monetary policy more conservative on long side, conservative, high balance sheets. [closing bell rings] liz: a day of no commercials, the dow slashing losses. still down 343. it is all about the fed. connell: yes it is. melissa: sure is. connell: dramatic drop on wall street. all three of the major averages sinking the last couple of hours of trading, reversing earlier gains following that decision that came in from the federal reserve raising interest rates for the fourth time this year. melissa: thanks a lot, fed. connell: thanks, jay powell. the dow down about 350 as it settles in at the close. it was up, top to bottom. the swing was almost 900 points. 894 points. melissa: amazing, s&p falling to a 15-month low. tech-heavy nasdaq firmly in the red. down more than 2%. i'm connell mcshane. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is "after the bell. we have you covered from washington to wall street. a live report from outside of

the federal reserve. start with gerri willis on the floor of the new york stock exchange. gerri, take it away. >> okay, frowning faces down here absolutely. an intraday swing as connell said, 894 points t was all about the federal reserve today. traders down here did not like the rate hike, not one little bit. exactly anything that the federal reserve had to say. let me show you though the dow laggards right now. apple, nike, intel. these stocks are down and down hard as we come into the close here. you can see these stocks down 2% and more. take a look at apple down 3% and oil, that is the good news today, after falling for three days, oil is actually higher today and that after the energy information administration said that domestic crude supplies were down 500,000 barrels. that's good news in thatmarketp. 47.44 for crude. i want to tell you a little bit what was going on the equity

side. six of left s&p sectors touching 52-week lows. across the board. communication services, consumer discretionary. industrials, financial, materials, energy. a wide-ranging group of sectors here. some of the stocks leading the way, cbs, blackrock, also amazon down pretty dramatically. so lots of stocks leading these sectors lower today. i will send it back to you. melissa: gerri, thank you. now on to federal lawrence at the federal reserve. reporter: exactly. the rate went up a quarter point. 2.25 to 2.50%. the fed is looking two interest rate hikes next year and one after that. the reserve shifted down the long term federal funds role from 3% to 2.8%. he says when you look at volatility the data shows

tightening between now and the last september meeting he had saying the outlook has changed now. >> there has been a tightening since right around after, a week or so after the september meeting. that we tried to factor that into our models of the economy and results that come out of those models. that is how we think about it. we follow markets really carefully but from a macroeconomic standpoint no one market is the single dominant indicator. reporter: the chairman saying they have seen steady growth with wages. they have seen lower unemployment. they expect unemployment to tick lower next year. analysts say the fed is thinking looking at this, the perfect time to raise rates, getting back to neutral rate. listen to powell on this. >> it is really true inflation has not reacted a lot on a road from 10% unemployment now to 3.7% unemployment. it did move up last year but, in

terms of just targeting growth, you know, i think actually think our dual mandate works very well, maximum employment and stable prices. reporter: the chairman would not indicate when that pause would come. he said near neutral. puts it somewhere mid to late next year. back to you guys. connell: edward lawrence, thanks. edward lawrence at fed. to our panel. michelle gerard, dominic tavella, and we're also joined by todd horowitz, the bubba trading show host. michelle i will start with you. simplistic terms to hear edward wrap up what jay powell had to say and what the federal reserve did. if you look at a headline on paper and online we basically got what expected today but to hear market participants tell it, jay powell made a mistake. what was that mistake? >> i think the markets broadly were hoping against hope, perhaps, that the fed wouldn't hike. if they did hike, would strongly

signal that could be it. and while we certainly saw the fed chairman suggesting there was more uncertainty about the outlook, they lowered their projections for how many hikes they think might be warranted next year, the bottom line is, they're still signaling that further rate increases are likely from here. i think that was a disappointing combination for the market. on one hand saying there are developments we're concerned about. you know what? we're still inclined or think rate hikes would be warranted. that combination was very disappointing for the markets. connell: so, todd, were you disappointed? >> no i was not. it was kind of what i expected connell. first of all the fed should just be quiet, not talk anymore because it is always a problem. the other thing that they do, they never have gotten it right. in 105 years they have never done the right thing. they should have raised rates all along. we should be 4 1/2 or 5% now.

if they wouldn't have puked in 2013 bernanke went through the taper tantrum. why do they care about the markets? the markets are not part of that irbusiness. they are not part of their mandate. let the street be disappointed. at end day we still have leading issues up to, but we have strong economy, truly god growth and jobs and things are happening stock market could go lower. we could have a good economy. the stock market and economy is not necessarily linked. connell: bad time to tell todd there will be a press conference after each and every fed meeting next year. i don't know if i want to break that news to you. >> they should shut up. connell: i gotcha. dominic, your take, do you think the fed made a quote, unquote mistake today? if so what was the mistake from your point of view? >> everybody expected a rate rise. i don't think that shocked anybody. ebb was on pins needles waiting for the message, the message i got from the fed, thinks are

just fine, things are wonderful and we'll probably raise rates next year at least two times and the problem with that is, the rest of the world doesn't actually believe it. melissa: right. >> the rest of the world is concerned and almost a disconnect between what chairman powell was saying and what the rest of the world is looking at and that scared the living daylights out of the markets. >> it is so true. michelle, i have got to ask you, is the fed not watching the oil market? look at oil market, signaling slowdown, if nothing else signaling deflation or disinflation. what is up with that? >> right. i was actually in the statement there wasn't any downgrade of the inflation outlook seeing drop in oil we've seen. melissa: right. >> obviously before the last couple of days. so that sort of surprised me. the statement itself, i agree with dominic, was very upbeat. i mean the language there was strong and describing the economy, the labor market. i will say though, i felt that his tone during the press

conference was not as upbeat. it sounded to me -- melissa: i agree. >> more uncertain about the outlook, rightfully so. talking about financial market conditions tightening. the global moderation in growth. you know, events and developments at the fed themself said they're monitoring. they talked about how the fed's forecast was downgraded because of some of these developments since the november meeting or since the september forecast was submitted so i actually thought his tone in the press conference was a little bit less upbeat, but again they're still signaling two rate hikes. i think that caused some concern and questioning in the marketplace about exactly how do these two things jive. melissa: todd, michelle as brilliant as always. i thought the same thing. when you read the statement and you listened to his tone, you were sort of like, is this coming from the same place? did you notice that? do you have any idea how to

explain that? did they write one a while ago or what happened? >> probably preplanned the speech, right? i think really we have a market that has some issues. he is showing, expressing some concern. however, if you look at growth, you look at wages, amazon paying $15 an hour, mcdonald's paying a lot. everyone paying hard wages. so there is still demand for help. you talk about oil, we're still pumping oil. we rotated on oil from an importer to exporter. frackers are making money, still putting up rigs. to me oil is going lower, that is a good thing and when you can oversupply the market make a profit. that shows good things for the market, not a bad thing. i don't think oil at 45 is a bad thing. i think it's a good thing. it shows growth. melissa: dominic, it shows you thing, you look at the price of oil you can interpret it a bunch of different ways, can say it's a global slowdown or not. todd making a case against that,

it is about deflation or disinflation because that is a price that disinflation a price of energy and dramatic enough fall it can't go back up that quickly that time soon i can't believe he didn't focus on that? >> i think that actually is a mistake. we can't look at oil if it is in a vacuum. look we expect sanctions against iran. the world was producing at an obscene pace thinking iran would not be allowed to export. it didn't happen so we have all the excess oversupply. the mistake they could have used this, they could have used this as inflation hedge. for next three to six months the pipeline. this will dramatically help the economy. melissa: right. >> they could have paused. they could have said we'll look at thing in january, february, march. then taken steps appropriately. melissa: that is exactly the point i'm making. even an indicator what is to come it is making it happen.

>> it was an opportunity. melissa: it is an opportunity. it is input across the board. if oil is cheaper, prices of all kinds of things will be lower. thanks, you guys are brilliant. thanks to all three of you. good stuff. connell: a lot more coming up. interesting to see you who the markets react tomorrow after everybody has a night to sleep on it. meantime the serious story with the u.s. planning to pull forces out of syria. white house strategy to withdraw roughly 2,000 american troops currently on the ground there and what it means for the fight against isis. melissa: plus attempting to avert a government shutdown for now. some lawmakers getting behind a temporary funding bill. can they agree on a permanent solution? karl rove on the bruising battle and fed rate hike decision. that's next. connell: president versus the fed. driving in tunnels under los angeles. elon musk is attempting to avoid the traffic. it will be a fun story, 30 feet below the ground. we'll take you to the test track for this. it is boring but not really

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>> take up a simple measure that will continue government funding into february so we can continue this vital debate after the new congress has convened. because make no mistake, mr. president, there will be important, unfish -- finished business left in front of us and we owe it to the american people to finally tackle it. melissa: right. days before a government shutdown, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell introduced a short term spending bill if passed will keep the government open for business until february 8th. lucky us. blake burman at the white house. blake. reporter: february 8th, seven weeks from friday. this would be 50-day out, but a

out nonetheless for congressional negotiators and a way to possibly give them a way forward to make sure the government doesn't shut down. this was endorsed by mitch mcconnell. timing on this soon tbd. it is given thumbs up by nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. >> and democrats will support this cr. the president and the house should follow that lead, because shutting down the government over christmas is a terrible idea. one of the worst to come down the pike in a very long time. reporter: however one big question mark here as the white house has not yet said if this gets to the president's desk whether or not president trump would support the short-term stopgap measure, especially considering that it does not include added money for the border wall. remember where we were last week. president trump said, if he didn't get $5 billion for border wall, border security, he would shut down the government. would be in favor of that. the white house though is now

trying to lay the groundwork for the argument, if there is some sort of short-term option, or something short of what the president wants, they say it wouldn't be a capitulation. >> the president is not softening his stance. he has a responsibility to keep the government moving forward and he has the responsibility to get border security. if he could do it by himself he would have done it already. we are relying on a congress proven many times like with tax reform, deregulation, obviously two great supreme court justices they're willing to come up to make a move. yesterday was historic criminal justice reform. but on this, on this they're walking away. reporter: formal decision from the president. we await that. the deadline here friday, at midnight. if not, 25% of the government will be shut down then. melissa, connell. melissa: a bunch of chuckle heads. connell: don't call blake a

chucklehead. a former george w. bush advisor and fox news contributor. it is our top story today, want to get your take on the fed. they raised interest rates earlier. that was in the day that was expected. of course president trump's been quite vocal in his criticism of jay powell, the federal reserve chairman. i don't think he has tweeted yet. melissa: it is bound to happen. connell: it is early, tonight or tomorrow on that. what's your impression has been how openly critical the president has been of the federal reserve chairman? >> well, it is not first time a president has been critical of a fed chairman. we've had this in the modern era a number of times. this president has been unusually critical of powell, our, in a way, if you, the more you criticize an institution that is supposed to be independent, the more likely it will be to assert its independence. connell: right. >> i think we saw a little a bit of that today with powell saying they would raise rates.

they did change the guidance going forward but i think between the president's comments and the fed's reaction, then also the fed chairman also made it clear they're not going to stop the winding down of their very large balance sheet runup in the aftermath of the financial crisis. connell: that's right. something maybe the markets are a little bit upset with but now to your point, even if the president's right and there are a lot of people who agree with his criticism of the policy, "wall street journal" editorial page for example, yesterday, even if he's right is your point he could be shooting himself in the foot here? again i know powell denies there is any political influence, but i guess we'll never know? >> look sometimes things are better delivered in private than public. if you're going to, put another political actor in a difficult place, better to sometimes do it in private rather than in public because the fed is very sensitive about its independence and, as are the financial markets and in this instance i

don't hoe how much it entered into powell's consideration but i suspect a factor moving forward at this time. you're right, "wall street journal" editorial page, my former colleague, dr. larry lindsey is, a former fed governor, all of them made the case this is a time for different tact than the reserve took. connell: let me go back to the spending battle for a moment, karl. blake was talking about a deal in place that will get us through up until february at the very least. what happened here with the white house? some would say, conservatives the president is giving in here on his wall. what is it going on? >> look, we have, first of all let's put this in perspective, the federal budget is $4,407,000,000,000. we have a fight between the president who wants $5 billion. that is 00.005 of a trillion.

versus the senate democrats who say we will give you $1.6 billion, which is, 3 or 4 billion-dollar difference out of a $4.407 trillion budget but you can't use any of it on the wall. this is all politics. the president is committed to a wall. he talked about it during a campaign. senator schumer in 2005 was one of 80 members of the u.s. senate who voted for the secure fencing act which authorized 700 miles of border wall and fencing. we have 650 of various sorts and variations. so i mean you can look at this, say, mr. president, i'm chuck schumer, i voted for this 13 years ago. we haven't finished the job. we ought to finish the job and repair what needs to be repaired. no, this is all about politics. let's not kid ourselves. schumer voted for this before. he was actually for it before he was against it to paraphrase a former democratic candidate for president. this is just absurd.

yet this is what we've come to in our reality show tv world we live in in washington. connell: dems take the house anyway next year. we're right back at it. >> how is that going to make a better outcome for president trump? it's not. no. connell: karl, thank you for coming on. merry christmas. >> you too. melissa: back in hot water. facebook hit with another bombshell about the social media giant misuse of media data. what could it mean for mark zuckerberg's future with the company or sheryl sandberg's? that's next. i knew about the tremors.

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connell: facebook under fire again. you don't have to adjust the set on this one. yes we had a facebook underfire story i believe on the show yesterday. melissa: and every other day. connell: quite possibly the day before that. this one is actually completely different for the company. we have kristina partsinevelos all over it live in the newsroom. what is happening this time. reporter: i spoke to you yesterday that russia was

targeting african-americans on facebook. this is a huge investigation by "the new york times." they went through 200 pages of facebook partnerships and automatic system they have with partners and interviewed 50 ex-employees, to discover most of your information continued to be shared with outsiders and with other companies. facebook denies all of this. they say these partnerships, i will get to what i mean by partnerships, these partnerships are extension of facebook. this is just business. they're not selling your data. this is just a deal that they have in place. what do i mean by that? take an example how facebook had been giving away your data. let's look at first, you have got microsoft. they gave access to bing which is the search, to see user's friends without our consent. netflix, this is the biggest one, netflix, spotify, royal bank of canada were actually able to read your private messages and delete them. amazon was able to obtain

personal contact information. yahoo!, they could see streams of friend posts. there is even a russian giant search engine that had access to user i.d.s. what you're seeing on the screen, zuckerberg testifying in front of congress. in 2011 facebook signed a consent they would not sell your data without your knowledge. facebook is saying they haven't but yet this potentially, if this is goes against the ftc ruling, this could be a huge fine for facebook, much bigger than the cambridge analytica scandal where 87 million people had their information compromised by the way today, attorney general of district of columbia has officially sued facebook over that scandal. i will end on this note. you are the data. you are being sold. that information, the user data right now is worth $20 billion. a 20 billion-dollar industry.

american companies will be just buying your data. how much will you give up? connell: this is a big one. it angered a lot of people. melissa. melissa: todd horowitz, dominic tavella are back with us. so, dominic, what really got me is they're allowing other companies in through a backdoor to read your messages and, even delete them, but then to listen in on your conversation that you're having with a family member, whatever it is on their site and then they can use that information to pitch you specific things. if they picked up the phone, and they listened to your phone conversations, everybody would be outraged. is this the same kind of outrage around that? do people think twice about communicating with each other over facebook as a result? >> you know when this thing first broke a couple months ago, i didn't think much of it, because it didn't seem like the people using facebook cared very much. instagram was doing great.

messenger was doing great. you figured the company could survive. but when you get these drips day after day after day and now this is a big one because the regulators will step in, congress will step in. forget about what the europeans are going to do, european regulators are going to do, this is a big deal. melissa: todd what kills me what liars their executives are, because if you have, mark zuckerberg up there talking about the fact he would never sell it. okay, now they're saying they just trade it with another company in order to let them go in. he also sat there, made the case it, would really be stupid for their business in order to do something that makes you not want to communicate with someone else on their site. then they went ahead and did that stupid thing that's bad for their business and look at the stock as a result. isn't their executive team really doing a huge disservice to shareholders? >> they are but let's remember not like your phone, your phone, you pay for phone bill, giving

data for free. you're willing to hand it over. melissa: not me. >> i understand they are sharing information. i think they're really dumb and doing a disservice probably a great company should have been the first one there trillion dor company but they have done such great damage to what they're doing with it. the value of their business and is the value of the information they can get, but trading for it but not technically selling it but trading for the data. everybody is attacking you with all the ads come through that until you pay for that product, we are the customer. we do not have that same privacy right when you are giving away your data for free. melissa: not me. i deleted my facebook page like so many others. >> so did i. connell: oh, man, the private message thing got a lot of people. melissa: private message. connell: exactly in the definition. anyway the end of the road for paul ryan. the outgoing speaker giving a farewell address earlier today. how did he do during his tenure as speaker? guy benson with a report card.

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so get isotoner gloves for the whole family. melissa: outgoing house speaker paul ryan delivering his farewell address today on his take on his tenure as house speaker. >> this house is the most productive we have had in at least a generation. to date we have passed 1175 bills. more than half of them with bipartisan support. we have taken on some of the

biggest challenges of our time. which made a great and lasting difference in the trajectory of this country. melissa: so what will paul ryan's legacy be like? guy benson, "town hall" political he had, host of "benson & harf," radio show. he is fox news contributor. i think we're out of time talking about all your titles, guy. strikes me, i hear folks from the house say that, we did 1175 bills and most of that then just goes on to die. and, you know, it can never make it through the senate. it feels like they're spinning their wheels and to, is it right to be proud of that and feel like we changed the trajectory of the country when they do all a this work and it doesn't go anywhere? >> i think you can control what you can control. he was speaker of the house and they were able to move legislation the easier to do in the house than the senate for number of reasons where the minority has far less power in the lower chamber but there were

significant elements where there was success not just in the house but also in the senate and bills that were signed into law. of course tax reform was a huge one. the congressional review act on deregulation was really an important piece of the trump booming economy. va reform. criminal justice reform will pass through the house to become law. there were big-ticket items over the course of these last two years i think speaker ryan and his colleagues have a lot to be proud about. melissa: should the focus be put forward stuff to get all the way through the senate and become law? should that be one of the main things you're thinking about as you're putting together legislation? >> sure, especially if it is both chambers controlled by the same party. that will not be the case anymore. there will be a lot of messaging votes next two years with split control of congress. that was not the case in the last two. remember, the biggest whiff i think for speaker ryan was obamacare repeal and replace and of course entitlement reform

which was unfortunately a nonstarter because president trump as a candidate signaled he was not open to that. i think that is very frustrating personally. they came within one vote of the senate passing something on obamacare. of course that didn't come to pass. i think if you talked to paul ryan, listened to his speech today, he did talk about obamacare and entitlement reform as two of the big regrets that he has as he exits stage right. melissa: yeah, absolutely. entitlement reform without question is one of the ones we need more than anything. those guys it is not in their interest getting done, they are cutting their own spending. they love to spend money. get your take on senate passing bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation. you mentioned that one. how big of a deal is that one? what is your take? >> i think this is a big deal. this is good policy some of the people opposed it ultimately guys i respect, ben sasse, marco rubio and they had their reasons

but it garnered 87 votes in the senate on relatively controversial, difficult package. that means something. i think that this is going to allow more people to have a better opportunity to rebuild their lives after spending time in federal prison. that's a good sign. it also reduces some of the inequities that were inherent in our criminal justice system. i think this is a win for the american people but politically i think it is also win, the democrats can come away hey look, we provided a ton of these votes but this was going to be one of the last major acts of the republican-dominated, republican-controlled congress and it is a big, historic, generationally-shifting deal and it was endorsed by the president. it was fought behind closed doors very hard for by jared kushner, by ivanka trump as well. they have their fingerprints on this effort. they brought the president around. mitch mcconnell eventually came around. what was looking dodgy and maybe like it would crash into a brick

wall a few weeks ago all of a sudden going to become the law of the land. melissa: isn't that the blueprint for getting a deal done? is it possible to do this with other issues? immigration reform, especially if you didn't start it with the wall, but if you talked about immigration reform, could you have the same thing? criminal justice reform is also something that -- >> tricky. melissa: thank you. that is perfect word. >> you're exactly right. it is a thorny issue. they were able to make compromises look at thing, be thoughtful, bring in ideas from red states. they got it done. on a sensitive charged issue you can accomplish important things. it also politically shows from the president's perspective, he needs to spend the next two years, if he wants to win another term, he needs some of the moderates and independents who abandoned him and republicans in 2008, come back to the fold. they need to reach out to get

things done in bipartisan way. this is big example, look what we were able to do. my endorsement pulled it over the finish line. it is a compelling point he can make. melissa: guy benson. thank you. >> merry christmas. melissa: merry christmas. connell: this is a question for everybody out there. would you be willing drive through or take a ride through some of these dark tunnels to avoid sitting in traffic? melissa: i think so. connell: i definitely would. elon musk is betting we all will. he is bringing you you know ground next. ♪ -- underground. or where you trade, you'll only pay $4.95. fidelity. open an account today.

you'll only pay $4.95. uh uh - i deliverberty the news around here. ♪ sources say liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. over to you, logo. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ connell: hoping to fix what he has called l.a.'s quote, soul-destroying traffic. elon musk unveiling his boring company, first underground company. that is the name of the company, the boring company. hillary vaughn got a big up and close personal look at this in hawthorne, california with the details. tell us about it, hillary. reporter: connell, we got a ride

along. this started with a tweet from elon musk and he hates traffic he could start digging underneath the freeway. $40 million of his own cash later he is introducing his solution to the word that he says is going to change your commute forever. day beaud an underground tunnel network that allows drivers to skip surface traffic on the street, instead head underground and drive 150 miles per hour. musk opened the tunnel up to demo rides. we got a ride in the tesla model x drove underneath the route in hawthorne, california. the first city to get the transportation loop is chicago. he said he started in california because the high regulations were like a stress test on the product. >> we have got earthquakes. we have got oil and gas and methane in the soil like, there

still drill oil in l.a. and you have got sandy, rocky soil. there is a, about a million regulatory agencies that you have to satisfy. essentially if you can tunnel here, you can tunnel anywhere. [laughter]. reporter: it is not just musk's bright idea to dig his way out of traffic. it is high-tech-heaviry machinery he invented to get the job done, faster, cheaper, more fish enthan ever before and could change construction as we know it. the boring company is preparing to launch a new machine that simultaneously digs and builds the tunnel as it works through the earth and uses the earth it digs up to build the concrete slabs that line the tunnel. this is key. without it musk would be digging an expensive tunnel to know where. instead he says he can build an underground public transportation network that is 1/10 of the cost of a typical bus or rail system. musk says he heard from at least 20 cities a week expressing

interest in this tunnel system. connell. connell: i'm sure there is a lot to figure out politically. the fighting over the finances. it is interesting technology. hill criminal, thank you. hillary vaughn. melissa: what happens if somebody gets stuck in the tunnel? if is it a giant pile up what if it explodes. connell: if it explodes? why negative outlook? melissa: i know people are thinking about this out there. i'm just reflecting what viewers are thinking about this. am i right? anyway. declaring victory against isis is. latest on president trump's military decision. how it could impact our strategy in the middle east. ♪ there's no place like home ♪

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connell: president trump is

considering a full military withdrawal from syria. there are around 2000 troops on the ground. the commander-in-chief with a tweet on the topic this morning. we'll put it on the screen for you. he says, we have defeated isis in syria, my only reason for being there during the trump presidency. peter brookes joins us, heritage foundation senior fellow. the president is hearing it from all sides, including those in his own party. let me start with his own premise. from what you know, have we defeated isis or has isis been defeated in syria? >> i think largely so but i still think there are isis exists in syria today and iraq. the numbers are, fuzzy and obviously you and outside of government, we rely on things we heard from them. i heard numbers of 2,000 or something along this line. we've been putting additional pressure on them recently. it also depends, connell, how you define defeat, right? like i said i think it is largely the caliphate is down to

1% of the territory it held. it is no longer a caliphate. isis doesn't hold the territory it once did. it is on its back foot. the concern is going forward. connell: do they mount a comeback. >> related. we have to think about what happened in iraq in 2011. president up obama left and al qaeda in iraq became isis. we remember how horrible it was, 2015 at its peak of power and then afterwards. this is something we could hear about. i'm waiting to hear more from the administration. a lot of people are breathless to make judgments. i want to hear more and administration should tell us what they mean going forward. connell: many in the president's own party, whether marco rubio, outgoing senator bob corker, white house meeting earlier this afternoon was actually called off.

maybe most notably the senator from south carolina, lindsey graham. here what he had to say earlier. here talk about it. >> we need partners f we pull out of syria now, the conditions do not warrant it in my view. we're exposing a valuable ally to a lot of damage. we're giving a boost to isis to regenerate. above all else this will be seen by iran as us being weak. connell: on that last point, we talked about the regeneration of isis already. on that last point this will be seen by iran, us, united states being weak. what do you say to that? >> well, it depend. the perception is in tehran. we can try to shape that but they will perceive what they want to perceive is. there are risks here. no questionquestion about it. the administration owes us information on the strategy going forward. he mentioned russia, in another part of that clip russia is another issue. bashar al-assad, president of syria is staying in power, used

chemical weapons for his own people. basis for russians, iranian presence, movement of weapons through syria places like lebanon and gaza strip. there are a lot of concerns. nato ally turkey, our relationship with them. there are a lot of things. i'm looking forward to the administration laying out the case for this decision. connell: president had a call with erdogan of turkey recently. maybe that played into this. on your point about russia, they love it, right? this move was praised in the russia state media today. criticized at home by lindsey graham. if you knew nothing else, that is kind of a strange position for the president to be. >> i think it would be better if they perhaps rolled out the strategy with the decision as opposed rolled out the decision without the strategy. they have one internally i'm sure, myself, you and congress and american people are very anxious to hear more about this. i hope they have more information in the near future. connell: bottom line we need to hear more from the white house. we'll see if we will. peter brookes, good to see you.

>> thank you. melissa: hectic shopping season is underway. we're giving you inside look at the retail landscape ahead for christmas. that's next.

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i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. what's in your wallet? >> november retail sales figures have holiday shopping for 2018 up 4.6%. but with the market's rocky road in december and a fed interest rate hike and tariffs to affect many businesses will it be a holly jolly christmas for retailers? we have more on that. what's the verdict, jeff? >> it is so busy here, melissa, they are actually letting me even load packages on to the conveyer belt here. this is lands end, iconic american brand in dodgeville, wisconsin. it is going to be a good christmas. they have had six consecutive quarters of sales growth, and it looks like they are going to have another one here at christmas. i got the chief financial

officer. how did you get here? >> well, it's been a team effort. it's been across all of our business units. it starts with product. our outer wear business most recently has seen customer response. >> is the economy doing well? >> the economy is not hurting. we are seeing response across our retail segment, across u.s. direct segment, across with most recently the delta launch. >> worries going forward. the stock market is not doing well. not rewarding your stock tremendously well and others. what does that tell you about the future? >> well, we're not going to be able to control what the stock market does. we're going to be able to control what our business does. and we look at our performance coming out of the third quarter, with double digit increase in our u.s. e-commerce and a 15% increase in our retail segment, so we feel like we're doing a lot of good things. >> so disconnect between stock market, main street and wall street. we hear that a lot, melissa, and perhaps you see there's a lot of people buying a lot of stuff

here. i'm not sure what that si'm putting on the thing -- i'm not sure what that is i'm putting on the thing, but there it goes off to its destination. dodgeville, wisconsin. >> i think that might be for me. i've ordered a whole bunch of stuff. do you see anything with my name on it? >> that looks like you. polka dot pink? >> no, that's mine, jeff. >> we love anything camo. >> polka dot pink is mine, jeff. >> that's nice. jeff flock, get me some extra stuff. are you totally messing up a whole bunch of people's christmas gifts there as you grab it off the bin? now those people are not going to get that gift, is that what's happening? >> it is going nowhere. >> this is leopard print. this speaks you, melissa. >> all right, on that note -- >> maybe. jeff flock, thank you very much. [laughter] >> i love lands end. >> we went like 10 seconds too long with jeff. isn't that the case all the time? >> what do you mean? >> well, i could actually -- i could watch him on the conveyer belt all day long, that jeff

flock. anyway. [laughter] >> all right. huge fed day. huge market day. but we end it with a smile and laugh. >> always. >> that does it for us. >> you got to laugh. thanks for joining us. bulls & bears starts right now. david: hi, everybody. thanks for joining us. joining me on the panel today, liz peek, zachary carabell, deidre bolton and jack howe. the dow plunging nearly 900 points right after the federal reserve announced another rate hike this afternoon. it actually went down about 500, but there was a 900 point swing. this despite calls from the president and others to leave rates alone. so folks, did the fed make the right decision? >> well, i think the betting was that they would raise rates, and the betting also was that if they didn't, the market would tumble because everyone would read it as a negative sign about economic growth. so yes, i think they did the