for the russell slightly too close to call right now. [closing bell rings] we're just straddling that flat line but this will be the 49th record for the nasdaq this year. not so much for the dow which loses 154 points. time for "after the bell." connell: you have tensions between the u.s. and china, and nasdaq closing at another record high, third day in a row. this is the 49th record close of the year 2020 for the nasdaq composite up 56 points. with that i'm connell mcshane. welcome to "after the bell." it is time for the news happening at this hour. fox team coverage, blake burman at white house, gerri willis and

jackie deangelis are both in new york. speaking in new york laura engle is on staten island where a local business owner continues to defy shutdown orders. we'll get to that. start with you, blake, new developments on covid relief. what is the latest? reporter: i believe senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is on the senate floor or headed there. if we have the video and take it connell that would be fantastic. if not literally it is happening as we speak. we of course wait to see what eventually come of this. live look on senate floor, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. just got there. so we're still trying to see exactly what he says going forward on a pathway potential covid relief bill. we do know, connell that tomorrow the bipartisan group of lawmakers put forth this 908 billion-dollar plan will actually release their legislative text. that should have an impact on how washington views that proposal. the president's top economic advisor larry kudlow was asked about it earlier today.

whether or not president trump would support that possibility. listen. >> i stress it's not the aggregate number so much as it is the specific policies would be discussed and proposed. so i would say there is a likelihood he would sign it. he has indicated -- he has not endorsed that but he has indicated as i said before, before election and now, he has indicated a willingness to provide additional assistance. reporter: want to show you what steny hoyer, who is the number two house democrat said today, connell a it relates to a possible government spending deal. remember that has to get hashed out by the end of the week. he said quote i'm disappointed we have not yet reached agreement on government funding, the house will vote on one week continuing resolution keeping everything flat line while negotiations continue. back to mcconnell on the floor. he said, connell, the very same

thing they will take up the government spending deal so that essentially they have another week to go forward and hash out a covid relief deal. bottom line, covid relief still negotiating. government spending deal going to get kicked another week, so potentially they marry these two things together a lot going on. probably will be that way until december 18th, connell. connell: blake burman with breaking news from washington. we'll take it up with republican senator bill cassidy in a few minutes. he is one of those pushing the bipartisan 908 billion-dollar covid bill. he is joining us moments from now. looks like they have another week to work on it. to the virus with top health officials warning that the worse could be yet to come. the u.s. reporting one million new covid cases. it is the first time that we've seen that. for perspective it took almost 100 days for us to hit a million infections after the first cases were confirmed back in january.

you look at hospitalizations there too, at and all-time high. intensive care units are under increasing pressure with number of patients in icus topping 20,000. that is the first time that has happened. these are all terrible numbers. total forcing new restrictions to be put in place for americans across the country, more recently for tens of millions out in california. the economic toll from all of this is starting to build. jackie deangelis is following that part of the story in the newsroom today. reporter: good afternoon, connell. in california as you mentioned 33 million people under new restrictions. in southern california and san joaquin valley. lockdowns put in place because the capacity you mentioned at the icus, it is really low, 12.5%. so we're talking stay at home orders. restrictions for people and businesses for up to three weeks. things like hair salons will close. personal care, playgrounds, on sight dining, even outdoor will

be shuttered. library i ares, museums, zoos, aquariums are closed. gyms outdoor. places of worship can dot outdoor. neil cavuto did interview with angela marsden owner of the pineapple saloon and grill in los angeles. she is beyond frustrated. >> i continue to say to mayor garcetti, please call me in, i will sit down and talk with you. i will bring people from our industry. we'll come up with a workable solutions. small business owners we care so much about our community and our people. we're willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe. but if we're not here when you come out of your door you know in two months, the community is going to be destroyed. reporter: that's the concern of course here in new york city. we're watching things too. connell, governor cuomo says if the hospital saying rate doesn't decline in five days he will shut down indoor dining. this as new york city opened its

public schools today after closing them when we hit at that 3% threshold. a lot of questions damage going to be inflicted on the economy right now. after back to you. connell: the health said to you. to your point the economic side. a lot of people to handle. jackie, thank you. emotions running high on streets of staten island in new york. after the owner of a local bar was arrested. ran over a sheriffs deputy in his car. this story is symbol of clashes around the country between the local authorities and small business owners. fox's laura engle reporting live this afternoon from staten island. laura. reporter: we want to tell you moments ago as actually you were coming to us we did get some video released to us from the attorney of the co-owner of this bar showing the incident in question. now it is right now alleged that he, danny presti, the cokohner did hit a new york sheriffs

deputy with his car. the attorney of course tells a different side of the story saying that these guys that approached the co-owner did not identify themselves. he actually thought he might have been getting robbed which is why he was trying to get away in his vehicle. nonetheless that video is going to be viewed here shortly and you know, it is going to be looked at by law enforcement. on to the matter of the business, what's happening here. this bar now will be closed. it was closed officially by a local officials and by state officials last week saying you cannot operate, you cannot serve people indoors but after everything that happened over this weekend with this incident with the sheriffs deputy the bar owner and attorney said, you know what? we are going to go ahead to shut things down. we need to get our legal ducks in order to move forward to decide how to get this bar open safely. after the bar was ordered closed last week the new york sheriffs deputies also found customers inside over the weekend.

that is what led up to this weekend's incident with the co-owner. the new york sheriffs deputies say, that after he left and was confronted with the deputies, he actually hit him, the deputy, got the deputy on top of the hood of the car. now the deputies are saying that the guy's legs were broken, fractured, some kind of injury. the attorney for danny press at- presti saying that is not true. >> it was presented to us we can only hurt his ankle. i can assure people he did not break his legs. i tell you why. mr. presti was released with no bail. if he ran after, ran over a sheriff's deputy they would asked for half a million dollars in bail. reporter: this is the second arrest for presti under a week. sunday morning's incident resulting in 10 charges, some of them felonies which could get him 18 years in prison if

convicted. the bar is sight of a large protest last week a huge crowd gathered to denounce presti's original arrest. that this bar and other small businesses be allowed to operate. andrew cuomo said he understands the frustration but the steak has to take measures in covid hot spots. >> staten island has gone from the lowest death rate in the city to the highest death rate in the city. so all these local officials who are saying that's right, we don't have to do any of this, forget this. don't comply, freedom. yeah, freedom to die. reporter: there was supposed to be a march and protest here tonight but the attorney for the bar says we'll call that march off. we want to instead focus on the

legal battle ahead, what they need to do to get this bar reopened. back to you. connell: some story. thank you, laura engle live on staten island. reaction from the "wall street journal's" dan henninger. also a fox news contributor. put that together with the woman out in california we heard from a few minutes ago as well and the covid numbers reported before that, it's a collision course of sorts. seems like we're at, very close to some sort of a breaking point here, dan, what do you make of it all? reporter: looks like it, connell. we're at the breaking point where acts of civil disobedience are being routinely enacted as on staten island. we know that was happening elsewhere around california and places where the lockdowns have been the most severe. you know, i have so much sympathy with the woman in california representing the business owners, pleading with mayor garcetti to allow them to come in and work out a gameplan that would accommodate both the needs of public health and the

needs of the economy but somehow whether it is mayor garcetti in los angeles, governor newsom in california, or andrew cuomo here in new york the default is always to punish these owners and their workers. they will not invite them in to work out a gameplan and so it is no surprise to me that there are only recourse is to actually refuse to obey. you're seeing knit a major way in california with many of the county sheriffs out there saying would either not comply with governor newsom's orders or would simply allow people to comply with them voluntarily. yeah, we are heading toward as crackup right now if these elected officials don't find a way to try to accommodate some of these business owners who are being destroyed by these policies. connell: in the middle of all this we have the debate whether

we get more stimulus. senator cassidy will join us to talk a few minutes. to go back live to the senate floor, senator mcconnell is speak. not a great headline crossed moments ago. he said, senator mcconnell, he sees no reason to believe disagreements with democrats on covid relief will evaporate soon despite the recent signs of engagement. so you know, if you were thinking that covid relief bill in the next week might bridge the gap, bail us out of this i'm not so sure. looked like we were making progress. that doesn't sound like it. what do you think ends up happening on the senate side of things? >> well i think ultimately there probably will be a bill, though looks very difficult indeed. i do, getting to the point, connell, where i believe that some of the governors running the strictest lockdowns, such as governor newsom in california, cuomo in new york, as opposed to say governor desantis in that who has not been so strict, these governors, many of the democratic states are operating

in the expectation that somehow the worse the better. eventually they will simply force the senate to use federal money to bail out all of the problems that have been caused by the pandemic. that includes bailing out those blue states and somehow making whole people who have been damaged by their policies in those states but understand, you know, we have had data, i think you reported on it on your program coming out of harvard, upwards of 30% of small businesses in new york state and new jersey have already closed. so i don't see a pandemic bill doing much for people who are already in bankruptcy. connell: really interesting point though about the attempts to force their hand. dan, thank you as always. dan henninger from "the wall street journal." cutting u.s. forces in half. meantime we're live on the ground in kabul amid the troop drawdown in afghanistan. why some officials are sounding

the alarm about that we'll take you live. support growing for a 80-year-old washington state restaurant owner, refusing to close down indoor dining despite state orders so his business can survive in washington state. that is coming up live later in the hour. christmas tree sales have been spiking as consumers looked at maybe to add a little holiday cheer this year. we need it. we're live today from a christmas tree farm in illinois. ♪ your journey requires liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. wow. that will save me lots of money. this game's boring. only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up.

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disappear. he is coming around to where you are on a bipartisan bill or is the gap widening? >> i never pretend to speak for mitch mcconnell. he did say so last week he didn't want a bill which makes a point. he wants a bill that can become law. we're the only bill that can become law. we're the only bilby partisan in both in the senate can become bipartisan. schumer and pelosi said they would adopt our approach. biden came out for it. president trump said he would nine a 908 billion-dollar bill. so we've begun to move. we don't want something that makes a point. we want something that can become law. i think we're the only game in town in terms of something which could become law. connell: let me dig in, two, three major issues we're told are possibly sticking points. where are you guys, how is it going on liability protections for businesses? is that going to make its way in

there? is there cooperation on the democratic side? where does that stand as far as you know? >> a lot of back and fourth on on liability protections. at the beginning of the pandemic there were no regulations and first we're told you don't need to wear a mask. then we're told to wear a mask. there weren't enough masks but were not the right kind. we wore the mask whatever the mask was. you could catch people coming and going. i'm told the process of establishing causation and safe harbor could bankrupt a business, particularly a small one. so we're trying to find a way to address those kind of episodes which are egregious. everybody could recognize we're wrong. at the same time not allow it to be something a trial attorney could almost extort money out of somebody by the fear of the costly pretrial proceedings. so we'll see. we obviously have to, we have to figure that out. we're working hard to do so. connell: state and local aid is

other one we heard so much about. saw research earlier today that maybe the most dire predictions that we had back in the spring on state and local governments were things wouldn't be as bad as we thought and that means that the money you have in this bill i think it is 160 billion, correct me if i'm wrong. that might be enough. do the democrats see it the same way? is there enough in here to get votes that is needed on the state and local side? >> the state and local side we feel good about it. by the way, there is lot of confusion going on about this. folks circulate articles how state and local tax receipts were higher than they expected. yes, because last time we put an incredible amount of stimulus which was spent quickly, which increased sales tax receipts. that worked for the last fiscal year. we're really talking about the next fiscal year. we would have provisions so that it would not be a blue state bailout. you couldn't use the money to

backfill a pension fund if you ever, suddenly decided you haven't done it for a decade but you're going to do it now. you couldn't do that. indeed you have to prove that you actually had a decrease in sales tax or, decrease in revenue, put it that way. a decrease in revenue in order to qualify. we have protections to protect the taxpayer. we don't want localities to lay off police officers because we don't have enough money to pay them. connell: some of the red states need it just as bad if not more? states that don't have income taxes places like florida and texas, right? they might be just as big of a hole or bigger because of that, no? >> two of the top five states are texas and florida in terms of their decrease in tax revenue. now you could say they have a lot of population but just absolute dollars two of the top five states are texas and florida. this is not red state or blue state. it is kind of how coronavirus hit you, what the source of your

income. so if we say we're in it together, we have hurricane, my gosh, come help us, we have a forest fire, tornado in iowa, this is really kind of a situation we're in it together. you may have done okay. there is a lot of other folks who have not done well. connell: that is the truth. senator, we'll keep following this, have you back on hopefully on this 908 billion-dollar relief bill. senator bill cassie, appreciate you coming on. >> thank you. connell: "fox business alert" from michigan. governor whitmer stretching that state's three week pause for another 12 days to allow them to have thanksgiving impact of travel across the state. they're still on pause in michigan. but not for your clients. that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first.

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♪. connell: all right, so remember brexit? the united kingdom left the european union way back on

january 31st. we thought at that point the story wouldn't make many more appearances here on "after the bell" but today it's back. brexit is back. new developments of so-called hard brexit is very real prospect raising questions for investors around the world. ashley webster is covering all of this from both sides of the atlantic for a number of years. he joins us now. what exactly is going on, ashley? ashley: back when i was a young lad i first heard of brexit. yeah, look, connell, it's a real shocker, connell, is it not? the clock is ticking down on a brexit agreement. how many times have i said that? sarcasm aside the deadline for the uk and the eu to agree on some form of new relationship going forward will run out at the end of the year just 24 days from now. the first stumbling blocks continues to be what they call a level playing field. brussels wants the uk to follow

eu rules on things like workers rights and especially state aid. the uk says, huh, guess what? the whole point of brexit was to break free from eu rules. then there is the fishing rights issue. the eu pushing for maximum access to continue fishing in uk waters. britain says, guess what, we're an independent coastal state, our boats will get the priority. the issue of governance over any future agreement. how would it be enforced? how about the role of the european court of justice? a phone call this afternoon between british prime minister boris johnson and his european counterpart did very little to break the stalemate. so johnson announced today he will go to brussels himself, just like that face, very stern, to go face-to-face with the europeans. the question is, who is going to blink first? we've said this many times before, but it will have an impact on businesses and how they plan for the future, connell. if they have no deal there will

be border checks, taxes on imports and exports. so there is a big consequence of a no deal. connell: i will ask the ultimate american question in all of this, ashley what does it mean for us in the united states? >> well, if you remember donald trump had promised a quote, massive, beautiful trade deal with the united kingdom in support of brexit. now the u.s. is already britain's largest trading partner but those promises, well they're kind of on hold now, likely will not be fulfilled during donald trump's term here. which means it now goes to joe biden to make the decision. he has made it very clear that any trade deals is going to take a back seat to investments at home. that is not good news for the uk. it could be a catalyst, you could argue for britain to get something done with the eu. you could say that but so far we haven't seen any indications of concessions being made by the uk. don't forget there is always this side in britain that wants

to get rid of europe. we don't need a deal. let us fend for ourselves. we'll operate under global rules and we don't need the eu we'll be fine. so we've been down this road as you said, many, many times, many, many years but the endgame, i promise is just around the corner. save this tape by the way. save it. connell: just around the corner. famous last words. we'll have you own that one. thank you, ash, keep an eye on it. i know you will. what choice do you have? ashley webster for us on brexit. thousands of american troops in afghanistan are getting set to come home. there are new concerns over the taliban's commitment to peace talks. coming up we'll have a live report for you from kabul. standing firm, netflix rejecting calls from british officials to add a fiction disclaimer to the series "the crown." it always presented it as a drama. they understand it's a work of fiction. no label needed says netflix.

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connell: "fox business alert" on stimulus. this time the senate minority leader chuck schumer speaking out reacting to mitch mcconnell's comments earlier in the hour. says the majority leader has refused to compromise on covid relief. he did add there are encouraging signs pointing to the bipartisan group of lawmakers like senator bill cassidy who joined us earlier in the hour who will make progress on a potential package. new comments in from chuck schumer. defying a statewide lockdown. an 80-year-old owner after restaurant out in washington state is refusing to close to in person dining saying that his employees are counting on him. dan springer is live with the story for us. dan. reporter: yeah, connell, spiffy's was first of a handful of bars and restaurants in washington state to defy the governor's ban on indoor dining. they decided to reopen last week on monday. it has been busy ever since. the owner tells me on saturday there was a three-hour wait to

get in. a lot of people are carrying signs opposing governor jay inslee's order. the owner, 80-year-old rod samuelson is doing this for his employees so they have income. he knows there is risk to workers and customers but he is trying to mitigate it. >> if we're spreading it at our level, think what is happening in the box stores or other businesses, at marijuana shops. how come they can be open but a restaurant can't be? the hypocrisy of this thing is out of control. reporter: we asked the state health department how many infections were traced back to restaurants and this is the response we got. the doh does not track or report data in this way. actually contact tracing has been abysmal in washington. the state set a goal to reach 90% of those with a positive test within one day. they're only contacting 6%. so the state has no idea really how much spread was happening in

restaurants. at spiffy's every single employee signed up to work. >> i have family. a very large family at home. there are seven of us and five of us work but two little ones. we need christmas and everything else. reporter: now the state could fine spiffy's and all the other restaurant that are defying this order $9600 per day that they're open. the sheriff tells me that he will not participate in anything. i'm not in the business of shutting down businesses. however washington state has fined several dozen businesses since march who have defied these shutdown orders. connell? connell: dan springer, washington state. a story playing out all around the country in similar fashion. thank you, dan. brand new start and a big job ahead, president-elect joe biden announced his picks for the white house health team in his administration, a team that hopes will include the california attorney general xavier becerra as nominee for

secretary of health and hewlett-packard services. tom price joins us now. a former secretary of health and human services. dr. price, good to have you back on the show. quick thought on the biden team he is assembling. and maybe we can talk a little bit about the vaccine and the virus where things stand. what would you say about this biden team? >> well i think it is always curious to me why folks on the left, democrat presidents, often times put lawyers in charge of health care. it is never made any real sense to me but i served with becerra in the house of representatives. he is a strong, true, progressive leftist. he is a believer in that philosophy. when you elect individuals like joe biden that is the kind of leadership that you're going to get in the cabinet. i think it is concerning from a health standpoint. i think the kinds of things that javi has been promoting are not

necessarily in the mainstream of the united states public. connell: let me talk to you a little bit about the transition and how these folks will work on very important to the united states public that is getting the vaccine out. doctor yourself coming in. you're former health secretary. what would you say to americans and poles do show may be a little worried about the getting the vaccine on day one, what would you say to them? >> i think the security, the efficacy and safety being proven are being watched right now through the fda. i think if the fda gives its go ahead that the american people can be comforted by having that assurance. we can also be comforted by the fact that other countries, other western countries are looking at this. in fact the united kingdom as you all know approved it for emergency use authorization. that ought to give folks comfort and confidence in going ahead and getting the vaccine. it is important that the american people get the vaccine.

it is important that we get to that level of 70 or 80% of the public either having the vaccine or having had the disease itself so that the antibody levels are present. only then we'll begin to see the numbers come down significantly, then we'll begin to be able to return to some semblance of normal activity. connell: i believe it is thursday that the fda will consider that emergency use authorization on pfizer. we move forward from there. we could have vaccines rolling out very quickly after that, especially front line health care workers so that is encouraging but to the point we were talking about, there are challenges. do you think we will be able to meet all of those challenges, or will the hiccups be on the personal side with people saying i want to wait a little while, that will slow things down? >> there are real logistic challenges as you note. the infrastructure in states has to be present to be able to distribute and then provide for the administration of the

vaccines. and some states are better prepared for this than others. you've got to make certain that individuals have the opportunity to get the vaccine and understanding that for both pfizer and moderna these vaccines are two different doses so you have got to get the vaccine, three or four weeks later get another dose. so it is going to be a real challenge. but i would encourage all to look objectively at the information that is being provided by the fda and other scientific facilities and recognize that it is incredibly important to go ahead and get vaccinated in large numbers in this nation and across the world. connell: that's it. we need the numbers. the quicker that they happen the quicker we can get through all of this is what the experts tell us. tom price, thank you, former health and human services secretary under president trump. on to what could be a very important story for all of you, that is many of you listening, 401(k) plans. with the new administration

coming in might be a good time to rethink your retirement strategy to some extent. there are new developments from companies that add to the uncertainty of this. we have more on the story today from gerri willis. reporter: hey, connell, that's right. that was quick. already a third to 2/3 of the 401(k) matches that were suspended earlier this year because of the recession due to the covid-19 pandemic, well they have already been reinstated. among those companies flipping the switch, best buy, quest diagnostics, pittsburgh manufacturer among others. meanwhile hewlett-packard is already announced it will reinstate its match december 31st. look, just 1.5%, roughly a million of all 401(k) holders experience a match loss this year. that compares to 5% during the great recession. big difference says center for retirement research at boston university. listen. >> i think that the big news

here is that people really haven't been taking that much money out of their 401(k)s and that, not that many participants have been affected by the suspension of the match. reporter: ironically the reinstatements while good news for employee retirement portfolios, it comes as the biden administration may choose to extend temporary rules set by the cares act that allowed savers to borrow from the 401(k) without incurring that 10% penalty. that could mean that workers would be borrowing even more as companies start putting money back in. look, any reduction in contributions has big impacts for retirement savers. the center for retirement research says, this is their study. leakages, borrowing, hardship loans if they occur at the rate of 1.5% each and every year, that translates into an overall loss of 25% when it comes to

retire. so a very big impact from these loans. look, we haven't been able to find, connell, any statements from some of the new folks in biden's group that will be rolling all these ideas out. they're not talking about this yet but bottom line, don't borrow from your 401(k). ultimately it will cost you more than it is worth. connell? connell: right. that is what they have been saying for years. very important information on what we should be thinking about now, thank you, gerri willis. on now to taking care of our nation's seniors. costco extending its special senior shopping hours and extending them indefinitely due to the spike we've seen in covid cases. customers eligible for the operating hours include those 60 years or older, those with disabilities or those immunocompromised. designated hour at the warehouses, between 9:00 and 10 a.m. on weekdays. we'll be right back.

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right, this drawdown is controversial. nato allies in particular saying it is happening too quickly. they say that the taliban is too strong for the afghan government to hold them back by themselves without uss support. 2500 troops will remain here they say simply is not enough. we're in fact seeing, hearing about taliban attacks taking place more often. here is what we saw recently. just a couple of miles outside of kabul in every direction the taliban are in control. night after night they launch attacks on police checkpoints. they take over districts like this. they are knocking on the door of kabul. many people feel it is only a matter of time until they move in. but former president hamid karzai believes in fact the taliban can come on board and help to reach peace. they are just as weary of war as anybody else. they are negotiating with the u.s. and afghan government in good faith. he is big fan and supporter of the u.s. withdrawal.

>> very strongly support. >> of what? president trump's decision to change course and to work for peace in afghanistan and to let the afghans talk amongst themselves and determine their own future. reporter: but the taliban has not denounced al qaeda. it was meant to be a key issue of this peace deal. they have not done that in fact the u.n. came out with a report if anything they were friendly at moment. that didn't appear changing. that would be a big problem moving forward. connell? connell: interesting comments from karzai. when you're on the ground, benjamin do you get a chance at all to speak to regular people in afghanistan about the drawdown? if so, what are they saying? reporter: absolutely. it is very interesting because you have analysts and the military saying this is a terrible idea but people here are fed up of war. many of them say they would welcome this change. yes, the taliban isn't ideal, if it brings them peace, stops attacks they will welcome it. perhaps there is opportunity now

with the u.s. drawdown combined with the peace talks in doha for something to happen, something hasn't happened in 20 years of u.s. intervention here. surprising people who have been given freedom and education under the u.s., perhaps now this is the time to leave. perhaps this is the time for afghans to stand on their own two feet. connell? connell: benjamin, thank you. good reporting as always. benjamin hall live in kabul, afghanistan. on this day of remembrance, today marks 79 years since the japanese bombing of pearl harbor. just before 8:00 a.m. hundreds of japanese fighter planes desend on the major u.s. navy base in honolulu. in the surprise raid, 2400 americans were killed in the attack. 1100 were wounded. we'll be right back but not for . that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. so, what do you provide? cookie cutter portfolios? nope. we tailor portfolios to our client's needs.

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are up 30% compared to haas year, and prices surging as well. so jeff flock, naturally, has been cutting down trees at a christmas tree farm at spring grove, illinois. you still haven't gotten it down -- just about. >> reporter: oh, this is a different tree, come on, what do you think -- oh, there you go. >> there it is. >> i did partly cut it through. this is a fun part of it though at this place, because you can come out, look, everywhere, trees everywhere. you can come out and pick your tree, and this is huge this year. largely, i think, because of, you know, the lack of other traditions. this is the richardson, well, they have a corn maze in the summer, christmas trees in the winter, huge numbers. but you've not seen sales like this before anytime. >> it's been so wonderful this year. we've had good weather, but people are so happy to have someplace to go and be out in the open spases breathing this beautiful -- spaces breathing this beautiful, fresh air and get the experience of cutting a fresh christmas tree.

>> reporter: walk with me through the grove of trees, if you would. if you look at the numbers, connell, 39% of people say they're more likely to get a real tree this year than a fake tree because experience, right? it's all about the experience. >> right. they can't go to the nutcracker this year, other things like that that they're not able to do,s so this is something they can be outside with their families, grandmas down to the little babies and enjoy family time together. >> reporter: and you're socially distanced, you're out here in the fresh air and that sort of thing. take a look at this too, you know, a lot of the fake trees -- call them artificial trees, whatever, a lot of people go that route. most of those are made in china. there's an editorial just out from a group that supports american farmers, and these are farmers, tree farmers. i says, you know, most of the trees come if china. a lot of times -- from china. a lot of times harvested by people not making very much money. this is a great opportunity for american tree farm ors to, this

is the quintessential grown here -- >> renewable, sustainable crop and 100% recycle be -- recyclable. earlier we were talking about the milk weed pods on the ground -- >> reporter: earth day every day out here. i'll leave you real quick with a picture, i've always had a real tree, because i grew up with an artificial tree. i said i'm always going to have a real tree, and my daughter who's now 34, you see a picture of her at 3, still remembers getting a real tree. i think i flew off the back of the car because i didn't tie it down properly, but it was a great memory. more memories this year. connell: that's great! you said you haven't seen your daughter in a while, right? >> reporter: that's my other daughter who lives in poland. this one here, this one lives in

the l.a., and she's 34 now, and she's still got -- she has her own fresh tree this year. there you go. connell: i'm sure she does. we do too at our house. thanks for joining us as we report the news "after the bell." see you back here same time tomorrow. ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. today marks the beginning of a critical week in the battle for the white house. and the president's lead attorney, rudy giuliani, is tonight in the hospital with the china virus. we first want to wish him a quick and complete recovery. and now the question is who will lead the president's fight for a free and fair election. at his rally in valdosta, georgia, over the weekend president trump asked for a hero to step forward in his fight against those who have conspired to defraud the american people and steal the election from