say the health clinics, get a jab in the arm. stuart: i presume insurance covers it. i presume. i presume. as they should indeed. we've got a market rally. we've lost steam on the dow. look at that nasdaq, up over 1%. time's up for me. neil, it's yours. neil: stuart, thank you very, very much, my friend. we are up about 65 points on the dow right now but a lot might have to do with opec sort of saying the robust demand we thought we would see for our oil is not there. i'm simplifying it. i will get into that. gains nevertheless across the board. run-up in technology driving nasdaq still haier. we're keeping an eye on that. all this bow whiched by the roll out of the vaccine by itself. we'll see 2.9 doses distributed over the next roughly 24 hours. 2.9 million doses after that 21 days later. this is a two-dose vaccine. when you hear doses you have to

think of about half of that on people will be receiving it. the goal remains, 50 million doses in all by the end of the year. we'll get word out of moderna whether it has a yea or nay for its antibody treatment that is again like a vaccine later in the week that means we would have two vaccines competing with one another. we'll see another half dozen more the early part of the new year. so keeping an eye on that. also keeping an eye on indoor dining that increasingly is stopping almost every place you go. all of pennsylvania, all of new york city, all of baltimore and it could get even more pronounced. ironchy as this vaccine comes to town, lots of towns. near term pain seems to be quite acute, no pun intended, for a lot of cities. then again what's happening right now with companies taking a look at high taxes, high regulations and in the case of california just leaving it outright. you heard of tesla, you heard of

oracle. the count of the companies that have. ed for shall we say less taxing skies. why texas is a big early beneficiary. let's go to edward lawrence monitoring what is happening with distribution of vaccines across the country. he is in tampa, florida with more. hey, edward. reporter: fedex and ups delivered to hospitals across the united states. in tampa general hospital they were 30 minutes early on the fedex truck. this is the first hospital in florida to give a vaccination, the second in the united states. to a front line worker t was vanessa, who is a nurse here at the covid center. she treats covid patients inside of tampa general hospital. governor ron desantis was here for that. you're seeing that on the screen. desantis was here, he said this is the beginning of the end for the virus. this, there are 19500 doses of vaccine here at tampa general.

the reason it is here covers four million people and a level-one trauma center, the only one on the west coast of florida covering 12 counties. we're already seen the first health care worker vaccinated in the united states. that happened in new york city. as you mentioned governor cuomo was there for that vaccination. it happened much earlier this morning. listen to this. >> didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine. reporter: and the u.s. surgeon general says this is a massive undertaking to get this out. the secretary of health and human services alex azar says if you had the coronavirus already you still should get the vaccination once the coronavirus sort of leaves your system and you get better when it's available to you. listen to what he said this morning. >> even if you have had covid because we don't know how long those antibodies are going to protect you afterwards. we've seen some limited reinfection but we just don't have the data around that.

we still recommend you get vaccinated when your term comes in the different prioritization. reporter: under "operation warp speed" the expectation is that all front line workers and people at nursing homes, those most critically vulnerable to this virus could be vaccinated by march of next year. the surgeon general this morning saying by june of next year, june, july, time frame we could have herd immunity in the united states. he said if we don't reach that herd immunity, the surgeon general said the pandemic would not go away in 2021. back to you. neil: all right. thank you very, very much, my friend. by the way bill gates, the former head of microsoft of course indicating today as promising as the vaccine is he thinks it will be pretty problematic in the next few weeks and months as number of virus cases spike but again that is sort of delayed math but he does acknowledge people who are assuming things could quickly turn around thanks to the vaccine, at least in the near

term don't be surprised if we see spikes in cases that eclipse 3,000 deaths per day. dr. stephen smith is with us. he is with advent health, research institute vice president there, chief scientific officer. doctor, good to have you. how is the rollout going early as it is? >> you know, things are looking great here in central florida. we expect to receive our first doses tomorrow morning. we're all set and ready to vaccinate our front line health care workers on wednesday. so the turnout has been great from our front line health care workers and we're anxious to get going. neil: so how will it go, doctor? health care workers first? i know it is not quite black and white, health care workers first, older patients and the like, those with vulnerable conditions, could you explain? >> yes, the concept is really is to make sure the front line health care workers particularly those who we prioritize who

actually on a daily basis taking care of cove -- covid-19 patients move to the front of the line. we continue to care for patients as they come to our hospitals so we take care of more people that way. i would say this that we've had a great turnout already. our sign-up sheets are getting full for wednesday and thursday of this week and we've had a great response from our front line health care workers. neil: it would be a gut reed on your part, doctor, i'm curious in your mind, at what point do you think, i guess it would depend on data, what we're getting from these vaccine rollouts, would you think that states could start easing up on restrictions and the like? bill gates is among those saying not anytime soon that we have to be very cautious, keep fingers crossed, pray for the rollout would be successful that it wouldn't be immediate? >> we're approaching 300,000 deaths here in the u.s. i would

say it is not time to back off on any of our things that we know work. so wear being masks certainly, some restrictions you heard about with restaurants, et cetera. our icus are not full but let me just say this, about 2/3 of our ventilators are being used for covid patients these days. i know in many parts of the u.s. there is lot of stress around icu utilization. we can't tolerate really anymore, anymore infections and fill our hospitals up like we've seen in the historical past. so i would agree with bill gates. we need to be diligent. we need to double down as the holiday seasons are upon us and we cannot let starting vaccinations change what we need to be doing. neil: doctor, thank you very, very much. keep us posted how things are going there. herculean task to put it mildly. let's get the read how the markets are digesting all of this. this is was well-telegraphed,

with the approval late friday it was matter of time. markets are still jumping on this weighing and i have if i prospects for stimulus in washington. we'll get to that in a second. by the way the rollout of the moderna vaccine also expected for approval at the end of this week. jared levy joins us delance sy strategies joins us. francis newton stacy optimal capital. director of strategies. francis on this rollout going as planned as well. it's a huge task to get it out there, sort of like a normandy invasion to make it all come together. how are you impressed thus far? >> well, i think it is going really well. kind of consistent what trump said we would be getting the vaccine out before the end of the year and i think until we see any hiccups markets are reacting accordingly. last week you had a bounce in the dollar but it faded. you had a little bit of a bounce in volatility and it faded.

most of the commodities, lumber, coffee, oil, copper, they were all up last week which the markets are then pricing in that the vaccine is going to be successful and that the inflationary trade, yellen, biden, taxes we're on our way fiscal estimate -- stimulus. neil: juxtaposed against this, waiting for stimulus, jared, we talked about that, the latest plan where they cut the $908 billion in two, most of it is geared towards helping those who need relief, small businesses and the like, extension of unemployment benefits, less so for liability protection from some businesses but that might be the best shot republicans, democrats have to find common ground. if it doesn't happen though, then what? >> yeah. so by the way real quick on the vaccine, i do think this is a good timing here there is changing, growing optimism, now

we're seeing it delivered i think folks are excited about that. now you're right the next thing is stimulus, what is the package, what will it look like? i think most protections, limited liability protections will be critical. you think about it right? you're a business owner that will put your neck out there in a climate not so great. i know we have mixed feelings about that you need to have some sort of a protection. so i almost think it is that critical this is long-term type stimulus. it will really have effects from the small business and medium-sized business perspective. those protections, liability limitations need to be in place for the business owner. so i think right now the general excitement is the vaccine rollout. i think as this sort of talk goes on and on about you know, the next stimulus package i think we will see headline fluctuations there. but for now getting it out there, you know, i think a lot of us were looking for some stumbling blocks. remember these vaccines have to stay very, very cold. that logistical, you know, task

is unbelievable and they're doing it. so i think for now stocks are happy about that and that could change here soon. neil: yeah. it would make stocks happy, francis, make some bond traders a little less so because the expectation of economic activity that would pick up. we have the 10-year ♪ flirting with the 1% level. i can't believe i'm saying that all of sudden inflation issue for us but what do you make of that? we've got you know, 10-year now just shy of .9%. unthinkable a year ago if you think about where we are now but what do you make of that? >> i think that right now what is happening in the bond market is confident we'll be able to paper over the covid debt and that is eventually inflationary. markets get well ahead of themselves as we know. as it nears the 1% mark, a little over the 1% mark we become concerned about debt service.

whether the fed will intervene what we know as yield curve control which means depressing the yield somewhere along the curve of maturity in order to make sure we can successfully service the new debt papering over covid. right now we're confident we can do that if it gets over 1% with we'll see if the fed intervenes. for now we're thinking inflation eventually and we're thinking papering over and reflating out of covid successfully. neil: guys, i want to thank you both very, very much. monitoring these developments and others. dow up 73 points. inflation rates backing up. tesla on fire once again. at the close of trading on friday it will be added to the s&p 500. so ahead of that you would think many institutions have already been buying up their tesla to be part of that index but that is going to be a big phenomenon this week. stick around with us. we'll be monitoring this distribution of the vaccine. also give you the latest how states are planning their

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♪. neil: all right. here is the good news. a vaccine is out and millions of doses could be in americans arms by, well, certainly by the end of the week. the goal right now is to get it out there fast. we're hearing hearing from health and human secretary azar hopes to up the ante to get the numbers exponentially bigger and bigger so the next months we're looking at 100 million doses available. that is the good news. unfortunately not doing anything for the businesses that are locked down, particularly places like pennsylvania and new york city metropolitan region, indoor dining shut down entirely. kristina partsinevelos has for

businesses it could be the best of times and worst of times, for restaurants in particular. reporter: indoor dining is banned for the second time in nine months. not just mom-and-pop shows closing down. you have iconic institutions like the 21 club behind me this opened up in the 1930s. it has been around for 80 years, finally closing its doors because of the pandemic. that means 148 employees that work here will be unemployed, added to the already two million people within the food and beverage industry that have lost their jobs just since the pandemic started. according to contact tracing data you had governor cuomo say that restaurants and bars are actually the fifth main source of new infections. this is after social gatherings and personal households. it is no doubt devastating to the industry which is why i caught up with a business owner of an italian chain called

lilia. weighed in on what this means for his industry. listen in. >> it has absolutely been a failure on all levels of government and it has culminated with the shutdown of indoor dining, which now has put your our industry on the deathbed essentially. reporter: many independent restaurant owners and coalitions industry groups are pushing for a restaurant act which would be direct relief to the restaurants and service industry as a whole but so far they haven't received anything. right now here in new york city restaurants will have to rely on delivery as well as outdoor dining but unfortunately gets a little bit worse. we're expecting two major snow falls this week. the city says if the snow reaches well above one inch restaurants will have to close outdoor dining that would be a double-whammy for an already devastated industry. back to you. neil: as if outdoor dining is an option right now.

great reporting, kristina. reporter: it is pouring. neil: yeah, right. in new york city. joins us know stand-up new york owner. donnie, your predictment is a different than the restaurant. there are double standard for come i did i clubs in the new york area, isn't there? >> neil, first off, thanks for having me. yeah, i just heard, i just heard the report, the previous report and unfortunately we don't even have the option for outdoor shows. we've been shut down since march and we have received guidelines when we reopen. we're just asking for the same guidelines as restaurants and bars. unfortunately we're note given that right now. neil: all right. you think about it, "saturday night live" is a comedy club, it justicer nationally.

so they have audiences are limited, wearing masks i'm sure you made, have offered the same allowances and have been ignored right? >> you would think but that has not been the case. that's why it has been so frustrating to see "saturday night live" week after week conduct their comedy show. no one is wearing a mask, they're is no social distancing, they have a live audience. comedy clubs are getting better in new york city right now. so, it is just terrible to see. dangerfields, comedy club over 50 years has closed down. neil: yeah, i saw that. >> -- shut down a few weeks ago, they're in long island city. there will be a few more. i don't understand the hypocrisy with "snl," why they could continue with their shows without wearing masks, having a live audience, we should have

the same right to follow safe guidelines. i'm all for safe guidelines. i'm even for, for safety reasons i'm all for a complete shutdown but we should be following the same rules as other restaurants and bars and it should be a level playing field. neil: dani, i believe in the case of the "snl" audience, it is the not the same size, the audience are all wearing masks i believe the performance is quite different. you can easily do that, follow the same guidelines with little risk. but that is not, apparently not even an option as far as new york is concerned, right? >> that's correct. i mean our showroom fits 120 people. we can easily safely have 25, 30 people. even that will help. since we don't have a kitchen and we don't serve food we can't even apply for outdoor sidewalk

space or -- response. when we try to fill out the permit application, if you don't have a food permit i.d. you can't even get past the first question. so i just feel like we have our hands tied right now with no options to conduct business. neil: what is weird about this, dani, we need to laugh. we need to be entertained. broadway doesn't anticipate opening again until the spring. i don't know where it stands for comedy clubs like your own. that is significant delay. clubs are crucial picking up peoples moods, i imagine good for their health. i imagine something productive for the new york metropolitan region but it doesn't even get that far, does it? >> totally. i mean there's many studies linking the benefits of laughter

to your mental health and especially during this difficult time i think to keep new yorkers laugh something important. thankfully we're, we did produce shows in parks throughout the summer and fall. granted it was illegal but we did it anyway. we were able to produce 50 shows outdoors in parks across manhattan, brooklyn, queens. it was amazing to see new yorkers coming together in a safe way, laughing, having a good time t was really the only entertainment option for them and for comics, they're suffering also. they're going crazy being holed up in their apartments. it was great, you know, seeing them out there honing their craft but now with the weather colder we're really, we're running out of options. we held a show in a church two weeks ago on 86th street on

the upper west side because houses of worship could be open. so, why, are they, why are houses of worship allowed to be open but a business can't be open? it just doesn't make sense. neil: it does seem pretty simple. just apply all the same crowd and standing standards, it should be okay but this is way beyond my comprehension. i'm sure exasperating for you. i hope better times ahead with a vaccine coming out, another by the end of this week maybe, hope springs eternal. you have a great attitude. maybe that is the inner comic in you. dani, go ahead. >> thank you for your time. neil: thank you for yours. good luck to you. all right, by the way in washington no laughing matter. they are serious say they could have a covid-19 relief bill because they have cut it in two, two relief bills.

i will explain. ♪.

♪. neil: all right if one big won't do it how about two smaller bills? i'm simplifying things to show you now where the battle stands with the covid relief effort in congress but they figure two pieces could be more desirable than one. chad pergram is here. what are they cooking up. >> they will roll out the two bills this afternoon. one part will be money for state and local governments. the other part for everything else. they will roll that out at 4:00 even time. as they try to get a deal keep in mind the time is slipping off

the clock. lawmakers are cognizant the extra unemployment benefits will disappear after the christmas. nancy pelosi talked yesterday with treasury secretary steve mnuchin and she will talk today and at 4:00 we will have the real out of two bills. here is joe manchin. >> no one wants to talk a tough vote. they are worried it will affect them in the election. we're here to take tough votes. we have a country with a tremendous hardship right now. it will get worse before it gets better. reporter: congressional leaders embraced the effort as a framework but it gets cool reception from many senate conservatives. the sides are hung up over aid and to local and state governments and liability protection for small business. >> any place of work is protected from those endless liability lawsuits because our small businesses are working so hard to keep their employees

safe but also safely getting people back to work. reporter: they also want to put money in this bill, probably about $8 billion for distribution of the vaccine and the other thing here they have to fund the government again by friday. on an interim spending bill. this becomes ripe again on friday night. neil. neil: chad, real quickly it, looks like it is still an uphill battle whether it is two pieces or one to get it through but it is your understanding democrats regardless once joe biden takes over on the 20th, want another stimulus measure even if we get this one through, another covid relief measure. reporter: absolutely. i would look at the model applied in 2009 with president obama. remember the stimulus package. different circumstance after the 2008 collapse. as we get deeper into the pandemic and deeper into the recovery they will have to evaluate exactly what is needed. some of those will be battles

royale. neil: chad, thank you very much. capitol hill reporter royale. go to dr. art laffer, you know him as a former reagan economist. widely regarded in the financial community as a genius. that is debatable. i'm kidding good to have you my friend, art. what if it this stimulus doesn't materialize in this session, then what? >> i think it is okay if we don't get it to be very serious with you. this is not something that should be done except for the medical part and distribution. all those monies are really, really good, neil. but bailouts, all that other stuff for states should be left until joe biden's term comes in and let him champion these causes if he likes them not champion but he will own the economy. that is where it should be. i don't think republicans or democrats should go for a stimulus bill right now separately or collectively. i don't think they should ever go for pailing out states that

have misspent funds. covid funds is a different issue. i don't think this bill makes a lot of sense. neil: you know, art, you don't look it, you have two served you know, iconic republican presidents. of course ronald reagan and donald trump. both were very aggressive in easing taxes and regulations. where would you rate president trump? >> on economics, i only talk about economics as you know, neil, i think set single best president we've had on economics including probably reagan although reagan would be a close second, transparency, energy reform, tax cuts all of these things he has done really, really well. the only flaw that i would put on trump at all would be the first cares act which i really don't think he is responsible for but he has done just a great, great job on the economy.

bar none. i just think he is spectacular. neil: so you know, today the electoral college is meeting this counting votes across the country. they pass those along to washington. then the joint session of congress on january 6th. it will probably be official today and really stamp on that time joe biden is the next president. how do you think president trump is going to handle that? >> i don't know how he is going to handle it but let me just say i have no problems with joe biden. as far as the democrats go i think he is the best choice they could have had. i think kamala harris is the best choice they could have had for vice president. i look forward to biden and kamala harris not lousing the economy up at all. in fact, joe biden voted for the 86 tax act. joe biden has been pretty clear as a moderate, maybe even conservative some issues.

i think joe -- neil: he is not a moderate, he is not a moderate on the tax thing. he wants to raise the corporate rate to 28%. he also wants to raise it those earning $400,000 or more. nothing nearly to the degree some of his opponents in the democratic primary wanted to do but do you think he gets that wish? i guess it would depend own the georgia runoff races if it is a republican senate will it happen? >> let me just say he did campaign on that, neil, you're completely correct he did but if you look at his record, you know once a person is behind that desk in the oval office they're the boss. no longer is it politics and gamesmanship trying to get votes. i would be very surprised if joe biden personally thinks we should raise the corporate tax rate. i would be really shocked at that. he voted to cut the highest corporate tax rate from 46 to 34%. he voted to cut the highest personal income tax rate, drop it down to 28%. he voted to get rid of 11 tax

brackets and have only two tax brackets that was joe biden of not that long ago. joe biden is not a professional economist. he doesn't change his mind all the time. he does what is politically necessary. now he is the boss, neil, he doesn't have to kowtow to bernie sanders or elizabeth warren, some of these other people. i'm looking forward to a pleasant surprise or at least a more policer ant surprise from joe biden than anyone else. i think he is fine fellow. he doesn't have a grudge. i think he could be a good president. neil: you say that but he was also working with, also working with barack obama when they raised the top rate back up to 39.6%. he supported that. >> yes. so wants to do that again. >> yes he did. neil: do you think he will be able to do that or do you think he will change his mind once he is in office? >> a vice president doesn't have control of his own mind. as your vice president, you're

an employee of the president, you do what the boss wants you to do. jo biden is no longer the vice president. he is now the boss. he can call it the way he sees it. if people try to put pressure on him, get out of here. neil: you don't think if he has a democratic senate, art, you don't think if he has a democratic senate he isn't going to push raising those taxes? >> i think that he would think twice about doing that especially if the economy responded negatively to what he was doing. i think joe biden wants this economy to do really well and i think raising those taxes the way the democrats especially sanders and warren and some of the others propose would not do well by the economy. i think it would be a bummer for the economy. i think joe biden doesn't want that to happen on his watch. i think he is really a public focused purpose person, not a partisan hack. i really think he is focused on the public. >> all right. >> i'm hoping that's true. but joe biden has been a very

popular figure with republicans and democrats for a long, long time. i hope he keeps to it. neil: if donald trump wants to run for president in 2024 would you support him? >> of course, yes. [laughter]. i mean he is wonderful. neil: just wanted to know. >> he is the greatest president from the standpoint of economics i have ever seen. it is amazing what he has done, just amazing. transparency, reform on energy, all of these things, the tax cuts. i mean what he hasn't doesn't do. he just has been amazing. some people don't like his style and don't like him but if weren't for the pandemic, neil, by the way, warp speed, what he did to develop the vaccines is incredible. if it hadn't had been for the pandemic i think he would have been elected in a wild landslide. neil: a lot of people say that we'll never know. thank you very much, art. great seeing you again. hope you have a wonderful christmas. >> no genius here. no genius here. just your buddy. thank you, neil.

neil: thank you, my friend. a genius. art laffer, economic brains will worked very closely with two very popular republican presidents. of course ronald reagan and donald trump. we'll have more after this well have you tried thinkorswim? this is totally customizable, so you focus only on what you want. okay, it's got screeners and watchlists. and you can even see how your predictions might affect the value of the stocks you're interested in. now this is what i'm talking about. yeah, it'll free up more time for your... uh, true crime shows? british baking competitions. hm. didn't peg you for a crumpet guy. focus on what matters to you with thinkorswim. ♪ to all the businesses make it through 2020... thank you for going the extra mile... and for the extra pump of caramel. thank you for the good food... and the good karma. thank you for all the deliveries... especially this one. you've reminded us that no matter what,

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♪. neil: welcome back, everybody, i'm neil cavuto, you're watching "coast to coast." we're watching a couple developments a giveback, substantial one from the dow jones. the vaccine is out here. but we know the number of new cases hospitalizations even deaths are up and we do know there is a back and forth on stimulus and we do know a lot of states municipalities, cities like new york clamming down on indoor dining out right. outdoor dining is an option in places like baltimore. it is creating confusion. we're following all of that.

we'll look at political developments. this is the day early voting begins in georgia ahead of the runoff election early part of next month latest from atlanta where we find our jonathan serrie. how is it looking. reporter: neil, at most points steady but not overcrowded but think selected state farm arena as this early voting site. so much space here that people are even able to spread out and be socially distant during this pandemic to keep voting as safe as possible. at another atlanta polling site democrat rafael warnock showed up for early voting along with former united nations ambassador and civil rights leader andrew young. >> you look at him, he looks like he has overcome. [laughter]. and as he overcomes, we overcome. >> god bless you, brother. and dr. king would certainly be

proud of you. reporter: democrats are expressing optimism about the chances that warnock and his running mate jon ossoff will win the january 5th runoff. georgians already requested 1.2 million absentee ballots. voting rights activists say many of the new applications are from younger people and minorities. republicans are trying to a reassure trump supporters disappointed in the outcome of the general election they are making efforts to insure the integrity of the runoffs including bringing in an additional 4,000 poll watchers. >> we're trying in the court make sure we segregate all the people who registered after the november election and have gotten an absentee ballot. we want those treated as provisional ballot to make sure. >> we want to make sure we have more signature verification. we're in the courts right now fighting for that. reporter: neil, as you know the electoral college is also meeting today. georgia's electors to have just

voted for biden and harris. back to you. neil: all right. thank you very much on that. you know jonathan serrie following all of that. i want to switch to the whole hunter and joe biden story about the money issue, the tax investigation issue and how closely the two are aligned on this. joe biden folks have been saying there is no there there but our hillary vaughn has been digging into some of these allegations and some curious ties. hillary. reporter: hi, neil. before there were questions about conflicts of interest with burisma there were those same questions circulating about the biden family. president-elect joe biden then another joe biden and his son hunter biden and their close business relationship with a delaware-based credit card company mbna. back in 1996 biden sold his house to an mbna executive for $1.2 million, six times what he paid for it just two decades

earlier. but that same year after that house sale mbna hired biden's son hunter right out of isle law school. hunter was getting paid by them as consultability in the early 2000s when his dad cast a string of controversial votes while the senate worked on bankruptcy reform. biden disagreed with some of his closest democratic colleagues in the senate and sided with credit card companies over legislation that would make it harder for consumers to escape credit card debts all while his son was getting paid by one of the largest independent credit card issuers in the world. newspaper editorials at the time penned biden with the nickname, senator joe biden d-mbna instead of delaware. biden addressed those comments to the "washington post" back in 1999 saying this, quote, i'm not the senator from mbna. i'm not the senator from 1979 either but this year biden denied his involvement in this

legislation completely when challenged at a debate with bernie sanders. >> this is a little bit about leadership as well. joe talked about bankruptcy. joe, my memory if correct you helped write the bankruptcy bill. >> i did not! >> all right. reporter: biden did help write it in fact in a 2001 senate floor speech he reviewed. he bragged about it, about the provisions final bill. proud how it turned out. neil: hillary, thank you very, very much. not only oracle leaving the high-tax environment of california. now deutsche bank looking to move a lot of people out of new york to another cheaper confine after this.

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♪. neil: all right. vaccine out, lockdowns done, not so fast. in the new york metropolitan area and a host of other places they're actually increasing them. this could explain why deutsche bank is increasingly looking to locales other than new york for some of its people. charlie gasparino has more. hey, charles live. >> neil, it is not just deutsche bank but every major wall street

investment bank and bank is looking to relocate much of its workforce, not all of it, but a good chunk of it, out of new york state, the new york city area and it is more than just the covid causing this, pandemic, lockdowns, the fact we, we do business in a very high density area. it's leadership. it east losing confidence in the governor, governor cuomo, governor murphy. mayor, mayor de blasio to handle crime and other issues. it is what is looming in terms of costs. governor cuomo recently threatened this but governor murphy had done the same and so has mayor de blasio. higher tax increases, much higher taxes on businesses potentially and also on, on executives. that combination is causing people to say, why should we be in the city? why should we be spending so much money on new york city real estate and get stuck with this high burden when we know, based on the experience during the

lockdowns, that we can basically work okay remotely and in far-flung areas, particularly if you consider far-flung areas texas and florida. i will say this, neil, the irony here is pretty amazing. firms like goldman sachs. firms like jpmorgan, the executives at these firms, people that run this, jamie dimon is a democrat. people that run goldman sachs are somewhat more liberal wall street executives. they're all thinking of moving to red states where taxes are low, where regulations are lower and where they can cut their costs dramatically. that is what we have right now, neil. when the vaccine is distributed, when people start going back to work, you're going to see a lot less workers in new york city and in the area and that is going to have a big economic impact on the tri-state area. neil, back to you. neil: all right. thank you, my friend, very, very much. corner of wall and broad we have

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humana, a more human way to healthcare. neil: all right. let the tag team rollout begin. the langone medical center in new york city metropolitan area and being played out in hospitals across the country, walgreens and cvss, also across the country, eventually you can sign up for an appointment to get your shot. the question is, who gets it and when. 2.9 million doses right now probably by the end of today, another 2.9 million doses by 21 days from now. that is the second dose of this. they are optimistic they can ramp this up to as many as 50 million doses by the middle of january. it's an aggressive timetable but they are optimistic they can

meet it. grady trimble has more about how you get your hands or arms on that and soon. he's in chicago. hey, grady. reporter: hey, neil. it will likely be several months before the general population can get the vaccine but when they can, they will likely be able to just walk up to any walmart, cvs or walgreens and get it. that's the plan, anyway. walgreens, cvs and walmart will be among the first to receive this vaccine. it is en route as we speak. they are part of the plan to administer it first to health care workers as well as the elderly. they have partnered with tens of thousands of long-term nursing homes across the country and hope to begin giving shots to nursing home residents by december 21st, exactly one week from today. eventually, anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one at any of the thousands of pharmacy locations across the country. the timeline for that is still unclear and exactly how that will happen is still unclear,

but what they're saying right now is at some point in 2021, you will be able to do that. in terms of who gets the vaccine, that won't be up to the pharmacy chains themselves. walmart making it clear with this statement. walmart will not have any say in who can receive the vaccine but we are ready to support states once they decide who gets the vaccine. cvs and walgreens hiring thousands of workers to administer this vaccine and this is important, neil, as a way of getting the general public inoculated for a couple of reasons. first, the proximity of millions and millions of americans to walgreens, walmart and cvs. just about everyone lives within a few miles of one. secondly, all of these big retailers have great experience in giving vaccines. as an example, cvs says it will have vaccinated 20 million people by the end of this year. that's for things like the flu shot, so they already have the procedures in place. they have been gearing up with

the cold storage, dry ice and freezers that they need to get this done, as well as educating staff on how to administer it. neil? neil: that makes perfect sense, to your point. they are long used to doing it that way. thank you very much. grady trimble. all right. that's this vaccine, the pfizer vaccine. there's another one coming from moderna that could get approval as soon as friday. let's get the read on that with blake burman at the white house. hey, blake. reporter: neil, could get vaccine approval on friday as its relates to moderna. we heard from hhs secretary alex azar say today he hopes the action for moderna is quote unquote, comparable to what we saw with pfizer. if so, that means after the fda advisory panel meets on thursday, the fda could give the go ahead on friday. we also heard today from the head of distribution for operation warp speed, saying if all of this plays out like what we saw over the last handful of days, and that means moderna's vaccine candidate could be in the arms of americans all across the country this time next week.

>> we know that we're going to ship just little bit short of six million doses out to the american people, and we're shipping it to 3,285 locations across the country. it will be a very similar cadence that was executed this week with pfizer, where we are hitting initial sites on monday, follow on tuesday and wednesday, and then by the end of the week, we're just in a routine cadence of execution. reporter: all this focus on pfizer and moderna and rightfully so but we also heard from the top scientist on operation warp speed today, and he's looking beyond that as he is optimistic about johnson & johnson and astrazeneca. >> we have two more vaccines in the portfolio using more classical protein-based vaccine technology. these technologies are very likely to be as effective as the vaccines that we know already and as safe as those vaccines.

reporter: neil, there was an interesting plea today from dr. slaoui saying even though we saw pfizer get out and potentially moderna in the coming days, he hopes americans go forward with vaccine trials for the other candidates. as part of the sales pitch on that, was this. you might be able to actually get a vaccine quicker by going through the trials for johnson & johnson and others, per se, than maybe if you have to wait weeks into months for pfizer or moderna. neil? neil: that's interesting. blake, thank you very much, my friend. blake burman in the middle of all that at the white house. in the meantime, back to covid-19 relief, i know what you're thinking. neil, please, quit teasing us with this. the latest plan for breaking up that $908 billion relief plan into two parts, one would be $748 billion for small biz, businesses, unemployment benefits, $160 billion for state

and local governments. some, i stress some in quotation marks, liability protection for businesses. democrats want to limit that, republicans want to limit the unemployment benefits, but they might be able to strike a deal when it comes to just doing it in chunks like that. let's see where that goes. the former congressional budget director is with us and jillian melchiore, former "wall street journal" editorial writer, much much more. jillian, what do you make of this latest strategy, maybe you will like it better if we chop it up for you? >> i think democrats have been pushing to see what they can get away with. they want to see how much spending they can use and covid's a good opportunity to do that. i think the things that most agree upon are more personal protective equipment, some money that go to state and local

bail-outs. why should my family be paying for andrew cuomo's catastrophic lockdown policies? it's big-spending democrats waiting for somebody else to bail them out again. neil: when i look at this, i know people have ceased looking at the expense of all this. i know you are a big deficit hawk, days at the cbo watching all the money going out and a lot less coming in. having said all that, you can make the argument the economy will need some relief, a lot of folks will need some relief and both parties recognize that, but i'm wondering especially what i'm hearing from prominent democrats that there's a lame duck relief and they want more in a biden administration on top of that. where is all of this going? >> well, i think there's a very good case to be made that there are two targets out there right now that probably could use some help. small businesses continue to close by the thousands. we have about a quarter fewer small businesses than we did in february. and there are some americans who have been unemployed since late

march, early april, about 11 million individuals and they are facing the income drop-off that comes with the expiration of a lot of these programs. that's the piece that everyone agrees on and is the most popular with the public. the other way to look at that second package, the business liability and the state and local governments, is the public doesn't really care about that. those are arguments for the elites. so by breaking it up this way, they can take care of the political retail business and get one thing through and come back to fight in january about the one that really is a little more of an elite battle. as far as the economy goes, this is really about just a little bit of a bridge to next year. it's not stimulus or anything like that. it's just a financial bridge to get some small businesses and some families through the worst of this second surge, and then you know, off we go to growth. i'm not convinced that they're going to come back, look at the economic landscape and need to do a whole lot more spending. things will probably start to pick up on their own.

neil: you know, jillian, i don't think it's gotten a lot of attention but obviously, everyone hopes for growth and the promise of a vaccine that's coming out and how that will put a limit to the lockdowns and maybe things will ease nup in te new year. i don't know what will happen with the federal government. i don't know what will happen with joe biden and his tax hike. i guess a lot depends on those georgia runoff elections. but i do know that a majority of states are considering tax hikes because they have to balance their books, new york among them, california among them, and connecticut and so many others, new jersey, where they are already raising taxes. i'm wondering on a state level, whether that's going to mitigate this and limit this growth or this boom that wall street envisioned. i don't want to be a crepe hanger. i'm just raising the possibility that even if joe biden can't raise taxes at the federal level, a lot of governors are going to do just that at the state level. >> yeah. i mean, i think a lot of governors are getting in a pinch, especially in these blue

states. it's been spend, spend, spend, the spending has been [ inaudible ]. i want to push back on the points that the liability protection and state and local bailouts are an elitist issue. this is something that's going to affect every single american. when you are talking about state and local bailouts, this is red states that have been fiscally responsible that have not locked down the entire economy on baseless data and red states are being asked to bail them out, when you talk about the liability protection, this is an issue of can small businesses get back up on their feet, get up and running even if they have taken precautions because they are afraid they are going to get targeted by the trial lawyers. this is something that's going to have a real impact on your taxes, it's something that will have a real impact on the economy and on jobs. that's not an elitist issue. that's an everyman's issue. neil: real quick, doug, looking -- go ahead. finish that. >> i agree completely with the substance of that. i'm just saying look at the polling, the average american does not resonate with those issues.

they don't say yeah, it's really important for that to get done. on the analytics, you are exactly right. neil: all right. final word on that. jillian, thank you as well. couple other developments we are following, not only release of the vaccine and how they hope to up the ante, i believe the administration will commit another $100 million to getting it, many doses of this stuff out as quickly as possible, as i said. but we are also looking at this movement on the part of so many companies, individuals and the like to escape high tax states. forget about what uncle sam is doing. california, of course, has been seeing this quite a bit lately. what that could mean, after this. ♪ [ sigh ] not gonna happen.

that's it. i'm calling kohler about their walk-in bath. my name is ken. how may i help you? hi, i'm calling about kohler's walk-in bath. excellent! happy to help. huh? hold one moment please... [ finger snaps ] hmm. ♪ the kohler walk-in bath features an extra-wide opening and a low step-in at three inches, which is 25 to 60% lower than some leading competitors. the bath fills and drains quickly,

while the heated seat soothes your back, neck and shoulders. kohler is an expert in bathing, so you can count on a deep soaking experience. are you seeing this? the kohler walk-in bath comes with fully adjustable hydrotherapy jets and our exclusive bubblemassage. everything is installed in as little as a day by a kohler-certified installer. and it's made by kohler- america's leading plumbing brand. we need this bath. yes. yes you do. a kohler walk-in bath provides independence with peace of mind. call to receive $1,000 off your kohler walk-in bath. and right now we're offering no payments for 18 months. neil: all right. oracle, the latest company to say good-bye to california. to beef up operations in texas. but it's not the last to do so. very busy time for companies doing just that, huh? susan: that's right. an accelerating trend out of silicon valley, it seems. one of the biggest companies in the world, oracle, is heading to

austin, texas instead of redwood city, california. officially you have oracle citing the remote work trend in its s.e.c. filing, and this means many of our employees can choose their office location as well as continue to work from home part-time or all the time, which is also another headline there. oracle joining the likes of tesla and elon musk moving to the lone star state instead. oracle billionaire founder larry ellison also happens to be a director on tesla's board. another silicon valley pioneer, hewlett-packard enterprise, also say they are packing up and heading to houston. then you have at & t, charles schwab and joe rogan moving to texas instead. despite the official line from oracle that it's about the remote work trend, you have to figure that taxes probably played into the calculus. for instance, texas has zero state income taxes compared to california's 13% marginal rate, one of the highest in the land.

according to one analysis, california is nearly 30% more expensive to do business. the trend to leave silicon valley is something other big tech executives have noticed. for instance, facebook's cryptocurrency boss david marcus tweeting that he's been in california now for over a decade and he says he's never witnessed such an exodus of talent to texas, florida and washington state. the brain drain, he says, is real and picking up momentum. by the way, those are the three out of the seven states across america that has zero state income taxes. neil: yeah. you can understand the math on that. susan li, thank you very much. great job, as always. want to go to the former microsoft c.o.o. of course, microsoft based in seattle, washington. i'm curious, you know, back to your days there, could you ever envision microsoft doing something like this? i mean, washington state is not

a cheap state. the seattle area, not exactly lately a business-friendly area. do you see this happening? >> well, it's possible. times have changed very significantly, neil. if you think about the '70s and '80s, the environment in these cities was a lot more pleasant. so if you go to san francisco downtown these days, it's not a pleasant place to be. they have brought a lot of this on themselves. neil: i just wonder, this environment, so many people are focused on whether when joe biden gets in he's going to be able to get his tax increases through and i have been arguing with guests, republican and democrat alike, we were quite fair and balanced, that it might not matter, that so many states are raising taxes right now because of the pandemic and states like california that are between a rock and a hard place, i don't think needed a pandemic to raise taxes but that it's

such a drag that no matter what you escape on the federal level, if your state is zooming you and they stand to zoom you still more, it almost compels you to find a cheaper locale, doesn't it? >> look, that's absolutely right. i think the primary example these days is hewlett-packard enterprise, which frankly has been suffering in terms of high costs and they recently announced the move that they are going to houston and they are beginning to build a campus there. no doubt the ability to work remotely has helped out a lot in terms of verifying for them that it will probably work okay. it will be a transition, it will take a while to happen, but they are a great example of having severe cost pressures and if you look at the regulations in california, they cost a lot of

money for a company to adhere to. if you look at the inconvenience that employees have to put up with in terms of the horrific traffic, it's no wonder they are looking elsewhere. i think the pandemic has frankly woken up a lot of these places along with the tax moves that you referenced that they have to face the facts. neil: i also wonder, too, in this environment, whether the pandem pandemic, it doesn't really matter where you live. especially when you see elon musk looking like i'm moving too, personal move, that people are beginning to reassess in this age where we work remotely, you can work remotely from a cheaper locale just as easily, right? >> absolutely. i think oracle is a good example of this. in their announcement, basically they explained this is going to be a multi-step process where frankly, on day one, won't mean

anything for employees. they will continue to work there in california or wherever it is they're working. but i can tell you, in the case of oracle, already a lot of people are working remotely and secondly, there are a lot of salespeople sprinkled around the country so where is headquarters? it really doesn't matter that much. i think larry ellison is also, he stated publicly, he's tired of the intolerance of the place. the regulations, the government, the governor himself, these are people who have frankly overstepped the bounds. neil: yeah. what is that old line? we don't need a thank you but we certainly don't think we deserve a screw you. but it's weird times, bob. i hope you have a wonderful holiday, my friend. be safe and be healthy. thank you very much for weighing in on this. crazy times, bob. crazy times. >> thank you very much, neil. same to you. neil: all right. bob herbold, former c.o.o. of

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call now so you can... retire better neil: it is probably one of the hottest items of the christmas season. people trying to get their hands on a ps-5, the popular game maker saying right now that no matter how they flood stores with it, someone has beaten you to it and got them. it might not be someone, per se. there might be a high tech strategy to all this. jackie deangelis here to explain what's happening to all of that and it's not fun and games. jackie? jackie: good afternoon, neil. holiday shopping is certainly upon us and so many more people are going to be doing it online

specifically because of the pandemic right now, but getting those hot items especially for kids, we are talking about playstations and xboxes and nike sneakers, that's where the bots come in. people purchase them for a few hundred bucks to get the items for them. here's how one expert sums it up. >> you tell them what is it you're after, what is the you want, how much you're willing to spend, then what you do is you actually launch a missile of sorts through cyberspace that says i'm seeking out this particular target. it's an automated program that's designed to run 10, 20, 30,000 times faster than a human can react and as these things become available, it's instantly there faster than you can click a mouse. jackie: sometimes it's harmless but other times it's not. people are simply buying up the supply out there so they can set their own price. so if you were to take a look online, and you could see the sold-out play station 5, they could go for as much as $2,000 which is quadruple the suggested

retail price. it's creating an uneven playing field for the average consumer out there and that's forcing parents to make a really tough choice. do you break the bank or disappoint your kid at christmas? congress trying to fix that with legislation. >> what you want to make certain here is that when people establish a system, a control mechanism, it's honored and that the ftc is empowered to step in and say they want limits on this, you're not going to come in and scoop all these things. jackie: it wasn't just during the for christmas shopping either. it's also during the pandemic, masks, lysol wipes, sanitizer, all the things that have been difficult at times to get because of the supply chain shortages. bots have been scooping them up as well. i will say this to you if you want a ps-5 or maybe some toilet paper for christmas, this could be one way to go. neil: you know, this would be a nightmare if they did this with processed meats and cheeses. i would fight it to the end.

fight it to the end. jackie, thank you very much. jackie deangelis. so far that is not happening. bots have not gotten ahold of the processed meat and cheese market. hickory farms, keep playing. we have john tamney with us, realclear markets editor. i want to get your thoughts on this phenomenon that people are willing to spend big bucks on these game systems or bot control pricing where people are really getting gouged but they are happy to get gouged, i guess, just to make sure they get the gifts which is probably behind all of this high record-setting holiday spending in the middle of a pandemic. what do you make of it? >> i think what i make of it, the future does look better. people are starting to feel optimistic that these needless lockdowns are going to end, if nothing else because there's a vaccine on the way. so it excites me about what these bots mean more broadly. i have always argued that what they ultimately are, robots are the greatest friend of the american worker and the world

worker that they have ever known, simply because they will remove all the negative aspects, all the difficult aspects of work, they will take care of that for us so we can specialize. just as we are better off if we are on a deserted island with 100 people and 100 more people show up because you can have 200 extra hands doing specialized work. robots mean we will be able to specialize even more and i believe the future of work is where we will fall in love with it. neil: i hope you're right. i keep harkening back to 2001, space odyssey and open the pod door, i'm worried. if you're not worried, i'm not worried. a lot of people are worried about relief and stimulus out of washington. i'm wondering how that plays out because some people might be factoring into their christmas buying that they are going to get a stimulus check. that's not a guarantee. what do you think? >> i think the very notion of government stimulus is a misnomer. let's never forget governments can only stimulate insofar as they have taken from the economy first. they can only stimulate insofar

as economic growth already occurred. so when politicians say they can grow the economy, they are engaging in fraudulent double-counting. i do think there's probably an argument at this point given the way politicians who only tax took away the livelihoods of tens of millions of americans, there's probably some argument for them getting some of the money back that they paid in over the years. i hope they get it. i hope they can get back some of what's been taken from them so that the holidays aren't as awful as politicians are needlessly trying to make it for people around the country. neil: that's well put, my friend. can i get your take on something art laffer mentioned earlier, that he doesn't think that in his heart of hearts, joe biden wants to really raise taxes, let alone the possibility that the senate stays in republican control, we'll know after the georgia runoff election on january 5th once and for all, but that he might change his mind on this and that the hike in corporate taxes to 28%, that

he's envisioning or even raising taxes on individuals, returning the top rate to 29.6%, it might not happen. i guess i want to ask you, let's say he's right about that. how does that square with many states that are raising taxes? >> if he's right about it, i think there's a big stock market rally just to reflect relief that biden isn't what he billed himself as in this presidential go-round. i also think dr. laffer's got a point. let's never forget that joe biden carries himself as a man of the people, the person who is most in touch with the typical man on the street. let's never forget about that that george mcgovern's most difficult campaigning 50 years ago was telling west virginians he wanted to raise the estate tax. every american deeply believes the future is bright for them. there's an optimistic quality to us. so i would like to think that underneath biden's rhetoric meant to appeal to the democratic base is a view that

it's regressive, it's mean-spirited to raise the cost of work and i hope that he expresses that now that he's elected. neil: you know, a lot of people are saying of 2020 that it's going to be a tipoff of roaring '20s, that regardless of who is president during the course of these years, there will be a roaring '20s. we know how the roaring '20s ended, i'm not getting ahead of myself, but that a sustained bull market boom is in the works. what do you think of that? >> there's a reasonable argument for it, when we remember that for one, if biden doesn't become the person he campaigned as but also let's not forget that republicans, when they are out of control, when they don't have the white house anymore, they tend to rediscover their limited government instincts so if they have control of the senate, they are near control in the house, there's going to be very little room for the political class to make the egregious errors they are so prone to make when power is with one side or the other.

what the natural state among human beings is to grow when barriers are removed from their ability to do so. so right now, we have a scenario where that could possibly be in place. let's never forget, the roaring '20s didn't end because capitalism is bad. they ended because politicians once again in their effort to shield us from a few errors decided to put up enormous barriers to economic progress. politicians stay out of the way, we're always roaring. neil: all right. fingers crossed on that, my friend. thank you very very much. good touching base with you, john tamny, realclear politics, much much more. we have been monitoring new jersey governor phil murphy, whether he would follow suit with what's happening in new york effective today, shutting down all indoor dining. that does not appear to be in the works right now in the garden state. he is saying, though, that when it comes to the vaccine, health care workers will be receiving it tomorrow in newark, among the first to get it. front line workers are a top priority, he says.

they are reporting right now better than 4800 new cases in new jersey. the goal is about 4.7 million new jersey adults that have to get the vaccine to reach what they call herd immunity. that would work out to be about 70% of the population. that's the aggressive goal. we'll see if new jersey can make it happen. more after this. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high you know how i feel ♪

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neil: all right. in a lame duck session of congress, covid relief may be delayed if it happens at all but something called an omnibus spending plan, makes me nervous when they put omnibus in front of something, could be in the works. chad pergram with more on that. what is this about? reporter: just the past few minutes, we have confirmed that tomorrow, the appropriations committees from both the house and senate plan to release the text of this $1.4 billion package to fund the government.

this would run for the entirety of the fiscal year through september 30th of next year. now, remember the original plan was to get that bill passed a couple of weeks ago and then if and when they got a deal on covid aid, put that on top. we don't have a deal on covid aid. they don't seem to be any closer just yet, but they will try to advance this package later this week to avoid a government shutdown. keep in mind, they approved that interim bill on friday in the senate. the house did it earlier in the week to avoid a government shutdown last week. here's the fly in the ointment. the independent senator from vermont, bernie sanders, he wants $1200 direct payment checks. he's teamed with josh hawley, the republican senator from missouri, to say let's put some direct payments out there, let's get some immediate relief to americans. he pulled back at the last minute last week from trying to attach a rider to that stopgap spending bill for the $1200 checks. he said if there's nothing worked out on that, he will not be as charitable this week. now, you could flirt with the government shutdown there if

they have to say pass this in one body, then go to the others and sanders attaches it in the senate, if it were to pass in the senate, then go back across the finish line. the fact they are doing this so late in the game with a deadline of 11:59 friday, that gets to be a little dangerous. again, we really don't know if they can get any sort of agreement on covid relief and in the plan that's out there right now that bipartisan package from the senators that we talked about last hour, there's no plan for $1200 stimulus checks in that piece of legislation, neil. neil: thank you, my friend, very much. keep us posted. chad pergram on that. it's a positive development, if you want to see something done to avoid shutdown. expensive development, too. there is that. in the meantime, if you think it's tough for restaurants in the new york city metropolitan area shutting down, ththe mayor of new york hinting that could be just for starters. take a look at this. >> at the current rate we're going, you have to be ready now for a full shutdown, a pause like we had back at the end of

the spring, and that is i think increasingly necessary just to break the back of this second wave, to stop this second wave from growing, to stop it from taking lives, to stop it from threatening our hospitals. neil: hear what he said, full shutdown. not just restaurants shutting down but businesses and schools and all of that, in one fell swoop. i'm sure my next guest would not welcome that. he owns a number of very popular restaurants in the new york city area, among them kennel black, tuscanny grill, very good to have you. thanks for taking the time. what do you think of this? it's bad enough for guys like you where they are shutting down for at least a few weeks but maybe the whole darned city. >> well, that's the thing. they say a few weeks and we saw what happened the last time with few weeks.

the restaurant shutdown alone, if you watched the governor's press conference, you know, they're saying 1.43% of cases come from restaurants. we were kind of watching that saying wow, maybe we're not going to get shut down, you know. there's data that's showing that these spikes or new cases aren't coming from restaurants. it just doesn't make sense. for the most part, our industry is the most heavily regulated industry typically in the country, restaurants in new york city. so you know, being that we're responsible operators, it didn't make sense, especially when that data came out, you know. i'm in contact with over 200 restaurants pretty much daily. i think three of them said they have been contacted by a contact tracer. so to see 1.43% did not surprise me. neil: it's funny you say that, because i have been looking at

other states that imposed these, pennsylvania has gone statewide with restaurant closures, baltimore just in the metropolitan area they are shutting indoor and outdoor dining, yet the stats don't validate the tough measures. there are far many more places where you are at risk of getting covid than a restaurant industry that adheres pretty strictly to provisions that are oftentimes tougher than state mandates, yet you guys are picked on and i'm wondering how much more you can take. >> we really can't take much more. like we are following all the rules, we are doing our part, and we have done our part. the first shutdown, the lack of indoor dining, that originally got taken away and we got it back. i think for the most part, restaurants in new york city have done a really good job of handling our business, you know. now you see data come out that proves that and to shut us down,

it kind of doesn't make sense but i guess none of this makes sense. you look at the other things on that list, you know, schools, sports, you know, they're in the 1% and 2%. like this is life. do you shut down life? neil: but it's not fair to guys like you, and i know you've got bills to pay and staff to pay. i'm wondering now what you tell folks here. when we hear some of these statistics in new york, i was talking to, not people who own nearly as many restaurants as you do and are as successful as you are, but there's a limit to how long you can stay shut down, right? >> totally, because we have hundreds of families that are relying on us being open. we have been very creative in trying to make that happen. we keep as much people on staff as possible. but we are very worried this time around. we really are. because we don't know what's going to come of the winter. we don't know how long this is going to last. you know, we have dialogue with

both the governor's office and the mayor's office with the restaurant group that i'm associated with but that dialogue has been cut off and we don't know why. we want to be part of the solution but we feel like because we are so heavily regulated and hold so many different licenses, liquor license, department of health license, they hold that over our head and they kind of kicked us around a little bit because they hold those licenses. so -- and for the most part, restaurant people are good people, great people. we pay our bills, we follow the rules. we don't want a free-for-all. we see a free-for-all, we kind of step back. we don't want anything to do with that. we want to continue to do this safe. we want to continue doing this right. we wish we had a dialogue. it's not there. that's the most disappointing, because it doesn't show us that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. it shows they are going to do what they want to do no matter what the numbers say. that's not fair. neil: no, it is not.

especially with a governor and mayor not on the same page and they don't seem to like each other very much and you're caught in the middle. thank you very, very much. hang in there, my friend. good food, good people. you deserve better. i hope you get it and soon. in the meantime here, we will keep track of that and some of the stimulus efforts in washington to help people like tommy. good luck getting that through in this environment. you think it's incoherent in the new york metropolitan area. imagine in washington. we will also update you on the electoral college. they are meeting in state capitols all over the country. it may be the final nail for the president of the united states whether or not he likes it. after this.

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aerotrainer's unique design allows for over 20 exercises for a total body workout, all while maintaining safe, correct form. now it's your turn to lose weight, look great, and be healthy. get off the floor and get on the aerotrainer. go to aerotrainer.com, that's a-e-r-o-trainer.com. neil: all right. electoral college members across the country are meeting largely in their state capitols today to put a final stamp, if you will. it won't be actually verified until january 6th before a joint session of congress, on joe biden and his, you know, victory in the presidential election. brian yennis following it all in brooklyn, new york. hey, brian. reporter: hey, neil. by 5:00 eastern today we expect california and its 55 electors to put president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala

harris over that 270 threshold needed to win the electoral college, but today, 538 electors throughout the country are meeting in their respective state capitols, each elector today will cast two paper ballots, one for president and for vice president. the electors in each state will count the results, sign and verify, six certifications of the vote which are sent to vice president mike pence, a local district court judge, the archivist and the secretaries of state. given covid-19, nevada's six electors met virtually today to vote for president-elect biden. pennsylvania's 20 electors voted for biden inside a giant auditorium for social distancing purposes. and michigan shut down its capitol ahead of its 16 electors meeting after reports of credible threats of violence against them. now, obviously president trump is contesting this election and technically, electors can vote for whoever they choose, but 33 states have passed laws

requiring their electors to vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in their state. electors who vote differently from the popular vote are called faithless electors. >> electors for the most part are pretty strong party loyalists. they served in government at very high levels. hillary clinton is an elector in new york state. so these are the kind of people who have to change their mind from voting for president-elect biden or for president trump and that's pretty unlikely. reporter: the final step in the electoral process will be on january 6th when there's a joint session of congress to certify these results. neil? neil: thank you very much. kelly jane torrance, will the president then concede once that's all official? do we have to wait until the 6th for him to do so? >> i think we are going to have to wait, neil. it would be nice if he would

concede now and we could move on with everything, but you know, given his comments over the last few days, i do not expect that to happen. i expect he will go and even possibly until inauguration. he hinted at that, i believe, in a tweet recently that the only thing mentioned in the constitution is january 20th. neil: you know, interesting editorial in today's "wall street journal," sister public layings publication, there's a time to fight and time to concede. mr. trump had his days in court and lost. he would do far better to tout his accomplishments in office which are many and accept his not so horrible fate as one of 45 former american presidents. what did you think of that? >> yeah. i think it was a very strong editorial, neil. and i think they're right. you know, we have today the first person vaccinated beyond the clinical trials that saw people vaccinated, of course, from covid-19. if you look back months ago, a

lot of media organizations and pundits were saying it would be a miracle when donald trump said people would be vaccinated by the end of this year. well, was it a miracle? operation warp speed was quite amazing and this is an accomplishment that trump and his administration can point to but instead of riding high on his way out on really an amazing accomplishment, he's just looking like a sore loser. it's unfortunate because he has a lot to tout with his accomplishments, especially in foreign policy, and we are seeing, you know, yet another deal with normalizing relationships with israel. so he's got a lot to talk about that's great. i wish he would talk about those things. neil: indeed he does. a very consequential president when all is said and done. kellyjane, thank you very much. stay with us. you are watching fox business. my student loan debt. (chime) choosing sofi was literally one of the best decisions i could have ever made because it gave me peace of mind.

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neil: all right. we've been monitoring new york governor andrew cuomo. he has not commented best we understand on new york city mayor bill de blasio threat of shutting down the whole city if the spikes continue in the new york metropolitan area. the governor said he expanded the so-called yellow zones where they had unusual spike in cases largely in upstate new york. for example in rome, utica, niagra counties wave been seeing quite noteworthy. he is saying that the holiday spread we typically see could drag on a while, six to nine

months, vaccine or not. he said the vaccine is the weapon of choice that wins the war but it could go on for a while. some confusion in the new york area whether the governor and mayor of new york are on the same page but they are hinting that more problems remain vaccine or no. now to my buddy charles payne. hey, charles. >> hey, neil. thank you very much. good afternoon, everyone. i'm charles payne and this is "making money." breaking right now the largest vaccination campaign in u.s. history underway as health workers across the country give the first shots against covid-19. the distribution logistics covers a host of industries they are working together amidst a symbol of hope midst a whole lot of brief. we'll see if the general population will get vaccinated. the vaccine is helping the mood of the market. stimulus, are we as gullible as charlie brown? there are major