: stuart, thank you very, very much j&j is contributing to a the silloff. china's factories are slowing. industrial production is slowing. retail sales are slowing. the government itself is run at a pace the slowest it has been in dozen years. add that up, we score a deal with someone ends up being a loser. generally what you don't want to do. however the friction developing between ourselves and chinese we do need them as my buddy charles payne