liz: scott red letter, great to have you. we'll put his up at facebook.com/lizclaman. the website et cetera. [closing bell rings] kicking off with a selloff well off the worst lows for the session. what does that forebode for the year? welcome back. great to be back on "the claman countdown." connell: we have a selloff to start off the new year. that is for sure. stocks plunging after they hit new record highs earlier in the day following what had been a volatile, certainly a profitable year for investors that was 2020. welcome 2021. i'm connell mcshane reporting live from the state of georgia. we're in the atlanta suburbs, reporting live from marietta as we look for senate runoff races potentially could give democrats control of the senate if they're able to win both of those contests. there is a lot at stake for the economy we'll talk about. one wall street firm predicted a

possible 10% drop in the stock market if the democrats do prevail in both races. some of that in the market. we're off the lows of the close, still down 383 points by the dow. both the dow and s&p opened at all-time highs this morning but then sold off aggressively. the nasdaq the biggest loss since earlier last month. finishing the day down 190 points. that is how the day ends. get straight to the campaign in the peach state which at this point is center of political and many ways the financial world. hillary vaughn with a live report from the campaign from atlanta. hillary? reporter: connell, republicans on the ticket, kelly loeffler and david perdue are trying to make the arguments that democrats running for their seats, jon ossoff and rafael warnock are going to race your taxes. that is the argument coming from republicans but today we heard jon ossoff at a canvas event kicking it off encouraging his volunteers and supporters to get

out, turn out the vote, telling them if they elect him to these seats, they're going to be of the ones that put that $2000 check in people's bank accounts for covid relief. >> they will try to block joe and kamala's every move just like they tried to do to president obama. we have too much good work to do. we need to get $2000 stimulus checks to the people to keep families on their feet and in their homes. we need the pass a historic jobs bill. reporter: but republicans loeffler and perdue make the argument that biden's agenda will cost americans but especially people in georgia. the committee to unleash prosperity said this about biden's economic plans, quote, we estimate over the next decade these policies will coast the average georgian household to lose $6189 annually with tax

increases and lost economic activity. georgia is rated third largest loser state from the biden agenda. here is how biden wants to spend from taxpayers on some of his plans. the agenda overall could cost at least five trillion dollars in new government spending all funded by taxpayers. one estimate that biden's tax hikes will cost taxpayers 3.$2 trillion more over the next 10 years and perdue and loeffler are arguing that they are, the republicans final stand, a firewall against biden's plans. >> biden woe be here campaigning for two of the most radically liberal candidates that have ever run for senate in this country. these candidates would be a rubberstamp for chuck schumer to change america, to usher in high taxes, crushing regulations. reporter: but warnock and ossoff have both openly acknowledged that taxes are going up for

some. they argue it is only going to impact the rich and the wealthy and that they need to do that in order to pay for a lot of their progressive ideas. a few of those that ossoff mentioned today at his event were free college for some and also expanding health care. connell? connell: more likely to get that to your point if the democrats win both of those races that the president-elect has his party in control. you know it speaks to how important he sees this you by the fact that the day before the election he will show up in the state. he is here later this hour, right? reporter: yeah. so he will be rallying, president-elect biden will be here rallying for warn november and ossoff later this afternoon. later this hour holding a drive-in event. he is doing that because he himself has a lot at stake. some would argue his entire presidency, whether it is successful. whether or not he can actually deliver on the things he promised while he was

campaigning for the highest office are at stake with these two races up for grabs essentially tomorrow. connell? connell: that's why we're all here. there is a lot at stake. thanks, hillary vaughn live from atlanta today. we bring in the "wall street journal's" dan henninger with more. fox news contributor. you guys on the editorial board took up this issue what is at stake in georgia, how important it is, committee assignments, all the rest. pick up where hillary left off from where you sit? what is at stake here tomorrow in georgia? >> well, sure, connell starting with the fact that i agree with all the tax-and-spending data that hillary vaughn just described. i think those numbers are pretty well agreed upon. the question can joe biden get it done? the thing to keep in mind in terms of democratic control of the senate shoved both those candidates win in georgia to do most of that, connell, all they need is a simple majority.

spending bills can be passed with a simple majority. there will be taxes inside of those spending bills. tough understand that it means all committee chairmanships would pass to the democrats. they will not pass to joe biden democrats. they will pass to bernie sanders democrats. in fact senator sanders will be the chairman of the budget committee. the banking, appropriations and finance committees also will be controlled by left of center democrats like sherrod brown and ron wyden. elizabeth warren would become chairman of the financial institutions subcommittee. so i would say higher taxes are a done deal if the democrats gain control of the senate. they need the taxes as jon ossoff has admitted to pay for all of the spending that they are proposing. connell: so the republicans to try to check that and you know, everybody political ad, we've only been here a couple days something to this effect you

want to have a check on nancy pelosi and chuck schumer you need to elect senator perdue and senator loeffler and put them back in the senate. they only need one out of two. it all comes down, dan, as you know to turnout. it is interesting to talk to republicans. professional republicans are somewhat concerned about turnout after the president's phone call to the georgia secretary of state where he is pressing the secretary of state essentially to overturn the results bringing up one conspiracy theory after another. when you talk to republicans on the ground here, not scientific, but i talked to, we're ready to vote, we're ready to turn out because we know how important it is. one man said if i don't vote i know my party is going to lose. whether i think things are fair or not i will show up. that is what they need. do you think republicans will turn out in the numbers that are needed? >> well, we shall see. it is a very tight election you know the thing to keep in mind about georgia, can connell, how

closely divided state is between democrats and republicans. the president is upset. should have carry ad red state, should have been a done deal. two years ago when brian kemp, ran against stacey abrams, he won by less than two percentage points. there were just under four million votes cast in that election. there are 159 counties in georgia, and i would say, less than 10 of them in that election two years ago were decided by less than five percentage points. most of those counties are very small, population under 10,000. what that means in other words, turn out is crucially important in georgia. percentages are always going to be tight. and that i think is one reason i would, if i'm going to make a prediction i would say senator perdue has the best chance of pulling this off. david perdue is a cousin of the current agriculture secretary, sonny perdue, the former governor of georgia.

if anyone understands his state it is senator david perdue. i think he knew exactly what he had to do to get votes turned out, where to get them turned out inside of that state. that is what i think i would be watching for tuesday night and wednesday morning. connell: well that is an interesting prediction of sorts, dan, because a lot of people have been saying if it goes one way, that is the way it is going to go. in other words if the democrats turn out they win both, take control. if the republicans get their supporters to come to the polls they will win both but to your larger point they only need one out of two. you think we could see a split decision? >> i think so. it's possible. i know that it both running as tickets together but i think senator perdue, the perdue family understands georgia probably better than anyone running in that state right now and it is going to be decided by very few votes. it will be very close. david perdue beat jon ossoff by

88,000 votes back in november. i think if anyone knows where to bleed juices out of the turnips in georgia it is going to be senator perdue. i could may well be wrong. i know democrats feel good about the level of turnout they're producing. indeed, connell a lot will depend, let's face it at president trump at that rally tonight. a lot of republicans are look to him for direction which way to go. if he enthusiastic, unequivocal for his support for perdue and loeffler, it is entirely possible donald trump copush the two republican senators across the goal line. connell: very important appearance especially after the phone call we already talked about. we'll talk you to dalton, georgia, where the president will be. dan henninger from the journal. the other big story of the day that is the virus. covid-19 death toll in the united states continues to rise topping 350,000 as the cdc

projects 500,000 deaths by the end of january. this comes as the vaccine is making its way slowly out to the general public. jeff paul out in california with the latest on the efforts there. jeff? reporter: connell, right now moderna is discuss you with the federal government about giving out half doses in order to speed up vaccinations. officials with "operation warp speed" say according to their research and studies that giving out 2 1/2 doses to younger people and mid ail aged people as almost effective as full doses but the fda will have to sign off whatever is decided. numbers need to change here. numbers are spiking all over. the goal set by "operation warp speed" to have 20 million people vaccinated was not met. to date, 14 million vaccines have been delivered but only a third of those shots have been used. it is not due to lack of demand.

we have seniors in florida lining up for hour, sleeping in their cars just to get a shot. despite vaccine distribution being slower than anticipated, dr. anthony fauci says there are signs things are moving in the right direction. >> but some little glimmer of hope is that in the last 72 hours they have gotten 1.5 million doses into peoples arms. which is an average of about 500,000 a day which is much better than the beginning when it was much, much less than that. reporter: now uk prime minister boris johnson just about an hour ago announcing that there will be a national covid-19 lockdown for england that will last until mid-february that means that people cannot be out just to be out. they need to be out for a particular reason like essentials, medicine, getting medical needs. scotland already announced that they would be doing that as well on tuesday, going into a lockdown. so we'll see how this all plays

out, connell. connell: yes we will that was big news out of england. thank you, jeff paul. we have news just out at that just in from governor andrew cuomo, officials identified a new case of the new uk strain in new york. the individual is a man in his 60s, according to the governor, who has not traveled recently. not traveling would indicate possible community spread of that new uk strain of the coronavirus now in the state of new york. all right much more to come here with chinese officials. this is some story that has been developing. after he called for economic reform jack ma, one of the richest men in the world is now suspected to be missing. what a story. we'll tell you what is known later in the hour. dueling rallies here in the peach state with president trump and president-elect joe biden making one final plea to georgia voters on the eve of the senate runoff. their eyes are one key demographic. a complete reversal of fortune.

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♪. connell: all right, this really is the final push. president trump will be here in georgia tonight. he is campaigning for senators kelly loeffler and david perdue just ahead of the runoff elections tomorrow. let's get to fox's mark meredith who is live in dalton where he is waiting for the president. mark? reporter: good afternoon. president trump should have a large crowd out here in dalton for tonight's rally. they are being bused into here. this is rural area. at the airport they have to be bused in to see the president. timing of the rally, no

coincidence ahead of runoff election. it will be interesting to see how the president focusing on efforts to turn the election this is what he had to say on twitter this morning writing quote, how can you certify the number when the numbers certified are verify bly wrong. you will see the numbers during my speech but january 6th tomorrow. the president is facing a lot of criticism over the call he made to georgia secretary of state over the weekend he demanded that georgia change their results. something the georgia secretary of state said something he simply cannot do. with will this impact tomorrow and something the president will talk about a lot tonight. vice president mike pence campaigned today. he campaigned two hours south where we are in milner, georgia, the vice president making a direct case to gop voters why turn out is so important tomorrow in the election. >> for -- georgia needs senator

david perdue and kelly loeffler back in the republican majority in the united states senate. reporter: this area is considered to be staunchly conservative, the president winning this county by 15,000 votes in the november election. just seeing amazing amount of supporters that have been coming out here, connell, unbelievable. people waiting, you would never think the election happened in november, the presidential election. a lot of trump-pence flags. haven't seen as much for senator perdue or loeffler. the big issue for georgia will be tomorrow. connell, back to you. connell: turnout, turnout. thank you. thank you mark meredith. we'll bring in ginger howard a republican national committee woman for georgia and own as small business. >> thank you, connell. wonderful to be here. connell: you were on with us before when we were georgia and i mentioned you own a small business which is a clothing shop. i want to report on what mark is reporting on whether the turnout will be up to snuff.

on the business front first what would a democratic sweep, what it will take for them to take control of the senate mean for your business? what would happen? what would change businesswise? >> is it would actually be detrimental. it has been hard enough with covid but our senators, kelly loeffler and david perdue have been helpful with small business, ppp, small business loans all of that. they also helped pass president trump's tax cuts which could be repealed immediately if that all happens. so we cannot let that happen. that is why turnout tomorrow is so important. connell: think you get where you need to get? that is the question the president showing up at this rally in dalton. there has been some question as mark reported the phone call he had with the secretary of state over the weaken and others may suppress republican turnout? >> i think he will rally the troops. he realizes he wouldn't come tonight to not help kick us over the goal line to help kelly loeffler and david perdue get

elected. i think that will help. vice president pence will be here today too. we're pulling out all the stops. >> what is going on with the republican obviously, doesn't seem, there is nationally in the party. we know about that, we reported on it but here in georgia something else to see what is happening with the governor and secretary of state and president? >> i think, of course i'm the georgia republican national committee woman. i try to work on party unity and pulling everybody together, lately that has been, we had a lot of issues going on but people really want to know that their votes are counted. so i want to encourage everybody who, if you have not voted today, to please go tomorrow because we can't win if we don't vote. it is so important. connell: is that a difficult argument to make? on one hand you have people coming out saying this was an unfair election. the president talking in the call about all the complaints that he has about the election and quite frankly as i said a moment ago, many of those have been proven to be not true. that the evidence shows that there wasn't widespread fraud.

it hasn't been found. the secretary of state explained that to the president. we all heard the phone call by you no. but many supporters believe it was true. that did happen. now they have to show up and vote. someone like you making that argument what is your pitch to them? >> my pitch to everybody, i've talked to some other people today are voting your voice does matter, and it does count. we've got to get everybody out to vote. we're not going to win if we don't vote. your vote will not count if you don't vote. it is so important to vote. we have the republican majority in georgia. we really do. we're a red state. not only that, both opponents of senator perdue and senator loeffler are extremely radical. so i've been talking to everybody, not just republicans, democrats, libertarians, independents, their policies would take us very far left. we are not, we're a center-right state in georgia. connell: right. always has been. changing lately especially in these areas in the suburbs?

>> i do. i live in atlanta. i've seen that there. we still have, why president trump is going to north georgia today. there is still a great contingent there. they haven't voted yet. that is why he is there. we have got to get every single voter out to vote tomorrow. it is the most important message that i can say. connell: good to see you again, ginger. you're hoping for lower taxes less regulation. >> absolutely. we believe the republican party stands for limited government, lower taxes and personal responsibility. so i encourage everyone who has not voted tomorrow to vote for those policies. connell: we'll see how it turns out. ginger howard live in marietta. a small business owner from the atlanta area. we'll have more from georgia as we continue. interesting note as we cover this pandemic about people going back to flying. the new data out of the tsa, they screened more than three million people over over the new

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♪. connell: we're back here with a crazy story. china's most famous tech tycoon seems to have disappeared. the billionaire, founder of alibaba, jack ma, has not made any public appearances in more than two months now after he made a comment alluding to the need to reform china's financial system. his brainchild, the financial groups initial public offering has been called off by beijing. here to discuss this is adam lashinsky, business insider columnist. adam a fox business contributor. i know you interviewed jack ma a couple times. your thoughts on the story?

>> yes. well, it's, one of those unfortunate reminders that doing business in china is different from doing business in other places. even somebody as prominent as jack ma answers to the state at some point and especially if, like him, you become very big and very powerful. even before this strange and perhaps really unfortunate occurrence, connell, we don't know what it is, there were signs that his wings had been clipped. you know a few years ago he sort of almost, sort of suddenly announced that he was going to step down from his job as ceo and chairman of alibaba. and the feeling, the whispers then were that he had become too powerful in xi xinping's china. connell: that's the key, xi xinping's china. overs last number of years, 30, 40 years, individuals through

the system china has have become extremely wealthy. jack ma is best known of them. there are other examples. the question now is whether that can continue. as you say we don't know what happened to jack ma, but just broadly speaking, can someone who becomes again, extraordinarily wealthy essentially by taking advantage of global capitalism succeed or exist in xi xinping's china going forward? >> you know, it is roughly analogous to what has happened in vladmir putin's russia. there were all these billionaire oligarchs who were allowed to make their money and to become fabulously powerful so long as they always understood who the real power was and i think that wasn't the case in china before xi xinping, during the previous 30 some years of the miraculous rise of the capitalist, market driven economy in china.

if you want to analgize it to putin's russia, you can be a billionaire, you can make a lot of money. you can have villas around the world but you can't ever challenge not just xi xinping but the communist party or the state. there were signs jack ma had done this, now we're seeing what we're seeing. connell: there is one big difference between china and rush that, well there are a lot of big differences in terms of economics, there are not many american businesses that make a lot of money relatively speaking in russia. there are too much american businesses and business people who make a lot of money in china. does all of this have any implications do you think for those people, tim cooks of the world? >> i think you're asking, you're asking exactly the right question. there is a narrow way and broadway to look at this. the narrow way would be this is about jack ma and alibaba and that's it. we haven't seen similar bold moves against some of the other giant internet, chinese internet companies.

broadway of looking at it, this is just the beginning. it's a reminder to western businesses that you can play in china but you better, two things, you better be darn sure you know what the rules are, by the way, the rules might change once you're sure you knew what the rules were. i think it is important to china you know western businesses continue to operate there but it is even more important to the communist party that they operate there under their rules. connell: yeah. wanted to talk about it in a broader context and i'm glad you did, adam. we don't know if anything happened or anything happened to jackma. this illustrates another important story. thanks a lot, adam. we'll follow you soon. whatever happens next with it. >> my pleasure. get to a deeping divide on capitol hill. 12 republican senators said they will challenge president-elect's joe biden's win in the electoral college. what can we expect from the vote

on wednesday? we'll talk about this next. march madness developing a bubble-like format. they will hold the entire 2021 men's basketball tournament in indiana. the majority of tournament games will take place in indianapolis. play them all there. two friends showing people can still get along even if they're on opposite sides of the political spectrum. we'll be back with that story and more as we continue live here from georgia. don't go away. ♪ your daily dashboard from fidelity -- a visual snapshot of your investments, key portfolio events, all in one place. because when it's decision time, you need decision tech. only from fidelity.

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♪. connell: welcome back. meet the new congress, sort of like the old congress with a slimmer majority and some question marks. the runoff elections here in georgia tomorrow will determine the senate as we've been talking about. a joint session on wednesday will certify the presidential election. now speaker pelosi and the house are dealing with other business today. let's get the latest on all of this, fox news congressional correspondent chad pergram joins us now. reporter: good afternoon. house speaker nancy pelosi returns to the speaker suite. she narrowly won election to the speakership but touchstone of nancy pelosi's career winning tight votes both in leadership races and legislation like obamacare. this will likely be pelosi's

last term as the house speaker and watch for jockeying to begin to succeed here and will president-elect joe biden play the role of queen or king-maker in the house of representatives over the next two years, connell. connell: a lot of questions, chad. there are some new rules in store for the house as well, right? reporter: that's right. the house of representatives is voting on that right now. unlike in the senate rules don't carry over from one congress to the next in the house of representatives. so you have to vote on them again. republican tom cole doesn't how like the new rules impede the minority from killing legislation. >> this package stinks. it is deeply cynical, deeply shortsighted. it tramples on minority rights. it insure as power grab by demic leadership. port port you new rules are gender inclusive. no more he or she in the house. >> if in the best tradition of

house to reflect gorgeous mosaic of american people and the most sense possible. reporter: they are re-upping remote voting, members can vote for home if they are in quarantine. just detection sass republican kay granger received a positive test. connell? connell: good to see you, chad pergram live from capitol hill. our coverage continues this hour. we spoke to the owner of manuel's tavern about the struggle he is facing just to stay open. the faithful patrons that stepped in and saved him from permanently shutting his doors. that story, stick around we'll be right back ♪ you can go your own way

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that is why both sides are fighting for every vote. one out of every four ballots cast in georgia's runoff elections is expected to come from atlanta's suburb. >> hello atlanta! reporter: the same places that fueled joe biden's first win for a presidential candidate since 1992. why candidates are spending so much time and money. cobb and gwinett conservative strongholds where hillary clinton flipped them are home to shifting demographics. >> gwinnett county has the fastest growing hispanic population in the state. cobb county on the southwest corridor has become rapidly minority. reporter: political analyst bill crane the impact of college educated middle class, upper middle class african-americans cannot be overstated. challenge is turnout. >> might be there for the general election. they have a long runway, eight weeks of early voting, three weeks of early voting, they

don't have that in the shorter more compressed cycle. reporter: president trump is not popular with suburban women here, his handling of the economy is appealing to some black voters. >> 11, 12% of black men said they would support him, economic mobility was the number one reason listed for it. reporter: social justice issues have been a driving fores after video surfaced a father and son shot 25-year-old ahmad ash berry in georgia. >> that lit a fire in georgia when video emerged and you saw he was hunted like an animal. reporter: also note of in november, five counties of metro suburban area of atlanta elected african-american sheriffs. that is a first. connell: first time that happened. things are could be justly changing. interesting to talking to people around here, i'm sure you're doing, i did a little bit today, you find a number of republicans. as you said it was for years a republican strong hold this area.

so yes, it is changing but you wonder how much it has changed? tomorrow it is all about the turnout whether those republicans will show up. reporter: right. talking to political watchers here who have been here for decades, they don't believe this is a true flip. this is a blue state now even though joe biden did win. if you keep in mind that brian kemp, the governor here, a republican is still very popular. connell: want to show video while we're talking, joe biden speaking of the president-elect is now at the event in the atlanta area where he is trying to rally the troops. there is the president-elect trying to get voters show upholding one of his now patented drive-in rallies. alicia, the president will be in the northern part of the state later today. it is interesting because you don't see the same type of rallies that we saw you know, traditional political rallies on the democratic side. the president will try to rally the troops in the traditional way tonight in northern georgia. we'll see if it works. reporter: all about turnout. all about the energy here that the president is able to bring

here. that is what republicans are hoping he is able to do. connell: right. there seems to be a lot of energy on the ground when you speak to people. alicia acuna live here in marietta as the president-elect continues those remarks at that drive-in rally in the atlanta area we talked about earlier. that is a live picture we're looking at. we'll keep tabs on his comments and bring you any headlines as we continue here. now there is an interesting story about this georgia bar that i mentioned a few minutes ago that was literally about to close down. they were going to close the doors because of everything happening with the pandemic but then the local community stepped in and decided to lend a helping hand. it was literally like a scene out of it's a wonderful life, the famous movie. we found out about it yesterday, we paid a visit to manuel's tavern around spoke to the owner brian maloof. >> we were in a lot of trouble, big financial trouble. we were losing $25,000 a month. sales were down 62% on average

since march and we were spending all of our cash reserves. my wife and i dipped into our savings trying to keep it going. we stopped just short of messing up some retirement instruments that we had. and, i made announcement that we were going to close at the end of december. a dear friend of mine, a regular customer stepped up with a gofundme page. i wasn't sure if it was really going to work. i knew people really liked us but i also knew how much money we needed. connell: yeah. how much was that by the way? >> the bare minimum we needed to open for 2021 was $60,000. that was the bare minimum. connell: right. >> i had told angela, the man who started gofundme, if we didn't get $60,000 i wasn't going to accept the money because it wouldn't help us. he asked me to be patient. and it was just astro nominal what happened.

people stepped up huge. connell: how long did it take you to get to 60? >> probably 14 hours to get 6$0,000. we broke $100,000. and i in 17 hours. so it was amazing. connell: a lot of people didn't want to see this place close down. >> it let me know what this place means for some people? connell: what happens now? >> we get really stingy with that money. we hunker down and wait on additional federal stimulus, hoping it comes soon. and we ride this, ride this covid wave out. connell: but you're able to keep your employees? >> we are. we haven't lost anyone. we haven't had to let anyone go. a lot of people are out voluntarily because of underlying health issues where they're not ready to come back yet but we still have the same number of employees on the roster that we had in march. and using them on a voluntary

basis at this point. connell: we came in. i know next door where the bar is, we're in the restaurant area here, there are people there sitting at the bar, enjoying some sunday afternoon football. we're talking on a sunday afternoon but the rest of this square obviously, we don't see many people. so the traffic is still seems like it is way downs right? >> you don't see anybody, unfortunately. traffic is terribly down. our outside seating has been affected with the weather. it is 40 degrees outside. it is breezy. even with the heaters we purchased it is not comfortable to eat. business is way down. virus has really kicked in. much more fear than we had in march from what i can tell. no one is coming. who can blame them? there is a tremendous amount of information out there telling people to avoid restaurants and bars specifically and they're following that advice. they're staying out but it's, it

is devastating to business and -- connell: there has been a debate about this and we have a number of owners of restaurants on other show all the time and some say you know government's to blame. they have shut the restaurant industry down and people would come back if they were allowed to. you know there, is another side of that saying i think which is the point you're getting at, even if people were allowed to come in, they may choose to stay home which leaves the burden i guess on government to help the restaurant industry. have to pick something here but how do you see things? >> i understand the need to tell people to separate, to wear masks. i completely get that. i understand it. it's a real thing. the virus is real. people are dying, i get it. it is spreading. i totally understand it. my broader thought on all this is that if you're going to use the full weight of the federal, state, local government to tell people to stay away for the

benefit of all the citizens in this country there should be an equal amount of financial support to keep these businesses operating because we're dying out here. there's a tremendous amount of expense having an empty restaurant. as they say an empty chair is the most expensive thing in a restaurant and it's killing us. connell: so that last point that brian is making is a really interesting one about businesses, how they're operating because he is operating in a city, densely populated area. essentially a blue part of georgia. as he said, people are afraid to come out. he is hoping if the democrats take control of the senate, they pass a larger stimulus bill, get him more money. where he says, where he lives is actually in a more republican area. he says the restaurants are packed. people are more willing to come out. that is just speaks to the differences in people's attitudes towards the virus i guess, maybe differences how they might approach senate elections in georgia tomorrow. we'll see.

in a moment we have a story about finding common ground. a lesson from two friends on opposite sides of the political aisle. we'll have the story for you coming up live from georgia. we'll be back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off. ♪ with allstate, the safer you drive the more you save. ♪ you never been in better hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today. you never been in better hands. metastatic breast cancer is relentless, but i'm relentless every day. and having more days is possible with verzenio,

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♪ ♪ connell: well, we've been speaking to voters on the ground here in georgia, and we met these two young women who gave us all some hope. they actually became friends, they say, because they have opposing political views. take a listen. >> we are on opposite ends of the political spectrum. >> i'm a democrat. >> you think or you hope that both democrats win? >> i do hope that. >> for me, personally, i would

prefer one democrat to one the senate and one as the republican. >> keep the republicans in control of the senate. >> yes, but when i'm looking at the candidates, it's just one of them i like more. connell: it looks like you guys are still pretty good friends. >> oh, we're best friends. connell: even in 2021? [laughter] it's still possible. you still talk about politics? >> yeah, we actually became friends talking about politics. connell: they met each other in college talking about politics, they're still friends, they still get along, so there's still hope for the rest of us if you're fighting with your family over the dinner table, whatever the case may be. we'll cover this election tomorrow in detail, we have a set-up for the day in atlanta, in they've pulled out all the stops at fox. we have a setup there near the football stadium that will cover all the ins and outs of the races and, again, the impact on

business and the market and everything else. that is tomorrow. we thank you for joining us today as we report the fuse to you "after the bell" here from marianna, georgia. i'm connell mcshane, always great to be with you. we will see you tomorrow from atlanta. ♪ ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. happy new year. it is great to be back with you on this week in which the fate of the are public actually hangs in the -- republic actually hangs in the balance. two senate races in georgia will determine which party controls the u.s. senate, and dozens of republicans in congress are expected to stand up for president trump and to challenge electoral college votes, at least some of them, for joe biden. the i events of -- events of this week are not born out of a single campaign season. it is important for us all to remember that. all of this, all