single knows effective thing we can do to stop covid be wear a mask. the head of the cdc warned this fall that for the foreseeable future a mask remains the most potent weapon against the virus. today's news does not change that urgent reality. i won't be president until january 20th but my message today is to everyone is this, it doesn't matter who you voted for, whether you, where you stood before election day. it doesn't matter your party, your point of view. we can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. not democrat or republican lives. american lives. you know, maybe we would save the life of a person who stock as shelf at your local grocery store. maybe saves the life of a member of your place of worship. maybe it saves the lives of one of your children's teachers.

maybe it saves your life. so please, i implore you, wear a mask. do it for yourself. do it for your neighbor. a mask is not a political statement. but it is a good way to start pulling the country together. i want to be very clear, the goal of mask-wearing is not to make your life less comfortable. it is to take something, or take something away from you. it is to give something back to all of us, a normal life. the goal is to get back to normal as fast as possible. and masks are critical in doing that. it won't be forever but that is how we'll get our nation back, back up to speed economically, so we can go back to celebrating birthdays and holidays together. so we can attend sporting events together. so we get back to the lives and connections we shared before the pandemic. it doesn't matter whether or not

we always agree with one another. it doesn't matter who you voted for. we are americans and our country is under threat and now, we're now called to do the same thing that generations of proud americans have done when faced with a crisis throughout our history, rise above our differences to defend the strength and vitality of our nation. you know, that is the character of patriots. that is the character of america. we have to do this together. wearing a mask may seem like a small act. maybe you think your individual choice won't make any difference but throughout our history, throughout the history of our nation we've seen over and over how small acts add up to enormous achievements. it is the weight of many small acts together that bend the arc of history. i know there is nothing the american people can't accomplish when we work together as one people with, one mission.

we can get this virus under control, i promise you. we can rebuild our economy back better than it was before. we can address race-based disparities that damage our country. it is within our power. so let's wear a mask. let's get to work. thank you. may god bless you and for all those who have lost somebody our heart goes out to you. we know what it is like. our heart goes out to you. may god protect our health workers, our health care workers and all americans. thank you. [shouting questions] neil: all right. we're just waiting to see if joe biden was going to entertain any questions. welcome, everybody, i'm neil cavuto. you're watching "coast to coast" on fbn. the president-elect also announced what he calls a coronavirus task force that will be bipartisan in nature, have

the americans health interests at heart. among the representatives on that commission will be the murphy, a former surgeon general briefly under barack obama. also the fda commissioner david kessler under president obama as well. one added name here that struck me immediately was that of risk bright. you might recall him as the whistle-blower under president trump who had resigned after he said warnings that he was giving about the pandemic were being ignored. he is part of this commission. let's get the read right now from all of this on a day we have some of the tantalizing news out of the likes of pfizer, biontech, about a vaccine the two parties are saying is 90% effective. a great day certainly in the world community waiting to see such a vaccine but the response today at the corner of wall and broad as has been across the world, torrid. all the major market averages are in record territory. a stunning 1151 pointed a vans

in the dow jones industrials. all of at a time the u.s. passed the 10 millionth case mark. better than 230,000 americans have died from the virus to date. dr. tom price joins us the former health and human services secretary. secretary, doctor, what do you make of what the president-elect has outlined? >> well i think he is very responsible in putting together a task force to be able to go forward and work on the pandemic. it is clearly is the number one issue for america, along with the economy but you can't get the economy rolling again until you take care of the pandemic. so i'm pleased to see that he did that. i think the president-elect has been responsible in that endeavor however it is important that we make certain that all views are listened to. that we are conscious and conscientious about the providers and those first line, front line workers and make

certain they're protected as much as possible. there are reports across the country that you have places now that are beginning to see increasing intensive care unit bed utilization. we need to make certain we have got ppe, the kind of protective equipment for the front line workers in place. so i'm cautiously optimistic that this announcement from pfizer is the first in many vaccines that will be available for the pandemic. neil: how will this, or do you even know, sir, his, that is, joe biden's task force will work or coordinate with the one that is already out there for the president who is largely kind of ignored of late his task force or at least some of the principal players like dr. birx and dr. fauci? >> i don't know the history but custom during transition all the knowledge being shared, so whoever is coming in the new

government, the new administration, is able to have the knowledge base that exists currently and, i'm hopeful that will be the case. it is incredibly important in spite of the fact there are on going challenges to many of the states where the votes occur. that doesn't moon we ought to ignore the imperative making certain information is transitioned to those individuals who will likely be responsible for having the nation move forward in this pandemic. neil: you know, mr. secretary, you probably heard your former colleague ben carson has tested positive for the virus. mark meadows the chief of staff already tested positive for the virus. we're learning ukraine's president also testing positive for the virus. are we seeing a renewed spike, even in prominent cases? does it worry you that this is slipping and that this is a sign and maybe what the president-elect wants to do is a sign that it could be spiraling

out of control. what are your thoughts? >> i don't know that it is spiraling out of control. it appears the virus mutate ad bit, now likely more transmissible than the original virus t also appears because the comorbidity, the death rate, mortality rate seemingly continued to come down it may not be as virulent or strong as, powerful as it was initially. that doesn't mean that we don't have to be cautious because we do but i think that we are seeing an increase in the incidents of it but a decrease in the consequence of it for those that are being infected and hopefully they'll will be the case for mark meadows and for secretary carson and others who find themselves being, testing positive. neil: all right. to your point the number of cases has risen but those who required hospitalizations or god forbid in the final throes dying of it has been holding at a constant. we'll see hopefully that maintains itself. doctor, thank you very much.

good having you. >> thank you so much, neil. take care. neil: you too. in the meantime, you're not imagining it, a lot of people looking at the lower right-hand corner of the screen, is that right or is that a typo? no, that is accurate. the dow up almost 1200 points on the pfizer-biontech news, a vaccine that has a 90% efficacy rate is out there and could be quickly distributed by the end of the month with final clearance. some leaps yet to be realized here. jackie deangelis is looking how the market in general, not only here, but everywhere responded to this news. let's sort of pick apart the early winners. jackie what have you got? reporter: good afternoon to you, neil. we knew the day would come but we didn't know when. certainly an impressive reaction on wall street. all three averages excited about getting back to business. we always said finding a vaccine would be part of it.

you mentioned that pfizer, biontech have been working on this together. you can see their stocks are rallying on the news. you mentioned that 90% number with respect to the effectiveness. that is really important. when wall street is looking at potential candidates out there, there were estimates that wall street would accept sort of effective rates of anywhere from 50, 55% to about 75% so that 90% number is really what blew this out of the water here. what is interesting about the dosage and the timing as you mentioned. they will file for fda approval by the end of the month. companies say you could see 50 million doses by the end of the year. this is a vaccine given in two doses. that would impact 25 million people. that tells us we have a long way to go before it is accessible to everybody. it is certainly a step in the right direction. market reaction to this been

remarkable today. we've seen oil rallying on getting back to business. travel related stocks are seeing a lot of movement. they have been decimated. it is airlines, cruise lines, casino stocks for example. other sectors we're watching closely retail, dining, on this notion hopefully by early next year, mid next year, whatever it is people will be able to get back out to resume their normal activities. of course it is the stay at home stocks that have been holding us up throughout the pandemic and you can see a screen of red there. zoom is one of the best exam millions as people get back to the offices. there will be less need for the telecom capabilities although the drop today, 11%, pales in comparison to the 200% gain we've seen since the pandemic started, neil. neil: when you look at amazon as sort of a tertiary winner in the pandemic thing. the idea people will not be shopping as much. they won't be as home as much is

reverberating there. thank you very much, jackie deangelis. i want to go to jack mcintyre, brandywine global research. jack, any industry hit hard on this, airlines, concierge, some travel related stocks are storming back on the notion this is sort of like manna from heaven. it isn't realized yet but they're coming off ridiculous lows. maybe this was a good opportunity. what do you think how they're responding and whether it is justified? >> so i, neil, i think it is probably is justified. you know, this was, this is a big deal. not necessarily the timing. i go back to the 90% efficacy rate. that is huge. later on we have more clarity on the election outcome, all that sort of thing. you know, we're a service oriented economy, you know? we're not used to staying home all the time. so i think today we are taking a step, maybe it's a big step towards normalcy, meaning where

we were sort of precovid. neil: i was just noticing the movie stocks, amc, having an enormous runup today. a lot to your point really depends on when we get back to normal. even if they get 50, 100 million doses out for billions across the world who would be looking to have this, it could be a while coming but it will be coming. i'm wondering too, the role of the other drug manufacturers might play. i go back to prior pandemics. there is usually not just one bullet, there are several bullets and several companies behind those bullets. play that out for me what you're envisioning? >> neil, i always kind of go back to the basics. we talked about this before. we're on a war footing. it is the pandemic versus the policy makers and the medical community is a huge part of that policymaker and they really brought out the big artillery. today is one step. you're absolutely right, we've

had unprecedented amount of capital thrown at the medical industry to come up with a solution. so it is not just one in the pipeline hopefully. it would be nice to get one vaccine where it is one dose. yeah, i'm very constructive on this. because, things will get worse on the covid front before they get better. so investors probably need to look through that with an idea we're going to get at least one successful vaccine if not a series of a few. neil: let me ask you meanwhile about the political drama that still plays out nearly a week after the election where the president still wants to make his case to count the votes. at least upwards of half a dozen states. you know as he points out the media doesn't call these things. they're not certified results yet. they won't be for a number of weeks. is it your sense that this could go somewhere add to the uncertainty or is the market patient to wait it out, just see what happens?

>> so as an investor i'm making a basic assumption we're going to have a biden administration with a senate controlled by the republicans. obviously we'll not know that exactly until january 5th. that is my working assumption. i think that is the market's working assumption. so there will be noise with president trump but i just don't think we're going to get any follow-through. i think where we stand today is kind of where we're going to be going forward for the next term. neil: all right. i hear you on that. jack, great catching up with you, my friend. jack mcintyre, the races we're waiting for to jack's point about the senate, whether it is ultimately under and continues to be republican control is the twin georgia runoff, between david perdue the republican, jon ossoff the democrat. also senator kelly loeffler against rafael warnock. in georgia they require you to go get 50% of the vote plus one.

it is not a requirement for the presidential election. it is for, you know, elections to the house or the senate so if the republicans were to capture just one of those races that's it, they have control of the united states senate but we won't know that until january 5th. because that is when the runoff election will be. but that seems way, way into the future now, doesn't it? we have more with market fallout from a virus possibility and a cure for it. all of sudden a deadlocked senate, maybe a cure for that, after this. ♪.

♪. neil: the voting count still goes on in philadelphia where they're still counting the ballots. it is slow motion, so it seems. there is very little indication even though the state has already been called for joe biden there is no official certification on that until all the ballots are literally all counted here at the glacial pace it is going, and the hours that the committing to it, that might not happen anytime soon. let's get a read on things from grady trimble in philadelphia. hey, grady. reporter: neil, while the trump

campaign could file a lawsuit against the people here in philadelphia as well as in allegheny county which is in the pittsburgh area, they could do that as early as today. you mentioned the count is still happening at this hour. it resumed 9:00 this morning. this count and access poll workers got to watch the count happen is expected to be part of the trump campaign's challenge in this lawsuit. in a press conference over the weekend they outlined some of the other things that they're going to be challenging. a couple of them in allegheny county. the first is that they claim that republican observers were barred from watching the count for a full 24 hour period. the other claim they make, a deceased woman voted by mail. they indicated they may have other examples of that as well. maria bartiromo talked to rudy giuliani over the weekend. she asked him if this lawsuit would actually have an impact on the outcome of this race. listen? >> well i think we have enough to change pennsylvania. the pennsylvania election was a,

a disaster and i think that the first lawsuit will be pennsylvania. the second will either be michigan or georgia. over the course of the week we should get it all pulled together. reporter: elections officials in allegheny county will look into the claim after dead person voting. in fact the trump campaign named that person and there is an obituary which was long before the election. so they are looking into that. we asked them about that instance where the trump campaign claims that poll watchers were not able to watch for a 24 hour period. here was their response to that they said at no point were canvasing operations conducted without observers having the opportunity to see the process and the counting. finally, wrapping up here in philadelphia,al schmidt, one of the elections commissioners here. he is a republican, he is charged with overseeing this whole process, he was on 60 minutes over the weekend. he said his office received death threats over this

election. he reiterated what elections officials here all along, there is no cheating taking place. neil? neil: grady, thank you very, very much. i want to go to james trusty on this, the former department of justice prosecutor. james, assuming there are wild things going on in philadelphia and pennsylvania, people voting, we always hear that in elections, especially close ones i'm sure there are there in lots of elections but you would need tens of thousands of dead people voting to change this, wouldn't you? what is your sense not how widespread it is, but widespread enough to change the outcome as it looks right now? >> right. you need of a bit of a zombie apocalypse. the courts will look at it not just whether there is willful violation, some sort of fraud taking place, whether it is outcome determinative. whether it will actually affect that state's, you know, the

voters of that state and their decisions. so you're right to focus on the materiality or prejudices they call it, part of that. i think we're missing the boat on pennsylvania. the bigger issue in pennsylvania that has a better chance of supreme court interest is this issue of the state supreme court extending the balloting deadline. now maybe the numbers are not going to be -- but that is the bigger issue that could interest the supreme court of the united states. neil: right. because that, to your point, tens of thousands allowed many, many more votes normally would be case to be cast, presumably in favor of joe biden but whether it materially affected the outcome is anyone's guess but i am wondering how long do you see this process going because i'm wondering if the supreme court, i'm talking the national supreme court would even want to take this up, what do you think? >> well i don't think they want to in the abstract. that is really almost a federalism principle because it is state rules that create the

federal election process. so they don't typically don't want to lay in wait and second-guess what state courts or state legislatures are doing but in the pennsylvania situation at least, you have got an overreach i think by the pennsylvania supreme court with the u.s. supreme court kind of waiting in the wings, not issuing an emergency stay to stop that from happening but now probably being reproached to deal with it on the merits. again, pennsylvania itself won't be enough for president trump. he will have to take more than one state being overturned but there is a lot of chaos that might come in very short order out of the supreme court getting involved in pennsylvania and pennsylvania perhaps not being able to even say what the segregated count is. in other words, ballots filed late may be mixed in with regular ballots in a lot of counties. this could really take off in a lot of different directions in pennsylvania. neil: you know, it is an off the wall question, james, but i did notice the philadelphia mayor,

when he was talking about what is going on, you could argue in philadelphia he is ostensibly overseeing the counting going on, he famous came up with the line that the president should put his big boy pants on concede. now there is counting going on in philadelphia to say nothing of pennsylvania. was that appropriate? is that something a court would weigh in on saying whoa, whoa, you've overstepped things a little bit? >> no, i don't think a court will get involved in the political kind of hysterics of the moment but i think it is still fair came for all of us to have doubt, to have criticism when the public officials connected to the counting process in pennsylvania, whether it is the governor, the secretary of state or even the mayor of philadelphia, when they weigh in with kind of gratuity shots at president trump it doesn't instill faith in fairness, process taking the right way. they would be better served keeping their mouths shut for a

while, let it play out but i don't think that will have any direct effect on court proceedings. neil: we'll see what happens. james trusty, thank you very, very much. we've been telling you a little bit about the covid virus and the uptick in cases certainly across the country, particularly now in new jersey where the governor, phil murphy, is planning some new restrictions on indoor dining, that sort of stuff but it popped up across lots of states right now. the read from connect cut when we come back from governor ned lamont. what happens if it all starts to reignite? after this. ♪. our retirement plan with voya gives us confidence. yeah, they help us with achievable steps along the way... ...so we can spend a bit now, knowing we're prepared for the future. surprise! we renovated the guest room, so you can live with us. oooh, well... i'm good at my condo.

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be 90% effective. what we've been stressing there are a half a dozen companies simultaneously working on getting vaccines and treatments of their own, including astrazeneca whose top executive right now is on the wires saying there is a clear need, quoting here, for several covid-19 vaccines and is very, very encouraged by the fact that pfizer was among the first to show results but it will not be alone. moderna is among those, a host of others competing but normally the case of pandemics, coming out afterwards, even back in the time of the 1920s and 30's referring to polio, a variety of companies came over the years of and treatments to eradicate that awful, awful disease. we're monitoring that. we're monitoring how people respond to this because they respond to big promising news on a virus one way. the possible vaccine but they do

stuff like this too, get large crowds before we got any of that news, but on the saturday news that joe biden had become the president-elect of the united states. a lot of crowds there. kristina partsinevelos on what happened and what the reaction is since. reporter: neil, you have a situation, the whole city was out. joe biden, president-elect has not commented on the mass gaaterss, new york city, a pretty much a "tale of two cities" where you have small businesses, restaurants, thriving in outdoor dining but you have other businesses that are still boarded up because they feared violence and looting during the elections as well, some that have to stay closed due to covid restrictions. many have gathered in close proximity for president trump's rallies as well to celebrate the elections and president-elect joe biden, but these events as you know, break social distancing rules, that frustrates business owners who cannot serve the public

especially new york is simultaneously opening up some businesses while keeping some closed in hot spots in queens as well as brooklyn. that is frustrating for some businesses. fox business, spoke to the owner of potterly glass paint. she is a single mother of five children. she was in her store on saturday, working on holiday orders, when the city, city officials tried to issue her a ticket for violating red zone restrictions. listen in. >> i have no words for them. they're out there partying. they're out there doing everything they're not supposed to and i have six feet apart signs ready to be put up and ordered enough sanitizer for an army and masks for every customer that walks into my store and now, we're going to just stay closed. reporter: she does have a gofundme page set up online. it comes as new york hit a 2.35% positive test result, the highest number we've seen in five months.

so still going to be a difficult time for businesses to reopen fully. back to you. neil: all right. kristina, thank you very much for that. these spikes kristina referred to, not just new york but states like connecticut. governor ned lamont is here now. governor, very good to have you. first off explain what is going on in your state, sir? >> neil, we had one of the lowest infection rates in the country, our region blessedly did but now we've gone from 1% to 3%. we're trying to make sure everybody stays cautious and we have closed down our restaurants after 10:00 at night. some of these restaurants turned into bars at a certain hour of the evening. we're doing everything we can to keep our schools open. neil: so, governor, let me understand this, not as if you're shutting down indoor

dining, but everything is capped off at 10:00 p.m., is that it? >> exactly right. neil, i am doing everything i can to keep things open. i have to explain to the restaurant people, closing at 10:00 we can keep the restaurants open. in europe they shut them down. neil: i do know that. even italy, you don't want to get the italians going on closed restaurants that is a whole another issue. on the school front, governor, how many of your systems, many have dual service, virtual and in person. do the new rules affect them? >> they don't. right now we have got over half of our kids k-8 are able to go to school in full-time classroom setting if they choose to. some are virtual because of the nature of the pandemic. our colleges are all open. i think we'll be able to keep them open right through to thanksgiving vacation. when they planned to close until late january or february.

neil: right. that seems to be very typical. you were among the leaders in that idea of about maybe colleges should weigh the possibility of staying closed from thanksgiving through christmas. i know that started in your administration, one of the things to consider. sure, lo and behold across the country many colleges are doing just that. i'm not a doctor myself, governor, i talked to doctors returning kids to school from this long break giving it to their families. are you worried about that? are you worried in a way we don't appreciate when a lot of these kids return back home? >> it is going to be a big risk. we have thousands of kids coming from some states where you have a 40% infection rate. so these are quote, quarantine states. and, either you quarantine when you get home but that is not great because you could be infecting your family at that point. so, tests before you get there. tests after you get here.

so we have a double-check what is going on. we have the same rules when colleges opened and kids were coming in. it worked pretty well. neil: right. yeah, no it was very well-coordinated. i do remember that. can i ask you one other quick question concerning president-elect joe biden. he formed this task force that will advise him as he and kamala harris take office next january but one of the things i noticed in that some of the key players are talking about taking bigger steps than are being taken right now. he advocated for a mask mandate. he also seemed to hint about taking bigger actions and those are not succeeding. if he were to advocate for a renewed lockdown in this country if it came to that, how would you feel about that? >> i think that is premature. we're trying everything we can to keep things open safely, you

know, barbers, nail salons. we've been able to do that safely. we don't see that is where the spread is. we had to say, look, gatherings more than 10 people, stay away from that, don't do that. if you can't get home 10:00 so we don't have a lot of parties going on late. neil: thanks giving in new jersey, and other states i'm familiar because i live in new jersey where they're talking about keep it limited. don't have too many relatives over. which by the way governor, is fine by me but having said that, what do you think of that? what kind of advice are you giving your constituents? >> i'm afraid we said the same thing. no more than 10 people. look, thanksgiving is a great family gathering. via friends or friends of friend there. we always did that in our household but not this year. those are just the type of events that can really lead to a spread. neil: all right. governor ned lamont, very good catching up with you.

hopefully things subside and cool down. ned lamont of the beautiful state of connecticut here but again this is something that is happening nationwide, how your various governors, local officials deal with that, advise you of on this, the goal seems to prevent across the board shutdowns we're seeing in europe but signs the president-elect today might not be a enough, vaccine promises or no. the other side of a deepening case of fears with this virus after this. this is decision tech. find a stock based on your interests or what's trending. get real-time insights in your customized view of the market. it's smarter trading technology for smarter trading decisions. fidelity. keeping your oysters busihas you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed

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♪. neil: all right. as we see the markets soar on hopes for a vaccine that could come sooner rather than later we're told in trial stages maybe by the end of this month. at that might be a leap. nevertheless the thought of one could be out there and soon, enough to protell stocks. all major averages in record

territory. this as the virus itself is alive and well. the latest target, hud secretary ben carson who just tested positive for the virus. a week after mark meadows, chief of staff, tested positive for the virus and overnight we got news that ukraine's president tested positive for the virus. so it is alive and well here. henry cisneros, the former hud secretary under president bill clinton. i'm sure you share the same concern for your successor ben carson right now. it is a reminder this thing is quite virulent, alive and well and building. i wonder if we're seeing a second wave and ultimately that could prove to be president-elect joe biden's first task what do you think? >> neil, first of all thank you for having me and great to talk to you again. i've had the good fortune to be on your show a number of times

over the years and i always appreciate it. i think you're right, it is a reminder that the virus is very, very intense. in fact the 128,000 new cases on one day last week, friday, were as strong a number as has been anytime during the pandemic. i'm not sure it is fair to characterize it as a second wave because we really didn't plateau down participate enough to talk about this as a wave. it is more a plateau at a high level and very dangerous. it should remind each and everyone of us we have to continue to be vigilant and where protection with a mask, at least, and be careful in other respects because, it is still dangerous. i was thinking about this morning. you know, it is one thing to talk about large numbers of people. you say, well, very few of them actually go to the hospital and fewer are on ventilators and

fewer die but for those who are affected it is profound and that has been 238,000 people in our country who have actually died. so we have to be careful. now the vaccine of course will be an important step forward. it will reduce the number of people who are vulnerable and so i certainly understand the upbeat mood of the stock market as the possibility that a vaccine might be available sooner rather than later. neil: do you share the view, i know, when the president-elect biden was talking about this and his task force that he has assembled, a bipartisan one to prepare for this, to help prepare for doing something on day one when he takes over next january, that there is something else here and maybe it will require more draconian steps than what governors had proposed? i was talking to ned lamont, what is going on in connecticut

there with restricting indoor dining past 10:00 p.m., that sort of thing, new jersey where i live, mr. secretary, where they're entertaining the same type of thing, that we might need something more national not saying needed, what is going on in italy, germany, france and portugal where they are reimposing, reimposing limitations s that wise to you? >> neil, i think the first thing is let's try just being positive and encouraging people to employ the precautions we know work like masks. stop the rhetoric that says masks are a political statement and people are making a statement of defiance and independence by not wearing a mask, that foolishness. let's get positive. neil: you think it should be a federal edict? secretary, do you think it should be a federal edict? >> i don't think a federal edict per se works but strong guidance

to governors, industries leaders at large makes a difference that would be the first level. if one must go beyond that, we know there are things that work-related to the limitations on hours and density of gatherings and so forth. but, no, i don't think that an overall lockdown is warranted. i don't think the president-elect and his team are thinking about that. i think we can take solace from the fact that he has appointed people like dr. vivek murthy, former surgeon general, dr. david kessler, former faa commissioner, fda commissioner, in the last days to head a kind of a very experienced, scientifically oriented group that can walk that tightrope between the precautions that are necessary, imperative and keeping this economy alive and moving forward. neil: all right. we'll follow it very, very

closely. henry cisneros, thank you for taking the time. be safe and healthy yourself. the secretary was talking about this commission joe biden set up, among the more interesting members, i've been looking at it, this rick bright. you might recall mr. bright was the whistle-blower who had resigned from the trump -- warning about pandemic was worsening and the administration was not paying enough attention, being ignored. so he quit, he left. he is now part of this biden commission. we'll have more after this. ♪. before nexium 24hr,

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♪ you know you got to live it ♪ ♪ if you wanna wi... [ music stops ] time out! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ neil: you know that republican senate is not a done deal right now so we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. charlie gasparino following two georgia races that could decide it all but not until early january. charlie? >> they are up on coronavirus vaccine, traders i'm talking to growing divided government, that the gop keeps one senate seat in georgia. i can tell you this, hedge fund outfits are out there surveying

every bit of information they can get on the two seats. they try to figure out who might win in kelly loeffler, sonny perdue either one of them can win. the reason why they do it, neil, is a market implication. if the gop keeps the senate it is divided government. it is generally considered good for the market. they want to get ahead of the trade. they are finding now, the odds are that kelly loeffler or perdue, most likely perdue will keep the seat and keep the senate 51 senators, not giving kamala harris that vote. all the market indications foreshadowing reporting we did on larry fink, the head of blackrock, largest money manager, we'll get a vaccine some point soon, that is good for markets and investing. divided government is good as well. that is what markets tell us. neil, this is what is going on the corner of wall and broad.

they are looking at the two seats in georgia believe it or not. they have give an edge to republicans and a market positive thumbs up. back to you. neil: all right. i know you mentioned sonny perdue. it is david perdue. you raise a good point. all it takes for one victory for republicans to lock on to the control, right? losing both all bets are off. we could have a biden administration but they're betting on at least one victory here? >> yes. the theory is though, neil, just so you know, it might go together. if one wins the other wins. it is the way people are starting to vote now to put a check on joe biden. neil: right. that's right. we forget that loeffler had quite a challenge right now within the republican. that vote presumably would go to her. we'll see. it is a little too early. january 5th we'll know. thank you my friend. charlie gasparino, the best in the business giving us the business.

we were up 1500 points but pretty impressive. what does the street see that goes way beyond the vaccine?

neil: we are just getting word in the middle of a market rally that the president has just fired mike esper, his defense

secretary. he did that via tweet. i don't know if he told the secretary he was fired via tweet. we had already gotten word that the defense secretary felt that he might be on borrowed time here, especially when he was saying at the time the president back in the summer using active duty troops to sort of stall these large scale protests across the u.s., remember right after the death of george floyd, that that criticism still stuck with the president, said that military forces should be used in a law enforcement role and only law enforcement role, so he was not supportive of what the president had done at the time. the president clearly never got over that and win or lose, when the final votes are in, of course, the president not much a fan of the media sort of glomming on to the notion that joe biden is the president-elect. he is. but the fact of the matter is that he would not wait until then to get rid of his defense secretary. he's out right now. blake burman with more on this just developing story.

blake, i believe that the defense secretary had even telegraphed he could be fired via tweet, but can you fill us in on the details? reporter: i'm glad you note that, because remember, jim mattis, one-time defense secretary, there was a back-and-forth and to whether or not he resigned or was fired. john bolton, whether he was resigned or fired. there was some reporting out there that mark esper, the defense secretary, was gearing up for a resignation. there were other reports that the president was gearing up to fire him. now we see this tweet from the president that he has been terminated so we will have to sort of make some calls and try to figure out whether or not he was terminated or resigned. in any event, one thing that i think should be noted here is that mark esper is also at the very very top of one of the people running operation warp speed. of course, we got very good news on that front today or at least on the vaccine front today from

pfizer, what we have been covering, what has been fueling the markets. operation warp speed of course deals with the vaccine candidates, the developments, bringing some companies in, pfizer sort of laid out at least where they got to up to this point on their own but also the distribution of a vaccine, whenever that's approved by the fda, whenever that's able to be distributed, operation warp speed oversees part of that effort. now for the moment that leadership team has one person left because it is led by mark esper, defense, and alex azar, hhs. something we will have to see how that may or may not affect operation warp speed here in what is the remaining days of the trump presidency. neil? neil: you know, i don't want to push speculation, blake, but of course, this occurs at the same time during the campaign we were told that the president was very dissatisfied with bill barr not taking more corrective action on these reports of voting abuses

and the rest and whether, you know, democrats had overstepped themselves. he was similarly critical of the fbi director wray. any talk there that this firing of esper is just the start? reporter: add to that list gina haspel, head of the cia. there is some talk maybe her job would be in jeopardy and oh, by the way, there was that campaign event in which the president openly suggested the firing of dr. anthony fauci. we're not saying that's going to happen. we're not saying the president can do that or will do that or won't do that, but there has been all this talk about what might come after an election and what might come after an election loss, and maybe just maybe now we are seeing the first domino fall. neil: all right. blake burman, thank you very much. very fast hustling on that story. again, i think blake kind of touched on this. it is not unusual right after an

election for members of the president's cabinet to all submit resignation letters just in case. that was famously done after richard nixon won re-election in a landslide in 1972. he took a good many of them up on that. this is a little different because the president ostensibly has lost this race. obviously he's fighting that in the courts right now to turn that around, but regardless, he has gone ahead and fired his defense secretary. very unusual for a president to do that, especially when it looks like he's lost, and you know, he only has six to eight weeks left in office. kristin soltis-anderson joins us now. what do you make of this and whether more heads could be coming? >> it wouldn't surprise me if this is not the first of a number of things that president trump will try to do to make a big statement on his way out of office. clearly he's made a lot of public statements that he does not like the results of this election and that he wants to do

what he can to continue to try to make a mark with the couple of weeks he would have left. so it wouldn't surprise me if esper is not the first. as you noted, there have been many times where after a decisive election result, where the incumbent party has faced challenges. there is a little bit of housecleaning. you may recall after the midterms in 2006, the very first time pelosi became speaker, immediately following that election you had donald rumsfeld step down, i believe the very next day. so in some ways, this is not terribly unorthodox. however, it is a little bit unusual because at least in that situation, for then president george w. bush would have had another two years to fill the spot. here, it's really unclear what will happen over the next few weeks. neil: it makes you wonder because the president is obviously fighting this in the courts, what happened election day, no one has won or lost, it's not been certified, he's technically right, but having got to 270 electoral votes,

unless that is reversed, joe biden is seen as president-elect of the united states. this kind of move on the part of a man who, you know, has an uphill fight to stay another four years legally in office, is different, right? i'm just wondering if he were to do the same against bill barr or you know, others that have not exactly curried his favor by refusing to pursue investigations that he, donald trump, wanted. we could be entering into some murky waters here. >> well, bill barr has been one of the folks in the cabinet i view as actually being pretty loyal to things that the president has asked for. he's not done everything and that's in part because the department of justice is supposed to remain relatively more independent from the president than other cabinet offices, but this esper story, you had even been hearing prior to election night itself that esper had been sort of gearing up waiting for this. trump has had a sort of tense relationship with leaders within

the military, even as he has tried to make the case that he is fighting for, you know, the enlisted men in the military or folks that are not necessarily leaders at the pentagon. so it doesn't surprise me that it's esper. he, as you noted before, as the reporter noted before, there are other members of the administration that trump has talked about in the past as being unhappy with. if he wants to make a big statement on the way out the door, his catchline is you're fired even if that is what the american voters have just said to him, he may not be done saying that to members of his own team. neil: all right. i don't want to push you here but you have been so good on this, i'm curious, do we know, i know he tweeted out the news he had fired defense secretary esper. that is the way that the defense secretary found out himself? do we know whether the president told him that? he would not be the first cabinet official who was fired via presidential tweet here, but what do we know? >> oh, neil, i'm actually

unsure. coming to this as a pollster, i have been patched in listening to your show for the last couple minutes so everything i know has come from that reporter. i haven't had a chance to look at my phone and look at twitter. it wouldn't surprise me given that president trump has consistently pursued these sorts of things in a more unorthodox manner. i believe you had rex tillerson let go from his job as secretary of state, finding out via tweet. so this would not be the first, if this was an instance of president trump firing a very prominent member of the government in a very unorthodox fashion. neil: that's how it's going to happen with me. my key won't work at fox, no one would have told me. that's the way life goes. you're up and then you're down. kristin, thank you very very much. let's go to phil flynn on all of this. all this occurs, by the way, at the same time we have the markets surging. of course, oil is surging again on reports that a vaccine is coming, or potentially coming.

pfizer headlining that news with biontech and a host of others here, that it's proven 90% successful. now, you might ask yourself then why is oil running up so fast? well, it's the notion that maybe this could get us out of our pandemic bunk and it can provide a means by which not only our economy but the global economy could sort of pick up a pace here. phil, what is going on? >> i think you are absolutely right. hey, we have got this vaccine at warp speed. this is historic and really changes the fundamentals for the oil market as well as the global economy. just a few weeks ago, a few days ago, oil prices were plummeting because we were worried about a second wave hitting the country and hitting the world. oil prices started to falter on reports that europe was shutting down. we saw the uk putting out [ inaudible ], we saw reports in the united states. everybody is going the stay

home, that means less demand for oil. now with the possibility of a vaccine, the world looks totally different when it comes to energy. all of a sudden people may start to buy. look at the airline stocks, they are flying today. you look at, for example, the energy companies, exxonmobil or whatever, they may actually have a product that people are going to need. you add to this that opec was making some comments that they were going to make maybe a surprise adjustment to the global market to adjust weakness in demand, you are really setting the stage for what could be a very stellar run on oil and a big recovery in the global stock markets as well. neil: phil, any impact of the esper firing? i know it could be the waning days of a lame duck administration. obviously the president is trying to make sure in these various counts that doesn't happen, that he can somehow reverse this, but it occurs at a tenuous time as we look for a transfer of power to take place

over the next eight weeks or so. i'm beginning to wonder whether this could have any jarring implications. what do you think? >> i think it could. one of the greatest accomplishments we saw from the trump administration was getting a peace deal with the middle east, getting arab countries to recognize israel and things like that. you also have the growing tensions with china right now. china of course has been buying u.s. oil in record amounts so what is this going to mean with changes at the top with defense secretary potentially a new president, how is that going to impact china, how is it going to impact the middle east. it's going to create volatility and nervousness and when that happens in the oil market, it's generally bullish because people buy oil as a hedge when they are uncertain how some of these geopolitical issues are going to play out. neil: thank you, my friend, very very much. before i get a read on the stock market with lauren simonetti, just to let you know the

president has fired defense secretary michael esper, a lot of that might have occurred back in june when esper was critical of the president using active dual troops duty troops to quel protests that were happening particularly in the washington, d.c. area over the death of george floyd. that never sat well with the president who thought it was an overreach and it embarrassed him, that the president was supposedly waiting for the moment to fire him. today apparently proved that moment. but if it is rattling stocks, investors certainly have a funny way of showing this. it was telegraphed one way or the other, maybe not now or today but it was one of those things even esper himself had feared that he could be fired via presidential tweet. that appears to be exactly what happened today. in the meantime, markets much more focused on some good news, potentially good news, this vaccine that could be at the ready maybe in a matter of weeks from pfizer and biontech. let's go to lauren with how

that's benefiting virtually everybody but not quite everybody. lauren? lauren: not quite anybody but those that are being left out, we don't feel too bad for them, after their gains this year. so the news this morning that really sent the market skyrocketing was the pfizer news that their vaccine looks to be 90% effective. you compare that to the flu shot, 40% to 60% effective and a lot of people are saying wow, could this be as good as it seems. it is a tremendous step but it's early. the data has not been peer reviewed or approved by the fda. pfizer is expected to apply for the emergency use authorization by the fda, the third week of november. so right around the corner. president-elect biden speaking in the 12:00 hour says that might not be enough. listen. >> it's clear that this vaccine, even if approved, will not be widely available for many months yet to come.

the challenge before us right now is still immense and growing. lauren: and nancy pelosi says we must accelerate the manufacture of the vaccine, including by invoking the defense production act. so what we know is how much of this vaccine will be available. pfizer has agreed worldwide this year to provide 50 million doses. that's good since it's a two-shot vaccine for 25 million people. then next year, 1.3 billion doses. they have received money from the government to manufacture and distribute it, but not for the research and development of it. investors are cheering this idea of back to as close to normal as we can get and that's why you are seeing all three major averages hit record highs today. the dow is the biggest percentage gainer led by energy, financials, real estate, but look at the cruise lines, up 37% for carnival. travel stocks, you can go

somewhere without fear of infection. so very good news for many people. the stay-at-home winners like peloton and netflix, those are the ones who are lagging the market for once today. back to you. neil: yeah. but i agree, do not cry for those investors. they have done very very well through this whole period and even with the selloff. they are still doing quite well. thank you very very much. on the promise of this virus, the companies themselves have been very cautious about the rollout of this if it comes to that, and how much can get in people's hands, what the procedure will be. joe biden himself when announcing his own coronavirus task force to sort of hit the ground running, when he takes office next january, has said that he thinks that this vaccine could be a ways off, maybe months away for all practicality purposes, he's right technically about that. by the way, that task force will include the former surgeon general, vivek murthy, david

kessler and curiously, rick bright, the whistleblower who left the president's pandemic task force when he said his warnings about the pandemic were being ignored. they had not been by joe biden. he's on his task force. more after this. ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. but what if there was a hidden treasure? a prolific area,evada. untouched for decades waiting to be rediscovered? what if one gold explorer is set to unearth the potential

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neil: well, they say timing is everything. how would you like to be reconvening senate right now when it looks like republicans have maintained control. that's not definite. we don't know for sure. certainly january 5th, when the twin runoff elections are going on in georgia. meantime, chad pergram, what if anything the senate could be doing now. hey, chad. reporter: good afternoon, neil. well, the main thing that mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, is focused ois gn is geg a coronavirus bill done in the lame duck session. it seems as though the opportunity for house speaker nancy pelosi to get something done prior to the election has evaporated and maybe mitch mcconnell would like to do a more narrow deal and do it with president trump still in the white house. keep in mind a lot of republican senators wanted a smaller bill, among them mitt romney, republican of utah. >> conservative principles are still on the ascendancy in this

country. i don't think america wants to sign up for the green new deal or getting rid of coal and oil and gas or medicare for all. reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi had taken the lead in coronavirus talks. she negotiated on a daily basis with the secretary of the treasury, steve mnuchin, on a larger $2.2 trillion bill. mcconnell wants something that's more targeted, especially after a good jobs figure on friday. with democratic losses in the house, there are questions as to whether pelosi would take a smaller deal. >> no, no. it doesn't appeal to me at all because they still have not agreed to crush the virus. if you don't crush the virus, we are still going to have to be dealing with the consequences of the virus. reporter: here's what they have to do in the lame duck session. they have to fund the government. the deadline there is the 11th of december. they also have to raise or suspend the debt ceiling and they also have to pass the defense authorization bill. neil?

neil: chad, just curious for an update from you, the very few ranking republicans, or republicans of any sort that know have, you know, had a chance to congratulate joe biden. i know the president is still fighting this. i get that. but they are between a rock and a hard place, a lot of them. how long does that last, do you think? reporter: this is an interesting political dynamic. usually the political capital of a vanquished president, one-term president who didn't get the popular vote on two different occasions, that would go poof and they would run for the exits from that particular president. lindsey graham said something on fox news radio earlier today, he says look, those 70 million plus voters cannot be ignored. he was encouraging the president to run again. senators are going to start to be filtering back into the capitol here very soon and that's what they have to weigh. do they go whole hog with the president here, do they start to distance themselves? that has always been the very tough political calculus in dealing with this president. had he won re-election, they obviously would have supported him but they always kind of treated him with kid gloves.

you have certain republican senators who are more than willing to continue to urge him to fight, and others who are trying to nuance this thing, let's count every vote, but let's be very careful and keep in mind that mitch mcconnell and joe biden had a very good relationship before in the senate. neil: that's true. i forgot about that. chad, thank you very very much. so to chad's point, the president still carries some weight and there is fear certainly among republicans challenging him, that's evidence itself not only in the election and the fact he got more than 70 million votes, though he did lose the popular vote back-to-back in the elections, daniel garza might have an idea why. that is because the president made significant in-roads among a number of key demographic groups including latinos, particularly in texas. very good to have you. it is interesting, i do want to get into the particulars of latinos in your state and what happened, but the president does seem to hold significant sway over republicans. what do you make of that?

>> well, neil, look, i think he won over a lot of folks in the sense that he governed very much a conservative where you had promises made and promises kept and people of course support a leader who is going to deliver on policy and then of course, there were the benefits of those policies for latinos. it was record unemployment, record wage growth and labor participation rates and home ownership so of course, you are going to grow a certain loyalty to the type of leader that delivers. neil: were you surprised, i mean, the democrats were sort of salivating at the prospect of making this red state of texas go blue, much as they were kind of teasing, pushing that four years ago, as they were in the cruz contest and his re-election battle. what do you make of that and of where they are positioned, that is democrats, for the future, because they always have been pushing this notion we can turn the lone star state but a lot depends on much more latino support and they didn't get a

lot of it certainly in your county and beyond. >> well, yes, i'm in hidalgo county. up and down the valley we saw incredible numbers that move towards donald trump in the rio grande valley and across the country, actually, in states like arizona, georgia, nevada, ohio and texas, you saw numbers 40% and above in the exit polls. i wasn't surprised at all because in the conversations we have been having across the country, latinos were listening to the talk of a green new deal that would be so costly, medicare for all that would wipe out employer insurance or private insurance, packing the supreme court which would ruin one of our institutions for political gain, war on energy production. that is anathema in texas, of course, but you also saw the bullying, the canceling, the intolerance of those who want to impose a group-think on the latino community. you saw what was happening out

in the streets, the marxist agenda, doing away with capitalism, and the free market system and the nuclear family. latinos were listening to this and they were saying wait a minute, i don't relate to that and i don't want to be part of that, and i think that's why you saw one, the benefits of good policy but then also, rejection of the bad policies. neil: yeah. daniel, thank you very very much. good catching up with you. this is really one of the more unwritten stories here that despite his loss, the president did make in-roads among a key group and why a lot of them are telling him you shouldn't give up on the white house. forget about now, if it doesn't work now, maybe in another four years, believe it or not. all right. in the meantime, just confirming here, this is now the defense department echoing this, that mark esper is out. christopher miller, the acting secretary of defense, the president's choice to continue in that capacity. at least until january 20th. more after this. all otc pain relievers including voltaren

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neil: all right. defense secretary mike esper is out and apparently, the news was tweeted out by the president of the united states. jennifer griffin, our national security correspondent, on the details on all of that. what do we know, jennifer? reporter: hi, neil. i have confirmed with senior u.s. defense officials that mark esper has been fired by the president. he was involved in meetings at the pentagon this morning and carrying on in his role as defense secretary when the news came through a tweet. there was some surprise at the top levels of the pentagon. they thought that esper had maybe avoided this fate over the weekend, there was some back-and-forth and news reporting from nbc suggesting he had already written a resignation letter and suggesting this could be coming, but the pentagon pushed back hard on that. esper's team pushed back hard and said he had not written a resignation letter. but this was expected for some time.

the president was not happy with mark esper going back to the june 3rd time frame and the incident at lafayette square after the president walked across the square and at the time when there were large protests based on black lives matter protests outside of the white house, and esper held a briefing without consulting with the white house at the pentagon in which he said he opposed invoking the insurrection act which would have allowed the president to send active duty troops into the streets to put down these protests both in washington, d.c. and across the country. there was a real battle at the time between top pentagon leaders and the white house. esper, by holding that press conference, really put a bull's eye on -- a target on himself. the president had long been rumored to be considering firing him. it looked like he was going to wait until after the election and now it appears that he has removed him, but what we do know

is the person he's replacing him with is -- has served in the military for 30 years. chris miller is currently the director of the national counterterrorism center who was put into that position by president trump in august of this year, august 10th. he has served at the nsa. he also has served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations in combatting terrorism. he has an intel background. he served in iraq and afghanistan back in the 2001 and 2003 time frame. he was in the fifth special forces group airborne. so this is somebody who has had a long relationship with the military and is considered a steady hand, who will be taking over. he's senate confirmed so he will be acting defense secretary but again, you can't really put -- it's hard to describe the surprise at the highest levels despite the rumors for some time, it's always very jarring when somebody is fired through a tweet.

neil: that's the way he was fired, right? i mean, it's one thing for the president to announce it via tweet, but did he ever personally let the secretary know or was this like the way he got rid of tillerson as secretary of state, via tweet? reporter: it's a good question and i would have to confirm. at this time it looks as though it was through a tweet but we are still getting details from esper's office about how the information was delivered. but i know very other senior leaders at the pentagon were caught off guard so it does not seem as though it was communicated in advance to senior pentagon leadership. neil: you know, this whole dust-up you touched on that goes back to june, i believe, why wasn't esper then fired shortly after that? we knew the president was incensed. why save it for now when he's a lame duck president until something miraculously happens

out of these legal challenges, you got six, eight weeks, and this is it? reporter: i think this is something the president had wanted to do back in june and many of his advisers had said it would be destabilizing to fire any senior cabinet positions before the election. i think he thought that he could get through the election and then he would deal with it afterward. whether he won the election or did not win the election. it was very clear that esper was on borrowed time. it was clear because he also stopped briefing the press in person. we stopped seeing him, we stopped hearing from him. he was going about the business of running the pentagon but we hadn't had an in-person press briefing in the pentagon briefing room since the june time frame, so really, this was inevitable in many ways, but it's been a long, drawn-out process and it's been a source of great tension and concern at the highest levels of the pentagon. now the change has happened and they will adjust accordingly.

as you said, the president is essentially doing this prior to inauguration and it did seem as though esper would survive but again, the rumors have been very strong for some time. so it shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone but it is always a little unsettling when such a high profile position is fired so suddenly. neil: yeah. i guess the only surprise i would have is that the timing, given the fact the president lost the election. i know he's trying to reverse that. but that's what makes it a little odd. but it is what it is, to your fine point. jennifer griffin, national security correspondent. mark esper out as the president's second defense secretary after defense secretary mattis. in the meantime, a couple other developments we are following. the guy who is set to assume office on january 20th, that is joe biden, has been talking to a lot of heads of state including

canadian prime minister trudeau, we understand. in the meantime, he did assemble a covid-19 task force. on this day we learn of a potential vaccine that has been proven to be 90% effective. who is in that group right now with hillary vaughn. reporter: well, president-elect joe biden is not in the white house yet but he's already getting to work, trying to deploy what he thinks is his best weapon against covid-19, a mask. >> at the same time, it's clear that this vaccine, even if approved, will not be widely available for many months yet to come. the challenge before us right now is still immense and growing and although we are not in office yet, i'm just laying out what we expect to do and hope can be done, some of it, between now and the time we are sworn in. so the purpose of this is to let you know what we're going to do once sworn in. so there's a need for bold

action to fight this pandemic. we are still facing a very dark winter. for now, nearly 10 million covid cases -- reporter: and apologies for that. biden did continue to say that the goal of mask wearing is not to make life less comfortable but he thinks it's the best way to get back to normal life. biden also announced members of his covid-19 advisory council that he says are going to shape his approach to getting covid under control so on day one, he is promising to do the following things. ramp up rapid testing, and contact tracing, and also line up resources for small businesses, schools and child care facilities to get back open, including increasing made in the usa personal protective equipment but biden today is also managing expectations following the promising development with pfizer's covid vaccine today, saying this in a statement. this news follows a previously announced timeline by industry officials that forecast vaccine approval by late november. even if that is achieved and

some americans are vaccinated later this year, it will be many more months before there is widespread vaccination in this country. this is why the head of the cdc warns that for the foreseeable future, a mask remains a more potent weapon against the virus than a vaccine, and neil, if you remember, the president-elect has had a wide range of positions on whether or not he would call for a national mask mandate. there had been questions if that's even constitutional, but one thing he did say today, masks are not here to stay. he thinks we all need to wear a mask for just a few months to save tens of thousands of lives and then we can all go back to normal life. neil? neil: all right. hillary vaughn, thank you very very much. speaking of some spikes in cases of coronavirus and what to do about it, we are very closely following a joint presser right now with new jersey governor phil murphy and cory booker, who was just re-elected to the u.s. senate for another six-year term. they are talking about hospitalizations that just

topped 1500 and a positivity rate in the state that has now gone over 7.5%. remember, their goal on positive infections was to be 5% or under, ideally 4% or under. so that is picking up steam. we are monitoring that very closely because it occurs at the same time new york has experienced a spike in cases, connecticut has as well, and they are imposing restrictions on everything from indoor dining to the length of school days and whether they will be exclusively virtual. let's get the read from joe borelli, new york city council minority whip, trump 2020 new york co-chairman. so much to get into. first, if i can go with the major news right now about how some in the tristate area, that's what new york, new jersey, connecticut is often called for those outside the area, where they are seeing a collective rise in cases, what do you make of all this? >> well, the best news, though, should be first that we are not seeing a collective rise at least drastic rise in deaths and hospitalizations. they are going up but not at the

same rates. i think it's important to put into some context that other states where there is no total lockdown, specifically texas and florida and georgia and elsewhere, we are seeing a similar albeit less increase in cases there as well. but it is cause for concern that the number of cases has spiked significantly in new york state without a corresponding number of testing going up that quickly. so people really should be vigilant and i have always been someone who is pushing opening up the state. i still am pushing opening up state. but people should take it upon themselves to be extra vigilant. yes, wear a mask and avoid large crowds. neil: bill deblasio was talking over the weekend about all these crowds or gathering after the announcement that joe biden had won the election. they were packed together but he said they were wearing masks, everything was okay. what do you think of that, that argument, these were --

>> it really is tough to hear that when just two weeks ago we had a rally for president trump on staten island and the administration and democrats around the city reacted quite differently to the trump rally on staten island than they are to biden's victory march. what really should upset people is that on the same day as these rallies and marches and parading were happening in new york city, the city administration and the state government were out there cracking down on business owners for seemingly the most minor and egregious covid infractions. we even had one woman, a mother of -- single mother of a few kids was basically shut down in her business just because she was in one of these red zones that governor cuomo has put up which now that we see the rising cases everywhere else in the state, doesn't seem to have really done that much difference. neil: joe borelli, thanks for taking the time. following all these developments here. you can see at the corner of wall and broad we are still

racing ahead. the dow better than 1300 points. you wouldn't believe the issues that are really flying high, like airlines. yeah. airlines. after this. ♪ sofi made it so easy to pay off my student loan debt. ♪ they were able to give me a personal loan so i could pay off all of my credit cards. i got my mortgage through sofi and the whole process was so easy. ♪ choosing sofi was literally one of the best decisions i could have ever made because it gave me peace of mind. ♪

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and strengthen client confidence in you. before investing consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. go to flexshares.com for a prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. neil: all right. the market continuing to rally big-time and holding those gains by and large, up about 1369 points right now as you're looking at a considerable advance on vaccine optimism from the likes of pfizer and biontech that seem to be 90% effective. great day for science and humanity, both companies indicating in a joint release here, and great day for a long beaten down issue that was on life support. a lot of exchange-traded funds that specialized in these sectors like the airline industry, like the retail sector, that were sort of

limping along on eventually getting people out and shopping and flying and doing all of that, well, this news just sort of a wind at their proverbial back. larry glazer on the significance of that. larry, you had been among the first to say when we were in the middle of this, you get a vaccine and it's a whole new ball game. it looks like there is a vaccine or potential for one, but will it be a lasting ball game? what do you think? >> days like today are reminders of why we need to imagine what a post-pandemic world might look like. investors need to start positioning portfolios for a post-pandemic investment strategy. i think today is really that great example. look, it's going to be a long and difficult winter for travel, for transportation, small businesses, restaurants but on the other side of that, there's at least a glimmer of daylight. we can see light at the end of that tunnel and investors became incredibly negative over the last 6 to 12 months around anything travel, transportation, leisure, hospitality, restaurants, all rightly so. they are a little less so today with the prospects of in the

winter, i want to go some place warm. there's very few ways to do it. jetblue owns the florida market. that's my entree. amazon is not flying that route. eventually we will get back on that plane. eventually might be next year, may not be this year for the holidays, however. neil: you know, i wonder, it's welcome to see, i agree with everything you just said there, but the fact of the matter is that getting a vaccine in people's hands could be significantly delayed. now, obviously the prospect that one is out there potentially and will available, i can see doing exactly what it's doing now for the stocks. retail generally may be different because generally retail has held up actually fairly well through the pandemic and one of the reasons why amazon has been taking it on the chin today is because now there is no sort of defensive play with that but that could be short-lived too. what is your sense of how quickly people act on this, how

quickly they book flights, how quickly they look to go abroad, which has been certainly one of the biggest weak spots? >> it's really important to keep in mind you have retail and you have travel. they are two different animals. retail did have threats due to companies like amazon and in a post-pandemic world, those companies are not going to do as well obviously as macy's and shake shack and tjx. those companies will survive this. they will benefit. as foot traffic comes back to the malls. the big challenge is going to be debt loads. of course, we all want to fly on airlines when it's safe to do so. these companies, cruise lines, travel stocks, they have a ton of debt. as interest rates go up with a vaccine it's going to be more challenging to refinance that debt at higher cost. i think that's something investors need to recognize. we don't want to read into one day and say the coast is clear tomorrow because it's not. it's going to take some time. demand will come back. consumer demand will come back before business demand. we want to look the acompanies

that ebbi at the companies that focus around consumers. companies are cutting costs and cutting travel and expense along with it but there is a sense of optimism that maybe we are about to turn the corner and that maybe is going to take some time. there's short interest in airlines but it's going to be a tough road ahead for these companies. it won't happen overnight. neil: thank you for that. when we come back, there's a flipside to this. gold. yeah, gold. not exactly glittering. stay with us.

neil: new jersey governor phil murphy is outlining plans to reimpose restrictions from indoor dining at 10:00 p.m. as the state grapples with a sudden surge in cases a spike has local authorities worried as well. stay with us. you're watching fox business. nt. yeah, i totally agree, they don't have any of those. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. do you just say yes to everything? hm. well i say no to kale. mm. yeah, they say if you blanch it it's better, but that seems like a lot of work. now offering zero commissions on online trades. we charge you less so you have more to invest. ♪

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neil: not surprising gold is losing its luster as flight to quality haven, whatever you want to call it down 5%. the lowest we've seen as far as big losses in over seven years. here is charles payne. hey, charles. charles: hey, neil. thank you very much, my friend. good afternoon, everyone, i'm charles payne, this is "making money." and we certainly are right now. stocks are exploding higher today with the major indexes at or near record highs. as pfizer announces major progress an a potential covid-19 vaccine, that two shots have 90% effectiveness rate against the virus. meanwhile dr. siegel is coming right up to give us details. of course we have some of our favorite market catchers to help you. major investment narratives have changed to help you with what you need to know