[laughter] stuart: ashley. >> iowan levy, all about -- ian levy, all about margaret thatcher. stuart: fantastic. that was a great week and a great friday feedback. thanks to everybody. neil, it is now yours. [laughter] neil: thank you very much, stuart, have a wonderful weekend. we've got a bit of a selloff going on right now. not a bad one or, it's going to be an off week, but it's a battle between a promising vaccine that could be out in people's arms, if you will, as soon as monday and a stimulus plan that seems to be unraveling as we speak. there could be hope on that latter front here, but right now it doesn't look very promising. but there is also talk to come next week we could see the moderna drug approved, so you would technically have two vaccines, and that's the push and pull on the market. let's get the latest from mark meredith from silver springs, maryland, following this vaccination rollout plan

assuming things go as scheduled. mark. >> reporter: neil, good afternoon. as you mentioned, the food and drug administration continuing to evaluate pfizer's vaccine. all indications are that we should get a final green light within hours, if not by the end of this weekend after that advisory committee had a chance to consider it on thursday. pfizer, as you know, has been producing its vaccines ahead of approval so that it could be distributed as quickly as possible. the trump administration is saying that it believers by the end of february -- believes by the end of february 100 million advantage i city nations could be underway. other cups including canada and the u.k. have already signed off, and alex azar says the fda will soon follow. >> at this point it's really a matter of dotting the is, crossing the ts, getting the fact sheets for the doctors. really within the next couple of days it ought to come out, and we'll start having pfizer ship that vaccine to where the governors have told us. >> reporter: now, the fda put out a statement this morning saying following yesterday's

positive advisory committee meeting outcome, the fda has informed the sponsor it will rapidly work towards finalization and issuance of an emergency use authorization. that statement came out as president trump has been openly critical on twitter today of the fda saying that he wanted them to move faster, saying that they have the money that they need, they should be doing more. but the fda insists it's following its process. as you mentioned, neil, they will be back at work next week considering the moderna vaccine, an opportunity to have more than one out there on the market, much-needed relief for people who want to see this pandemic brought to an end. neil: mark, thank you very much. the other thing weighing on the market, stimulus. chad pergram said, essentially, don't get ahead of your skis on this one. they're just plain old divided, right, chad? >> reporter: that's right.

they're in shambles, they're not going anywhere. and the other problem they had was an effort just to try to avoid a government shutdown. they have not actually passed that bill yet, an interim bill, but they seem to have crossed the threshold to vote on that later in the united states senate this afternoon. as i said, these talks on coronavirus are going nowhere, they are still stuck in the same positions they had pretty much been since july, and this morning the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, he took issue with this push by democrats for money for state and local governments. listen. >> small businesses need saving right now. distribution networks need funding right now. none of that should be held hostage over intergovernmental bailouts for states that are currently raking in revenue faster than they can spend it. >> reporter: rand paul opposes a provision in the defense bill,

he says it hamstrings the president from withdrawing troops from afghanistan. still, vermont senator bernie sanders has float adding a provision to get most americans a direct payment of $1200. so they appear to have averted one crisis, the immediate threat of a government shutdown, nothing on coronavirus just yet. you know, neil, the overall plan here was to got a universal spending agreement to fund the government for the next fiscal year and then get a deal on coronavirus aid and tack those two bills together. well, they don't have an agreement on either one, and that's why we could be back in the same posture next friday. back to you. neil: you know what's weird, chad, you know, nancy pelosi had in hand an agreement on the part of the president for $2 trillion plus deal. he wanted $2.4 trillion -- she wanted 2.4 trillion. now we're at this roughly 900 billion level.

i know we could wonder whether that measure would have been taken up in the senate, but you wonder about missed opportunities. >> reporter: they had a real problem in the senate. in early october steve mnuchin brought up a $1.9 trillion to republican senators and had his head handed to him, basically. it's unclear that could have passed the senate. and you know what we might be seeing, frankly, the fact that they have been at it since july, they might not have -- there might not be a bill that can pass period, end of story, f user e n. it -- fin. it might be that simple. if they're going to be worked out, they can pry something loose, but there is just not the right cocktail of votes to get through the house and senate anden the signature of the president. neil: you said very is early on it's about the math, and the numbers didn't lie, and the gap between the folks who are the key players in this, their view of those numbers didn't vary as well. so we'll see. i mean, obviously, for people wanting to see this hope springs

eternal, but regardless, it doesn't look good. thank you very much for that. to brandon arnold, national taxpayer union. you know, brandon, i know your view has been let's just try to get something done. that doesn't look likely. now, a lot of people, especially, you know, taxpayers might look at that and say, well, we saved some money here. but it's not on a government push to provide for those dealing with the covid-19 fallout, it's not that black and white. >> no, it's certainly not that black and white. let me bring a little optimism to this conversation, because i think it's easy to see some negative signs pop up, congress hitting some hurdleds and getting -- can hurdles and getting discouraged here. i still think there's a chance we can get a bill done by next week when congress probably wraps up for the year. listen, when tax reform was being debated a few years ago,

it died a hundred deaths. people said, oh, this doesn't have a chance, they brought it back, then it died begun. i think nothing gets congress working quite like a deadline, particularly a deadline to go how many for the holidays. and i think there is enough will on capitol hill that we still have -- i'm not saying it's 100%, nowhere near -- but i till think we have a respectable chance of getting maybe a slimmed-down version of what they're talking about, but getting a covid relief package done because god knows the country needs it right now. neil: i'd love you to be right, but you're much younger than i am, so i'm going to be an old fogie and cynical, and here's why: they've come close so many times, and for the last six months or so unable to bridge what sometimes are very big differences. i know the election is over, but i also know how it continues to play with democrats waiting for joe biden to come in, republicans reluctant to do anything that might tuck off

mitch mcconnell -- tick off mitch mcconnell. so there are a lot of layers of pal laws intrigue here where republicans might be waiting to say all of this might be on the biden administration and see what they do, democrats saying, well, let's not give any credit to this president as he leaves on the way out. but how, how much of a factor is that in your eyes? >> absolutely a factor. but new of it this way, democrats are about to increase their amount of clout on capitol hill as well as with biden taking over president. so the republicans have an incentive to get a bill done that's more modest in nature. we talked earlier about the 2.5, $2.4 trillion package that was pelosi's dream list and, of course, that included dozens and dozens of programs that have nothing to do with covid whatsoever. billions and billions of dollars of spending that was unnecessary -- neil: brandon, on that i didn't want to interrupt you, but there

is a thought that even a package loaded with a lot of nonsense, which i think you were touching on with some of the things that nancy pelosi was first looking at, it's better than nothing. do you subscribe to that, that, you know, a loaded package with stuff that has no covid-19 connection or really is still better than one that has zero relief? >> well, i think that the $2.5 trillion package that place city put together is going -- pelosi put together is going way too far, and that's causing long-term problems that our nation's going to eventually have to deal with in terms of much, much higher death. we already have a debt north of $20 trillion, we can't afford a package that long unless we absolutely needed it, and i don't think we do. we need a more modest, slim package that takes careful of displaced workers, that maybe adds a little bit of funding for state and lock governments. i'm pretty skeptical of that myself, but i think it's a reasonable are negotiating point

for republicans to bring to the table in order to get liability protection, in order to get an expansion and extension of the paycheck protection program which is absolutely essential for small businesses that are getting hit hard now and are going to get clobbered throughout this winter. we've seen an increased number of restrictions on these small businesses that have been very, very devastating. so let's keep our eye on the prize here, and i think that is the small business relief and aid to displaced workers. the liability approximates, i think, are as important as well, but, of course, those can take place at the state level if we're not able to get those in this package. nine states is have enacted liability protections. they don't really cost anything, so states should be working on those just in case the federal government can't got it done here in washington. neil: all right. you're still optimistic, so i'll stay optimistic that something gets done. brandon, always good seeing you. hope you have a wonderful christmas. brandon arnold. now, brandon was speaking and maybe adding to some of the

urgency to which he alluded to get a covid-19 relief package going. word out of new york that governor cuomo has announced they're going to suspend indoor dining as of monday. i believe the original idea when they were even kicking this around was for at least three weeks. that could have been updated, i don't have a timeline on it, but indoor dining will be suspended in the new york metropolitan area effective monday. scott shellady, we go to the cow guy. scott, what do you think? i mean, that's a bug development here -- big development here, and i do notice we were down about 90 upon this word filtering out out of new york. we've added about 40, 50 points to that. what do you make of it? >> well, as i've said before, neil, or i'm shaking my head because listening to everybody over the last week or two about a bailout package, we're now relying on on the people who got us into this mess to get us out.

shame on us. the only aid package that's going to work is if every american business with opens up 100% tomorrow, and if you don't want to get suck, don't visit that -- get sick, don't visit that business. this is an absolute disaster. we're talking about all the stocks that are doing well because we're going to have a vaccine. the last three days we've been running stories and reading stories about how you're still going to have to wear your mask if you get the vaccine. are we going to suddenly not have to socially distance if there's no vaccine? or are restaurants still only going to be open to 50%? they just go out of business slower. this is an abject disaster, and the people who got us into it are the people we're looking at to get us out of it. i don't understand what's happened to the american psyche, but this disease, as long as you're below 65, you have over a 99% chance of surviving. so we've just got to get on with it. neil: you know what amazes he me though, obviously when they

target restaurants, they must be doing it for a reason. and i'm thinking that's where a lot of the spikes are coming. but in no data from the states that are imposing -- california comes to mind, new york city and michigan where they, you know, sort of walloped things again, there's no evidence to suggest that the spike in cases they are experiencing -- and, by the way, i'm not minimizing those spikes -- they're not coming from restaurants. i don't know where they are coming from, but they're not coming from restaurants. so i'm wondering if they're going after and chasing the wrong with villain here. >> oh, they're going after the low hanging fruit because they're not organized. and that's been the problem. one out of ten restaurants in new york, chicago and l.a. defied these orders, there's not enough authority out there to get those people to comply. but because they're so singularly owned and they're not one big group, that's why they're easily destroyed. but they're finally coming -- there's been a restaurant

rebellion, but i saw it's way too late. 30% of them are already gone, i bet that restaurant number's a lot higher, and that's why they're the ones they're going after because they're the low hanging fruit, and they can seen to be doing something even though it doesn't matter. and but the way, in l.a., restaurants have a lower incidence of spreading coronavirus than government buildings. government buildings are twice as likely to spread coronavirus -- neil: is that that right? >> yes, that's right. 7% in government buildings versus 3% in restaurants, but they're shutting restaurants down, and garcetti's still got his businesses open. neil: you're talking about the mayor of los angeles. competing influences of the market because as distressing as this is in the new york metropolitan area, you're looking at times square right now, this affects everyone in the new york city area including all five boroughs, including manhattan, that there is the vaccine that will likely, you know, be released for emergency use as soon as monday, there is

talk of the 40 moderna vaccine getting approval as soon as next thursday. so there is that. but offsetting that is still the plus that looks dicey. i'm just wondering how the markets digest all of this, scott. what do you think? >> i think the market's making a mistake. they're pulling demand forward because they're so excited about the hope surrounding what a vaccine might do to the economy. but look, we're already seeing stories where you're going to have to wear the mask even if you get the vaccine. you know those quaint restaurants in london, new york, chicago, do you think they're going to be shoulder to shoulder again? no. those restaurants are still going to struggle in a post-vaccine environment. we're not ever going back to normal, at least not in the next five years, because the american psyche has been bruised. you have a 99.7% chance of surviving if you contract the virus. so we are so bruised, we are now -- we need a vaccine against our emotions is what we really need. neil: you know, you're right

about that. come in handy -- [laughter] i'll talk the first dose. >> i'm a positive person. [laughter] neil: i know you are, i know you are. scott, thank you very, very much. scott shellady, good read on all things the economy, markets and, i guess, psychology as well. the dow down about 146 points. again, the latest catalyst seems to be this news out of new york and governor cuomo that indoor dining in new york, my favorite city in this country, is down. we don't know for how long. after this. ♪ can't buy me love, love. ♪ can't buy me love. ♪ i'll buy you a die pond ring, my friend, if it makes you feel all right ♪ this holiday, get the phone everyone wants on the 5g america's been waiting for. verizon 5g is next level.

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(woman) i lost 75 pounds with golo. (announcer) nambu lost 48 pounds. hannah lost 60 pounds. and graham lost 131 pounds. how? they went to golo.com. now it's your turn to lose weight quickly and easily with golo. head to golo.com now. that's g-o-l-o.com. neil: all right, the dow scudding on s that new york is reimposing restrictions on indoor dining. in fact, you're not going to see indoor dining in the five boroughs that include the greater manhattan area. we just don't know for how long, but this is something we've really not seen, if you think about it, since the height of the pandemic. and this is jostling news for the industry, to put it mildly, which was already on last legs here. the estimate was that one out of

three restaurants in new york could be totally out of business regardless. that was before this news. i'm sure that's going to heighten those fears and the economic fears that come with this many. the dow down about 175 points. a lot of issues that are sensitive, by the way, to anything on hinting of shutdowns or more restrictions as we've seen throughout the country in pluses, california and michigan, obviously, what's going on in new york. they get wind of this, and they get shellacked as well. could be a short-lives event. offsetting that is the promise of the vaccine availability in the united states as soon as monday, another one coming from moderna maybe as soon as next thursday. but in the mean time, this is a real battle roy e yale. i want to switch to politics right now and joe biden, obviously, taking over on january 20th to deal with these and other issues and maybe address exactly what he meant by the fury over the defund the police movement, blaming it as he did on republicans making a

bilk bug deal of it -- big deal of it ands having something that wasn't his policy. or was it going to be and is it going to be his policy? hillary vaughn in wilmington, delaware, on the latest on that. hillary. >> reporter: hi, neil. well, president-elect joe biden is walking a fine line between satisfying the millions in the democratic party that support the defund police movement and the black lives matter movement and also winning the two senate seats up for grabs in january's georgia runoff after some house democrats were booted out of office over what they say were calls to defund police. >> because they've already are labeled us as being defund the police. anything we put forward in terms of the organizational structure to change policing, which i promise you will occur, promise you, just think to yourself and give me advice whether we should do that before january 5th. because that's how they beat the loving hell out of -- the living million out of us across the

country, saying that we're talking about defunding the plus. we're not. we're talking about holding them accountable. >> reporter: the biden campaign is reacting to that leaked audio saying, quote: biden is the same person behind closed doors that he ises in public and has made clear he believes in supporting bold and urgent reforms. biden is getting pressure to make sure husband pick for attorney general is someone who will follow through on his promise to overhaul police departments in the country. "the wall street journal" reports the short list includes sally yates who really haven't weighed in much on the defund the police movement but also outgoing senator jones who has not said he thinks defunding is -- who has said he does not think defunding is a good idea. deval patrick wrote an essay in july saying, quote: defund the police taken literally, that demand is jarring. but as i kept listening, i hear

activists inviting america to what the scoping of policing itself should be. so who biden picks, neil, will signal whether or not he's trying to do more to cater to the far left in his party who do want him to defund the police and the other more moderates in his party. neil? neil: all right. hillary, thank you very, very much for sorting that out. in the meantime, we've come back a little butt on the dow, but for the dow, the s&p and the nasdaq, lowest points they've been on the day. things could change as they weigh what's going on in new york with the imposition of bans of indoor. dining next monday, but some promising news on the vaccine front. by the way, for those restaurants that might indeed be forced to close on monday, there is a way to of trying to make lemonade out of lemons and maybe finding some other use for those facilities. jeff flock on top of that after this. ♪ ooh, i'm the only one of me,

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♪ ♪ neil: all right. forget about the controversy over whether a chinese spy was working her influence over california congressman eric swal wl. if you -- swal wl. if you want to believe something we've heard from the state department and specifically mike pompeo, the bigger concern are american colleges that are feasting zone with the chinese not only trying to influence american policy, but the very thinking of our young people. jackie deangelis has more on that. jackie, what's going on here? >> reporter: good afternoon to you, neil. that's right. secretary of state mike pompeo earlier this week highlighted this threat that china poses. it's about u.s. security, it's about freedom of speech in this country, specifically at

colleges. and his warning essentially was that united states colleges are basically bought by beijing in several different ways and that their funding creates a situation where universities might center themselves -- censor themselves to avoid upsetting the people's republic of china. according to a bloomberg report, close to a billion dollars in gifts and contracts have come from beijing in a suggestion-year period -- six-year period. harvard took the lead. now, there's several ways that china is funding u.s. columns, and they don't always have to report it. there are also 400,000 students that come here to study from china. and while the students may not be compromised per se, they do often get tuition funding from home. and what that does is create reliance on a stream of revenue but the universities and the experts say the funding comes with strings. it leaves us vulnerable. listen. >> there have been direct threats from chinese consulates to american university leaders

about the withdrawal of funds if, for example, the dally are llama gives a speech at the university -- dalai lama, or if the university works with taiwan in certain ways. so is this a dire, daily, widespread threat? no. but it's growing and it's real. >> reporter: now, the trump administration took a very tough stance on china. the hope is the biden administration will do the same, but the issue issue is that tuition costs are high, and states don't provide enough funding for universities, and that's where the need for this foreign revenue comes in. the hope is that the government can find some sort of filter for this. as of this moment, that filter is not in place, but it's something we e need to do. back to you. neil: jackie, thank you very much for that. spencer brown, young america spokesperson, but, spencer, i'd be remuss -- it's very nice to

have you -- not to get your thoughts on this with the chinese sort of pressuring views and maybe influencing young minds. what do you make of it? >> yeah. it's an incredibly concerning situation especially when, as jackie was mentioning, you know, a lot of the flow of money is actually unreported, and this is not a ton of accountability or a way for the american government or american people to know what is being required along these lines x. this is something that young americas foundation has been focused on for a while now, looking into what these confucius institutes are doing on american campuses and look at the strings attached from the communist chinese party. -- chinese communist party. i know a lot of people have been obsessed on russia, but it's time to look at china and see how they have an active role on american campuses. neil: the argument that the secretary of state was raising, it's sort of like a ed brying ground for this -- breeding ground for this sort of stuff

because professors and administrators seem to like china more than they do their the own country. is it that bad? >> you -- i think a lot of your viewers would be surprised just how bad it has gotten on college campuses. every day here at yaf we're working with young people, and even though it's different with people being remote, we still see a lot of anti-american exceptionalism isn'tment. so, yeah, you know, they're not necessarily assets of the chinese communist party, but they've found this breeding ground for people who think america is a bad place, who think america has a lot of up justices going on here, and they're able to sort of whitewash the history of china. and even today "uighurs -- the uighur es and the camps and everything else and use this rising generation to sow these seeds of distrust. neil: real quickly, the purpose that you were booked today, and you've been very kind to be respond to this breaking news, and that is forgiving a lot of college debt.

the latest figure is $50,000 of college debt wounded out. i don't know how he's gown to pay for that, but that'sing from chuck schumer. the trend will be, you know, among democrats at least to push for forgiving student debt. but knowing that i would is have you, i wonder about the kids who have been hacking away and trying to deal with their debt or their parents have, where's the reward, the upside for them? >> well, it's just the most stunning huh pockily city and the irony -- hypocrisy e that this proposal is being pushed by people who constantly talk about social justice when a proposal like this to just have the government -- and it's important to remind you that it's not the government's money, it's the fakes iers' money, but to be wiping out the debt for one-third of the country and make the other two-thirds of the country pay for it. there's simply nothing fair about that. there are people who, yes, had to take out student loans, i'm

one of the 45 million plus in the united states who have debt, but you can do it in a way that's looking towards bettering your own future and not have the government come in and cover for it because you got some sort of use wills degree in, you know, feminist ecology from oberlin. we shouldn't have the government forcing the rest of the country to pay for that. neil: i think you said you had eyes open when you took out debt and the degrees which you were pursuing. but i was surprised in one survey, they do eventually have to be paid back. i'm wondering if a lot of them are just sort of waiting it out to see what a president biden might bring them this. >> well, there are a lot of student debt holders who are either delinquent on their payments or completely in default on them which seeks to thish spew -- speaks to the issue, the process is very so

luted. and -- convoluted. give students more information and more power on the front end ebb of in this so when they're choosing a school and a degree program, they understand what their earning potential might be on the other side as well as the repayment options and how much they're going to be on the hook for. a lot of students just can't make it through that process because it's become so convoluted thanks to the sort of intrusion of the federal government into that process. neil: yeah. and you could be making the situation much worse. spencer, very good seeing you. spencer brown. in the meantime, we're getting a few more details out of governor cuomo in new york about what this shutdown of indoor dining means. it does not mean the shutdown of outdoor dining, but it's 28 degrees in new york today. good luck with that. and it does not include takeout. furthermore, the governor is sort of teasing here that 170,000 doses of the pfizer vaccine are going to be in new york by sunday or monday when it

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>> reporter: they're fighting to stay alive, and this is moe's can tee a that in chicago. -- cantina. beautiful mexican restaurant, tequila, the whole thing, gorgeous. but what do you see? these are booths for testing for covid-19. they can't have indoor dining, haven't had it for a long time. sam sanchez, he's the owner, he's on a conference call with the owner of the restaurant association and senator tammy duckworth of illinois explaining his plight. his daughter grew up in the restaurant business. you are testing right now. in fact, if we look -- go ahead, mike, show 'em. you are offering covid-19 testing? >> yeah, we are. we've never seen anything like this in the industry, so it's forcing us to adapt in order to pay part of our rent, keep our employees here and just survive. >> reporter: walk with me, because there's something i want to show you, and this, i think,

goes to the fight these restaurant owners are going through. some of them have thrown up their hands, but your dad has not. yeah. in addition to the covid testing which, by the way, $135 for a test, you get a rapid. result. back here in the backstage he actually bought a, what is this, a mask making -- >> yeah, it's a mask-making machine. we make a few hundred thousand masks a day, and these are the employees that have worked with us in our restaurant before. >> reporter: this is a way to keep the staff going. it started with a ppp loan. >> totally run out. we need something to keep us going, and this is our way of adapting and trying to keep going. >> reporter: he is on the line right now with senator duckworth of illinois. what is he telling her right now, and what would you tell her? you grew up in this business. >> yeah, i did. we're asking for some sort of relief not only from the federal government, another round of ppp, but also from the state. we haven't seen a lot of are e leaf from anywhere really.

>> reporter: they had hoped to be back open with indoor dining here, they told them but the first of december. hasn't happened. so this is, this is the more than ingenuity here, making masks, trying to just do anything they can to keep people employed and to survive this pandemic. neil? neil: genius. life gives you lemons, make lemonade. maybe sangria, i don't know. good for them. thank you, jeff. talking to former fda commissioner, duke university director of powell there. commissioner, good to have you. by the way, what did you make of that restaurant? some of them are trying to find alternative uses for facilities -- >> yeah. boy, i appreciate the ingenuity. i'm not sure that's the solution for everyone, but if there is more that we can do to help those small businesses through, keep in mind, neil, it is the just a matter of a few months or

so before with wider use of the vaccinations, with getting past this winter surge that we will be able to more reliably reopen. right now though between orders that are coming in understandably from state and local officials and also people's reluctance to go out when the high likelihood of covid transmission, those small businesses need some help. of and as you know, congress is considering some relief right now that could include an extension of that paycheck protection program, some unemployment insurance. again, just short-term steps to get us through these next few difficult weeks and months. neil: yeah. a lot of it, to your point, set up facilities for testing for covid and all the rest, making masks and all that, but i am wondering why is it, commissioner, again and again when there are spikes in cases the first thing that governors do is -- or mayors in big cities -- is shut down the

restaurants? when the data that i've seen -- and you're privy to a lot more than i'll ever be -- doesn't show that the spikes are any more noteworthy in restaurants than other places? in fact, they're actually quite low as a group. so why is that? >> yeah. it's a good question, and it's unquestionably just acting on restaurants isn't going to stop the spread. but the fact is, neil, there is the good evidence now the that when people are in enclosed areas with others they don't know outside their bubble in close proximity, especially if they're talking or not wearing masks, that is a recipe for transmission and more super-spreader events. so it definitely is not the only step we need to take. i would like to see more routine testing available. that could also help give people confidence about more reopening in the short to medium term, you know, available for sports leagues, it should be available for schools and other high

priority workers to get back to work. but i do think we're going to see people being reluck about the to go out to -- reluctant to go out, to go to restaurants, to fully participate in the economy until we get these surges better under control. so that gets back to my point about now's the time for some short-term federal help and also acceleration, making sure we get it right with getting the vaccines out and helping people move beyond this. neil: all right. we'll see what happens. commissioner, good catching up with you. be well. be healthy yourself. >> good to be with you. neil: in the meantime, you're looking at midtown manhattan, sixth avenue, our new york news headquarters here. traffic is moving, but if they're rushing to get to a restaurant, let's say this were monday, good luck with that, because it ain't happening. they're going to be shut down, we're told for upwards of three weeks. after this. ♪ can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark --

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♪ neil: all right, all this time we've been worried about russia, right? well, the late talk especially right now and with the biden administration preparing to come in in a little more than five weeks, growing fears that it's china we have to worry e about, it's china that was allegedly using a u.s. congressman, eric swalwell, for influence and maybe some information. and it is china that is going after, according to the secretary of state, our colleges and universities quite literally trying to buy influence and change minds. and it is china that shar ily gas -- charlie gasparino is looking at to talk about the big issue and the big tensions that could get still more pronounced in a biden administration. what have you got, charlie? >> just as it applies to wall street, neil, very fascinating. during the trump years when we had heightened tensions with china on trade and many issues, chinese authorities bypassed the administration, went straight to some of the executives at the bug wall street with firms to maintain connections with them. every firm i know from goldman

sachs to jpmorgan has some presence in china. some of them have subsidiaries partially owned by the chinese, others are applying for subsidiaries to sell mutual funds. but if you look at more michigan stanley which has long -- morgan stanley which has long had a subsidiary, jpmorgan and many others, they are now ready to pounce on the fact that they believe that there will be a theying of relations between -- a theying of relations between china and the u.s. under a biden administration and they will be able to do business in china, and that the chinese are going to allow them to do more business. goldman sachs, from what i understand, earlier in the week said they were going to buy 100% of their chinese investment subsidiary from the chinese. the chinese are allowing them to buy the chinese out. jpmorgan is going to seek the same, morgan stanley is going to seek the same, every major bank is going to seek to do, going to

seek to put a bigger presence in china. china is going to allow that. and it's an interesting by-product, i think, of what we're going to see from this new administration, that it's going to be more open to china. now, whether this is a good thing for wall street, it's obvious they think it's good. china's a huge market. whether it's a good thing for our country, well, there's going to be a debate about that because do we really want our wall street firms operating in china where the chinese theoretically could surveil on them and do some of the stuff that the trump administration believes the chinese are doing with tiktok? using user data for surveillance purposes. obviously, if goldman sachs has a subsidiary there and even if they own 100% of it, the chinese are going to be monitoring it extensively. so that's where we are right now. wall street is preparing for a thaw, for a cooling in the tensions that were there for donald trump. it looks like it's going to be good for wall street business. the question is, is it e going

to be good for american business x. one more point, neil. i heard your last segment on the closing of the restaurants. let me make this point, because i know a lot of restaurant owners in new york, and they're asking the same thing as, i think, other people are asking, where is the evidence that 25% capacity in new york in restaurants indoor capacity to eat is a super-spreader event? you know, i know a lot of people that have contracted covid over the last month. none of them -- when i talked to them, none of them are tracing to it a 25% new york capacity restaurant. some are saying they went to big events where, you know, household gatherings where there were a lot of people where they think they got it, others new it's traveling. i haven't heard the 25% number, and governor cuomo is really putting a stake through the heart of the new york restaurant industry which employs, we should point out, hundreds of thousands of very modest, people of very modest incomes.

he's putting them on the welfare line today. back to you, neilment. neil: -- neil. look at the bright side, outdoor dining is okay. it's 28 degrees in new york toed. [laughter] incredible, right? just incredible. all right, my friend, thank you very much. charlie gasparino. we're going to go through all of the things governor cuomo said. for new york city restaurants to be told they have to shut down indoor dining and rely on outdoor dining and maybe delivery e to keep going, some open of them can do that, many more cannot. ♪ ♪

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the hospitalizations have continued to increase in new york city. we said that we would watch it, if the stabilization -- if the hospital rate didn't stabilize, we would close indoor dining. we are going to close indoor dining in new york city on monday. neil: all right. here we go again. for restaurants in the new york city metropolitan area, as you have seen in places like san francisco and l.a. and much of california itself, the media target when it comes to trying to be ab spikes in cases. people can argue back and forth whether it's warranted to go

after restaurants and indoor dining itself in any capacity, leading to these spikes in cases. i have heard from several on this and it's anyone's game on who's right. kristina partsinevelos on the fallout here and how long this could last. she's in port chester, new york. kristi kristina? reporter: what a blow, another blow to restaurants. this will be the second time they have to close indoor dining in new york city within just the past nine months. they have only been open for two months at 25% capacity and now they will have to close their doors again on monday. this comes after almost 1,000 restaurants in new york city alone have shut down since last march. we have governor cuomo, who did in the press conference also allude to how many vaccines he's expecting. listen to what he had to say. >> good news is the 170,000 doses from pfizer that we announced should be here imminently, sunday or monday. we also will get 346,000 doses of moderna on top of the 170,000

and they will be here the week of december 21. reporter: within the state of new york, we are currently operating in microclusters. there's containment zones. that's why i came to port chester today, because this is an orange zone. for the past month, this entire area has been shut down for indoor dining, hair salons as well as gyms, like the ones that's right behind me have also been closed. but that is i guess you could say the little bit of hope that came out of the message today from the governor, because he did say that salons and gyms can open up to 25% capacity and employees will need to be tested weekly. however, the fact that they have been closed for a month, even though just a mile away, gyms and salons have been open, has been devastating to their businesses. listen to some of these owners. >> my front entrance was on that sti side, i would be allowed to operate.

>> i can listen to a song and before that song's over, i can be dining somewhere else. reporter: unfortunate news for new york city indoor dining establishments, especially since so many have closed and we can only imagine that small business owners, even across the country, could brace for a bleak winter with restrictions and dwindling customers. that means it's going to be all about survival. back to you. neil: all right. thank you very much for that. kristina partsinevelos following all of the implications. she's quite right, this is coming at a time when restaurants are really on the brink. having said that, there is hope on the way in the form of a vaccine available for americans maybe as soon as monday and a follow-up one from moderna possibly, possibly later in the week. blake burman following all of that from the white house. hey, blake. reporter: we are certainly getting the sense now that this is a when and not an if scenario as it relates to pfizer's covid-19 vaccine candidate. i am told by a source familiar with the process that there is a

belief, a belief at this point that the fda could potentially give the go ahead for the emergency use authorization tomorrow, meaning saturday. however, to be crystal clear on this, the fda, the one who eventually has the say with everything, has not yet publicly announced a date. we did, though, hear from the health and human services secretary alex azar earlier today, and he echoed that timeline. listen here to what he said as it relates to when doses could potentially be getting into arms of americans. listen. >> we could see vaccinations beginning on monday or tuesday, depending on when the fda gets everything signed. reporter: more potential optimism surrounding the pfizer covid-19 vaccine candidate. we heard today from the head of the fda and top doctor who is overseeing the eua process. they released this joint statement saying quote, following yesterday's positive advisory committee meeting outcome regarding the pfizer/biontech covid-19 vaccine, the u.s. food and drug

administration has informed the sponsor that it will rapidly work towards finalization and issuance of an emergency use authorization. the agency has also notified the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention and operation warp speed, so they can execute their plan for timely vaccine distribution. neil? neil: you are always ready for weird questions. every time i see the white house behind you, what is the president doing each day? we have very few public announcements, he's had more lately, but you always hear these reports that he's stewing about these legal battles, maybe getting a little worried ahead of the electoral college meeting on monday, at which time it will probably make it official that joe biden is the next president. how is he handling all of this? you talk to people. how is he dealing with all of this? reporter: -- not enough cases and as you know in recent days,

a record amount of daily death totals and from the president, in this building here behind me, we are not seeing a lot of him. there are not a lot of public events at this point and one of the questions, one of the many questions has been why is he focusing on the election which is for all intents and purposes, not for all intents and purposes, is over and done with at this point and not necessarily on this continuing situation that is unfolding with us. in front of us, all across this country. bottom line, neil, we have not seen much of the president in the recent weeks and it is the dominant story right now all across the country, this pandemic that is not slowing down any time soon and that is just not the opinion of myself or any sort of doctor that you hear out there. those are the opinions of the lead experts on the coronavirus task force who advise the president and vice president. neil? neil: so for the last two days, when deaths have eclipsed the

number of americans we lost on 9/11, he's said nothing? reporter: we have not -- we have not over the last days into weeks, neil, seen a steady stream of the president of the united states. that is for sure. at least not what we have seen of him before november 3rd and roughly three and a half years before then when it was almost if not hour after hour, certainly day after day. neil: all right. thank you, my friend. i didn't mean to put you on the spot. i was just curious. you answered that very nicely. blake burman at the white house. i want to go to austan goolsbee, used to work at the white house, former obama economic chair, university of chicago economics professor. pretty smart guy. austan, good to see you. let's talk about the stimulus to deal with the virus right now. it seems to me, you know, being picked apart by both sides. i wonder if it will ever come to pass. i'm jumping the gun here to assume it won't. we won't see it in the lame duck session, it will have to wait

for the biden administration. then what? >> well, i think it's a big mistake. you might very well be right. i'm watching the same cspan you're watching and it does not seem like they at this point are going to be able to agree. i hope they do. if not, there are going to be millions of people who lose their jobs, there are going to be millions of companies that go under that didn't have to happen. now, i don't like calling it stimulus. i think this is just relief and rescue. stimulus, where we are trying to jump-start the economy, i don't think that can happen yet until we get control of the spread of the virus, which we clearly do not have. so if we wait until january, and any time is a good time, you know, yesterday is the best day, tomorrow is the second best day, january's, you know, the third best, and we just got to hope that we can roll out the

production of this vaccine so we can get back to something like where we were before. neil: so your view of it, again, i'm the one that's positive, you are certainly more optimistic, what if we get into it now on this show, it doesn't materialize in the lame duck session and has to wait until next year, we are told right now that it could still run into a lot of opposition, let's say joe biden has to deal with a republican senate, that these races in georgia either split or both remain republican, then what? >> then it's a big fat mess. but the thing is, i think that this in a way is going to get easier because the disease is raging out of control and that is going to have a major negative impact on the economy. you've already seen that. you see the unemployment claims skyrocketing much higher than were expected and i think if you

have universal pain in all the states of the country, eventually congress is going to decide you know what, we have to do this. we may not like each other, we may not be able to get along in other matters, but for the short run, i think they will do something. if not this week, then in january. if not january, then february. i think the pain is going to be enough that we are going to find some common ground. neil: you know, with the vaccine and vaccines on the way to coming and getting out there to the public, how active a role do you envision joe biden playing to encourage people to take them? a lot of americans, forget the policies, they're just leery of vaccines. i'm always surprised -- >> yeah, they are a little nervous about it. neil: -- loathe to it. i'm wondering what role he should take, likely will take.

what do you think? >> i think he probably will take a pretty active role, a, because i think it's what you need to do for the health side but b, the recovery of our economy, us getting back to work, our restaurants and others being able to reopen, hinge critically on people taking the vaccine so that the danger is not as high and we can get to this kind of herd immunity. i think you have already seen the president-elect and other leading political figures from oth ieie iludinc theng the t prev pre pdent pdes os ofhh ys, sayhe t w tl tl pubcl theccinvavava hink hink yououll probablybaee a bu o fcebritbrs, ybrs, brs, kns, w e w houseousel wililry t t t g likeappe hdnedithhehheol ccincc ineheehe hehes, they got vihifelo te the ccin c occ occ oional tetesivivi heah eertsay shat t t vis t tg t insecr i i ha orefeopleoeo

ll ting getggghe tac vaccine b so i wso i i thi t t tt thehehe esidenesidelecidtt wilil d thatd tatata hoptaee tee de'te rp his thing int i i i lticatititiat the ay wwaeed orph ythi hielseelelause our economy really hinges on this one working. neil: i remember elvis, they wanted to confirm he had taken the vaccine. to me, the response you probably knew was uh-huh-huh. what do you think -- i know. i know. >> that was awful. neil: as soon as you mention elvis, i said let me try this on austan. i'm going to rethink that. probably wasn't a great thing. very good seeing you, my friend. thank you. and for your service to this country. austan goolsbee, former obama economic council chair. meantime, i want to go to another smarty-pants, john lonski. john, i'm going to give you another what-if. i was mentioning a couple with

my friend austan. one is what if stimulus is a dead issue, doesn't go anywhere, but we are beginning to see vaccines come out fast and furious, not only the pfizer one, maybe as soon as monday, but the moderna one late next week and bill gates and others are right, maybe half a dozen others in early 2021. so what if no stimulus, but plenty of vaccines, how do the markets respond? >> i think the markets will respond positively. the markets are forward-looking. but that doesn't dismiss the reality that if we don't get a relief, a rescue package, for these businesses and individuals that are hit hard by resurging covid-19, that's going to do a lot of damage. it's going to do a bit of lasting damage to smaller businesses. you know, at some point, we are probably going to have to try to compensate, these businesses and individuals that suffered dually

through no fault of their own from the virus. neil: you know, you work at a firm that looks at bonds and other bonds and i'm not asking you to talk about policy here, but there is this talk with stimulus to come and the benefit of either the vaccines providing still more stimulus, that we could have an inflation problem. i know the "wall street journal" got into it a little bit today. is inflation i guess anything north of 0% interest rates i guess would be inflation. what do you make of that? >> well, we already have some signs of inflation. if we look at industrial commodity prices, prices are up by 20% from a year ago on average. but that's a good sign. that's in response to indications of a revival of industrial activity globally, especially in china. i think the fed would be

tolerant of inflation between 2% and 2.5% for the simple fact that earlier, it had been so low for so long. what i would worry about, though, isn't so much faster than expected inflation. it would be dollar exchange rate depreciation that begins to destabilize the economy, that begins to actually add greatly to inflation expectations. that's about the only thing that i can think of that would force the fed to hike rates at some point in 2021. if the dollar takes a nose dive, the fed may have no choice but to try to steady the dollar through higher short-term interest rates. neil: all right. we will watch it closely, my friend. john lonski, great seeing you. be well, be safe. in the meantime, as we look at the choices of joe biden for his cabinet, much is made of

secretary of state or defense or health and human services, all of that. but the post of agriculture secretary must be pretty cool, because the guy who served in that capacity for almost the entire two terms of barack obama is up for doing the exact same for joe biden. who is he and what's he about? 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

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neil: all right. we're still trying to find out a little bit more about the investigation circling around hunter biden right now, what it exactly covers. let's get the latest from mike emmanuel following it all from washington. hey, mike. reporter: good afternoon. there are various investigations looking into hunter biden's business and financial dealings. a powerful republican senate committee chair who was already digging into biden business dealings is expressing this concern. >> these are the people that hunter biden and the bidens have foreign financial entanglements with, what other connection does they have with china? we may only have really been looking at the tip of the iceberg. reporter: this comes as the "wall street journal" reports attorney general bill barr knew about the numerous investigations looking into lunter bilunt hunter biden's business and

financial dealings since the spring and worked to keep the probes out of public view during the election. a spokesperson for the attorney general declined to comment today. barr has been under intense pressure from the top. >> we've got to get the attorney general to act. he's got to act. and he's got to act fast. he's got to appoint somebody. this is major corruption and this has to be known about before the election. this has to be done early so the attorney general has to act. reporter: there's also the president-elect's brother jim, both jim and hunter have been accused of trading on their family name to land lucrative overseas business deals. former business partner told tucker carlson members of the biden family dismissed concerns in 2017 that their overseas work might damage joe biden's political future. >> remember looking at jim biden and saying how are you guys getting away with this, like aren't you concerned and he looked at me and he laughed a little bit and said plausible

deniabilit deniability. >> he said that out loud? >> yes, he said it directly to me. reporter: fox has reportedly some of the hunter biden investigation dates back all the way to 2018. neil? neil: all right. thank you very much. in the meantime, let's get the latest on team biden, what they are coming up with when it comes to cabinet picks. they are more than halfway through the process but one job you generally don't hear is a sexy or demanding one or a choice one, though it must be very hot right now because the choice for agriculture secretary, joe biden is considering is the exact same person who served in that capacity for almost a full two terms of barack obama, back again. edward lawrence with more. reporter: this tom vilsack is really seen as a safe pick, because you have two ends of the party, democratic party, wanting two different folks to be in there and here we have somebody who did it for eight years. you can't really argue for that. you know, what's interesting is the influences that might be in this next obama

administration -- in the next biden administration. former blackrock executives are solidifying some of that influence in a biden administration. his pick to run the national economic council, brian deese, worked in the obama administration but then became the head of global sustainable investing for blackrock. there could be a shift left for that company as a whole. 24 hours ago in a new report, blackrock says it will more than double the number of companies it engages with over climate change. the goal for them is to target companies its clients invest in to reduce greenhouse gases. blackrock also holding a lot of chinese paper, representing nearly 40% of the managed i-shares emerging market etfs they have. this comes at a time when china is cracking down on companies operating within its border. last september the chinese communist party issued a new guideline for private companies to quote, continuously enhance the political consensus of private people under the leadership of the communist party. now, that affects companies in blackrock's portfolio.

hardliners in china are pointing out the state-managed economy created the v-shaped recovery there. they want to expand that and we don't know what today's influences will surface in a new biden administration but china and blackrock will both be in the news. on a side note about this new administration, the president-elect has not picked any of the people who ran against him in his cabinet yet, thus not elevating any of them to a national stage over the next four years. the democratic strategist told me today that could signal the future of the party rests with vice president-elect kamala harris. we have to see who he picks today but again, tom vilsack, another safe name, also not someone who ran against biden in the primaries. back to you. neil: all right. thank you very much, edward lawrence following all of that. you've heard a lot about the vaccine, first one coming out in this country as soon as monday. people could be getting it. but who should be getting it? you hear about the vulnerable population, the elderly, those who work in the health care industry.

but how about athletes? think about that for a second. not as crazy as it sounds.

neil: are you traveling for the holidays? you probably heard at cdc they aren't really keen on the idea. they want you to stay put like they told you to do at thanksgiving but the reality is a lot of americans are not doing that. in fact, holiday travel demand is expected to pick up considerably in the days and weeks ahead. phil keating has more from fort lauderdale, florida. what that could mean.

phil? reporter: good afternoon, neil. yes. today is day two of hanukkah and two weeks to the day until christmas, so holiday travel is definitely under way here at the airport and that is something that as you alluded to, health experts are extremely concerned about, suspecting it will only lead to more covid spread state to state and around the country. but if you want to travel out of fort lauderdale hollywood, you can just go inside that door because the airport is now offering tests, two types of tests to detect whether you have covid-19 at all. so passengers who are going to fly but want to fly proven negative, they can do it here. it's for both rapid antigen tests and a pcr test. right now, all the anticipation really is on the vaccines. fda emergency authorization for the pfizer vaccine could come any day after that advisory panel yesterday recommended that be done. only five florida hospitals will

be getting this first round of vaccines, miami's jackson health system being one of them. they have now got the deep freezers ready to hold the vaccine and they hope they have done all they can to make the delivery to the people happen smoothly. >> we are cautiously optimistic this is the light at the end of a pretty long, dark tunnel. this year has been an extremely challenging year for so many people. reporter: so true. late yesterday, florida governor ron desantis released a prerecorded announcement saying week one for florida means nearly 180,000 doses delivered. that's nearly 100,000 to the select hospitals and about 80,000 for the elderly, including strike teams delivering vaccines to long-term care facilities. practically every state is now seeing surging new covid cases. yesterday, florida saw its highest daily new positive day count since the summer surge,

july 25th, bringing the state's known total now to 1,083,000. that could be related to the effect of all that thanksgiving holiday travel just now showing up that health experts warned about and of course, we are now into the christmas travel season. it's only going to get busier by the day. neil? neil: all right. phil, thank you very very much. in the meantime, you know, when these doses of the vaccine are out, who gets them first? the protocol goes something like this, health care workers, the elderly, those confined in nursing homes and the like, and those with vulnerable extenuating conditions. generally you don't hear about the first that it should be athletes but think that through. my next guest is right, it could be a very very good idea to encourage others to get the same vaccine down the road.

the doctor has been on the show many, many times. a real rags to riches story, started with nothing, now everything. owns the los angeles times, l.a. lakers minority owner. good to have you back with us. i appreciate it. >> pleased to be with you. neil: let's talk a little about the idea of athletes getting it. it does make sense at a certain level since so many young people in particular are leery of taking a vaccine, particularly one for a virus that they seem, you know, to handle pretty well even when they do get it but what do you make of this? >> i think it's not a bad idea. clearly the health care workers and the elderly and vulnerable should be first, as has been proposed but i think the mental health of the nation as we get locked down and people are watching things to take their mind off this terrible pandemic is whether it be football, basketball, soccer, and as you

can see, the nfl is now a significant number of players couldn't play because of infection. it's not a bad idea but it should not be skip the line with regard to priority. neil: i'm wondering where you see this going, what's behind all of this, just as you know, we were getting ready to come to you, we are learning of course of sweeping crackdowns certainly in new york, where indoor dining will be shut down beginning monday. much of it has throughout much of california. i'm wondering whether that is going to, you know, affect people way beyond the shutdowns. forget the economic impact, that something bad is coming even with the arrival of these vaccines. >> i think unfortunately, we are paying the price now of not really understanding the science, right? i mean, if you look at the other nations and the idea of this infectiveity, i think we

underestimated the asymptomatic transmission and now we are paying that price. so the only way to break the cycle is unfortunately now to go through this secondary lockdown. i still walk around, drive around when i go from place to place in my mask and i'm amazed to see people without masks on. so i don't think the population has really understood the opportunity to change the cycle. until we break that cycle, we are forced into this situation so unfortunately, this is our own self-doing as a community. neil: i'm just wondering, other countries that were much tougher about these things from masks to distancing and the like, have had a devil of a problem dealing with a spike in cases, whether you are talking germany or italy, south korea sees a spike that's been contained of late, so are these short-term

panaceas? what do you best recommend, vaccines notwithstanding, just keep doing all this? >> well, i think the vaccine's going to help. i think the pfizer and moderna vaccine as well will act as a measure to add, so to speak, to those that have already been infected so it creates some level of -- not to the point of herd immunity but the level of lack of more transmission. with a caution, however, is we don't know. we don't know whether these vaccines will have a long durability and one of my fears is if this goes from a pandemic to what we call endemic where it actually continues in the process. so while this vaccine is really important as a first step, we really need to figure out long-term how to deal with it long-term but we have a fantastic first step with the pfizer and moderna rna vaccine.

neil: i know you eschew talking about politics but we have a change in administrations coming very shortly, an election that many say turned on the virus, and americans concerned for it. the way this administration has handled it, what do you look forward to, what do you anticipate under the new one? >> well, look, i think the steps has already taken where dr. fauci has been nominated to be the medical adviser, the fda is brought to the front, people like peter marks at the fda, so what's happened now is we have taken really control back, so to speak, of the scientists and the organizations that truly want to prevent the spread and take this on. i think there's a very very strong responsible position that's now being taken and i'm really very excited and hopeful that this administration will

have to take this on. unfortunately, the first thing i have to now manage is distribution of the rna vaccine which unfortunately requires minus 80 degrees distribution. but i really believe that with this new constraint, i'm very excited we will see progress, real progress. neil: that seems to hint that you do not think you got that under president trump. >> well, unfortunately, i don't think science was taken into consideration. unfortunately, it became politicized, where this is not a political issue. this is an issue of all americans and frankly, all of the world, the virus doesn't differentiate between a republican or democrat, like cancer doesn't differentiate between a republican and democrat. i look upon this virus as a cancer. it is like a cancer. it's one of the viruses that comes through your lungs but spreads through your blood vessels and goes to every organ. we have so much more to learn. we are learning quite a bit

rapidly and it needs all of americans to come together like us going to the moon. so i really believe now with this administration and the focus on science and really not only pragmatic but also understanding the economy is important, the mental health of people is important, and to figure out how we can actually drive -- first break the pandemic and this christmas scares me tremendously, as you see the people traveling. but then we have to over the next 12 months, i think it's over the next 12 months, truly break the back of this virus. neil: we hope 12 months, that's a pretty generous timetable. we will see what happens. doctor, very good seeing you. los angeles times owner, laker owner, minority owner. i would like to say this is a

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a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam® is clinically proven to shorten colds! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam zinc that cold! neil: all right. well, florida is the place to be, and texas, but florida of course gives you that ocean view and all of that and pricey real estate that comes with it. texas, kind of more affordable depending on where you go, of course.

and katrina follows the florida market closely, one of the best at that. campus group very very popular, especially with the well-to-do. i would assume tom brady and giselle fill that definition. they are among the latest who are plunking down big dough for a florida home, right? good to see you. >> absolutely, neil. i have been doing this for two decades now. i don't want to age my several. but for two decades. i have never seen such a crazy real estate market. people are flocking here, celebrities, business professionals, everyone alike, they are escaping places like new york, california and they are spending a lot of money. when the pandemic first started, i really predicted real estate prices would go up and many people didn't agree with me. the reason for that is people have more home equity in their homes, interest rates are very low and people have re-evaluated the importance of home. which is why we are seeing across the board people who are

investing in homes. we don't have enough supply which is why prices in miami, for instance, many times have skyrocketed 30% in the past six months. you are seeing it more in the single family sector but you are also seeing it with conndos and you have seen big transactions take place with very well-known figures in the billionaire bunker, if you will, of the united states and they are spending 20, 30, $40 million on properties and they are paying cash. neil: wow. i know ivanka trump and her husband jared are the latest to seek out a bunker there. you know, obviously the sky's the limit on how much, but how does that spill over to the rest of real estate? if you see that type of activity on the top, does it just follow through that the rest goes up? i know what you're saying about home equity and the like and that's one of the things that has been rising, i think the highest we have seen in more than half a decade, but it seems

particularly pronounced in florida. >> absolutely. we are actually seeing, what's interesting is statistics show that homes over $1 million are the ones that are actually appreciating the fastest. so we actually saw [ inaudible ] across the board but it's trickling down. obviously not everybody can afford a 20, 30, $40 million property but you are seeing people spending $1 million, $2 million, $3 million in south florida and they are spending a lot of their cash on home bases and this can't get enough supply on the market. it's really amazing. you put a property on the market here in florida and you have four or five bids within hours and many times, you are getting what you are asking for, or over asking. that's just indicative of all the people relocating here. we discussed this in the past, neil. i'm just a little afraid of what's going to happen with our traffic because not everybody is out to work yet so i'm already beginning to see that be a little bit of a hindrance but

across the board in real estate, you are seeing the numbers go up in all of florida. not only south florida. i also sell a lot in the tampa and naples area. you are seeing both coasts skyrocket across the board. we just need more supply on the market which is why home builders again now are becoming a little more bullish and we are also seeing prices per square foot get to numbers that you only saw in new york, $3,100 a square foot which wass one of te last home sales on miami beach. neil: isn't that overdoing it? do you think there's anything, the last housing boom went bust. remember when people were buying condos and units, you know, literally without even seeing them, and they were switching them like, you know, chips on a gambling table. has that returned? do you worry that it can get too giddy? >> well, you know what's different this time around, people are actually living in these spaces. they are not speculators, not investors. people are actually relocating,

financial firms are relocating here. i'm actually right now at a listing of mine owned by carlos boozer. i do a lot of sports and entertainment real estate. we got three bids when we came on the market. so you are beginning to see just a need for home space and they are users, not speculators. th i'm not as bullish on the condo market as the single family because if we have another shutdown which i don't think we will in florida, but people are planning ahead, amenities and pool spaces will be sdhouhut do and people are going stir-crazy. neil: good point, good point. >> when are you coming to florida, neil? neil: i don't know. it's a beautiful place but you know, i like the snowbird strategy. go there in the winter, all that. maybe head north in the summer. we'll talk. i will look for things a tad lower in price range than you're offering, though. it's always good having you, katrina. hope you have a wonderful holiday. she was way ahead of this and bullish on housing in the midst of the pandemic.

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i'm grady trimble. we are talking about an issue that's been overshadowed by coronavirus aid talks in washington but is extremely important for those who are in the distilling industry. their taxes could go way up in just the coming weeks because of tax cuts that went into place about three years ago, but a key provision in the tax law is set to expire in just a few days. that means their taxes could go up by 400%. that is an excise tax. that is something that you, paul, are concerned about here, as well as many other distillers across the country. tell me what this would do to your business. >> it's really tough for us to work on. we have to have certainty in our costs. what it means is we won't be able to hire as many people as we want to. that means we may have to let some people go. it means we may have to start trying to work on moving our glass production overseas. after the last tax cut when the taxes went down, we brought all of our glass production over

here, now we may have to send it back. reporter: this is something congress can fix, but they have to act in the next few weeks. it is important to note you guys pretty much dropped everything when the pandemic hit to start making hand sanitizer. now you are asking for just a little bit of help. >> yeah. we have always done what we can to be part of the community. we want to give back. what we are asking now is stand up for us, the same way we stood up for our community back in the day when covid hit. we are asking for congress to take action now and save us before the taxes come in play on january 1st. reporter: as we mentioned, congress has time to act, of course, but they will have to act fast. this is actually something that has bipartisan support, yet they just haven't taken it up at this point. neil: all right. thank you, my friend. grady trimble following all of that in illinois. in the meantime, you notice the dow is up right now. credit disney for that. no mickey mousing around. i'm just trying to help. more after this. your journey requires liberty mutual.

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right now the fact that the streaming business is on fire and could grow to more than 260 million subscribers by 2024, end of story. it is the star of the day, at least within the dow. now to our star of every day, charles payne. hey, charles. charles: hey, neil, thank you very much. appreciate it, my friend. good afternoon. i'm charles payne. this is "making money." breaking right now, what goes up must come down. the market's been drifting today, which by the way, happens. it's happened from time to time over the last 200 years. but when it comes to the stock market, what goes down eventually goes back up. i will explain in a moment. meanwhile, we learned that household wealth increased in our country by more than $3 trillion in the third quarter, driven by the stock market. so how can you get a piece of the action? i have an amazing slate of investing pros that will show you exactly how. and a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill has all but