thterninatiornnaace stn.stn.n. how doho yw lw that l?thth i bet it etwas etqur get your f sd in sd tha s is in new york city. >> it took 8 hours to get there. i hope they didn't order seafood because it doesn't go very well but i would be a good 30 or 40 pounds heavier at this point. dagen: good to see you. have a great day. "varney and company" begins right now. stuart: good morning. i know it is said day. senator manchin talked with the president about bills back better, it is very important and we will cover it all. a shoot across the president's about from an op-ed in the new york times. bret stephens writes this, biden should not run again and

should say he won't. that op-ed brings into the open discussion about the present and's ability to do the job. there is a fascinating twitter fight between senator elizabeth warren and elon musk that, war accused musk of being a freeloader. musk fired back calling her senator karen and informing the senator this year he will pay more in taxes than any american in history, $15 billion. don't spend it all at once, way, you did already. that's more interesting to me than speculating what the fed will do about inflation. how much money will the fed keep printing, when will they stop and when will they raise interest rates? in advance the markets are on hold. little affected by very weak retail sales figures for november even with inflation,

sales up 0.3%. the dow is down 38, s&p down two, nasdaq down 27. not much movement. bitcoin not much movement, holding at 47,$600 a coin and the yield on the 10 year treasury still well below one.5%. vladimir putin and xi jinping have held their virtual meeting. from what we know so far it was a russia/china lovefest ganging up to pressure weekend president biden. he goes to kentucky today to see firsthand the devastation from last week's tornadoes. he will take an aerial view of mayfield, the town that was originally white out, then he will tour the devastation on the ground, detailing the federal help he is bringing

with him. there are 100 people missing in kentucky. now look at this. four armed men right outside a luxury apartment building in los angeles run up behind two people and rob them at gunpoint. when will the authorities end their soft on crime policy. it is wednesday december 15th, "varney and company" is about to begin. ♪♪ anyway you want it that's the way you need it ♪♪ stuart: of course germany. i knew that. this is important. i don't think it is that exciting but we do have to talk about the fed. we will get the fed decision, it is exciting if you are an investor. >> we have to start with something not exciting. >> the most boring thing we could think of was the fed. stuart: we are a financial program. i've got to cover it but i'm not turned on by the fed. are you? are you really? are you?

are you desperate to find out what jay powell is going to say? >> i want to know how data dependent they are for interest rate hikes, or will they watch the data before they do it? stuart: you are the financial -- >> data dependent? lauren: keep your screens on me. stuart: brian brehm bird may your presence felt already. what should the fed do? >> they've got to take this seriously. too much money chasing -- he is white is exciting, not because of the terminology and minutia that if they blow it in a bad way but inflation takes off. if they don't do something serious this problems gets exponentially worse heading into next year in 2023. you don't mess with inflation. it hasn't focused on its mandate to keep prices stable at as a result we have producer prices over 9%. that exciting all the wrong ways. stuart: it is exciting for

investors. if they say one wrong word this afternoon you could have a selloff on your hands. >> it matters to mainstreet because if they get this wrong we see inflation like we haven't seen in a long time. our i got to be on it even if we don't like the jargon and terminology. stuart: i take it all back. i am going to be glued. stay there. i know you are staying with us for the hour. shah gilani joins us. you are almost always bullish. are you looking for a santa claus rally no matter what jay powell does? >> i am. i know a lot of folks are a little nervous given the swing in september and october and just now. we've seen a recovery so far. the offense we've seen is powerful and we have momentum

behind it. we are seeing record numbers of buybacks. any dip that we see has been an opportunity, i'm a by the guy from way back, continues to be opportunities for everyone because we have record buybacks coming and the buyback that have these massive programs on tap are waiting for any dip to try to buy a little lower. when we see a dip, not only is retail coming in but buybacks, $234.5 billion, we will see another record in the fourth quarter. that means solid buying, keeping the market afloat and i think moving at higher in 2 years end. stuart: is there no way the fed could upset the apple cart this afternoon. we are really going to cut back on this money printing, we will raise rates two or three or four times in the unlikely event they said that the market would fall out of bed, wouldn't it? >> yes. it is unlikely. if they were silly enough to

say that the market would certainly react but the fed has not a dual mandate. it has a triple mandate. price stability which they've done a great job on and cost control which was presented to them in 1977 and the third mandate is do no harm to the market. of the markets soon for anything they won't say anything because that and if they do they will pull back on cutting their tapering and go back to buying. you have that as a backdrop meaning investors stay the course and continue to buy on any dip. stuart: glad you are so confident because we've been following you for 10 years and you've been right all the time. shah gilani, thank you for being with us, see you again soon. november retail sales figures came out at 8:30 eastern. i call that a miserable, slow increase.

>> i agree and here's the reason. you can blame covid but omicron hit at the end of november. you could say and this is probably valid, because of the supply chain problems. the upshot is it brings down fourth quarter gdp. i want to show you some surprises. electronic down 4.6% as ours people getting new ipads for christmas? department sales fell 4.5% then nonstore retailer. this is where amazon comes in, completely flat, flat, and charles payne pointed this out. food the net home rose more than sudeten away at restaurants. what does this tell you about the economy and this is before omicron hit. stuart: we don't want to go out to eat, is that it? >> we are fatigued. >> it is evidence of the fact

that people are concerned about rising prices and have all this uncertainty is really because of mandate and so forth and they are just pulling back. consumer spending is the thing that is keeping this economy going. stuart: we've discovered some excitement in the fed and retail. lauren: we are angry. stuart: three hours to go. hold on a second. let's tell our audience what is coming up. senator warren and elon musk exchanging words on twitter. the senator singled out musk and demand that he pay tax and stop being a freeloader. musk shot back calling her senator karen and pointing out he will pay more tax this year than any american in history. we are not done with you. >> i love this exchange.

i love musk's tweet, i'm going to pay more taxes this year than anyone in history, don't spend it all at once, oh, you already did. just leave it there. he is scorching her on this and she deserves every bit of it, she peddles grievance all the time. stuart: the senator was saying we've got a debt problem because the billionaires are not paying enough in tax. that's economic -- >> we haven't that problem because senators like her want to spend, spend, spend like they want to do with bbb and pretend they are paying more than they ever do and hit musk where it hurts. stuart: in isolation, one of the best a blocks we've done in a long time. lauren: not important and i don't want to do it. check futures one more time. 2:00 pm, we make a difference, not much price movement at 9, 10:00 am. the white house passing the buck on inflation, they are blaming meat producers for

higher grocery prices. >> the president, secretary of agriculture have both spoken to the greed of meat conglomerates. you could call it jacking up prices during a pandemic. stuart: the greed of meat producers, the golden rule of politics, never accept blame for anything. china's xi jinping and russia's proven squeezing president biden. son michael watts got back from ukraine. is russia about to invade. ♪♪ ♪♪ just like the men and women who wear it on their uniforms and the country it represents. they're all only meant to move one direction

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stuart: china's president xi jinping and president vladimir putin spoke virtually, touting their strong relationship. you were just in ukraine, you met military officials there. let's take a russia side of the steel, do you think russia is about to invade ukraine? >> he is certainly putting the forces in place with 100,000 on ukraine's border. some estimates are showing 75,000 more on his border but this is happening in the wake of afghanistan, it was for nordstrom 2 pipeline, he can choke off cole's supply, gas supply because of this pipeline and cyber attacks and other things. it was a concerning trip and

meanwhile what i ukrainians getting from the united states? they appreciate some a day have received, the rest of it is moving very slowly because biden is making the same mistakes obama made in 2014. he is promising what he will do as a consequence after russia invades. he should be imposing consequences right now to deter russia from invading. why do americans care? the same slippery slope neville chamberlain was on in the 1930s, in france, if we don't make a stands right now i think you will see a destabilization of europe. stuart: look at this for a second. jen psaki was left virtually speechless when asked about president biden's foreign-policy achievements.

>> what does the administrative density or biggest achievement in foreign-policy in the first year? >> i want to talk to the president about it and happy to do that. stuart: what is your reaction to that? seems to me china's xi pressuring i, russia's been pressuring ukraine and we are in the middle getting squeezed by weekend president. what do you say? >> the taliban caliphate growing in afghanistan, the community being very clear because they want to cover your own rear end so to speak that isis and al qaeda developing capabilities again. global terrorism have a shot in the arm and iran racing for the nuclear weapon, set up a nuclear arms race in the middle east. i would ask what are the policy achievements of the obama administration, none, the world was on fire then, they brought the same approach and we are

seeing world light on fire again. the reason putin and xi are doing this now is they know they can get away with it. they smell weakness in the white house and they were always emboldened by weakness and deterred by strength. stuart: it is a difficult position we are in, squeezed by our rivals. thank you for being with us. merry christmas to you. stuart: we are going to move on to the grocery store chain kroger. they are going to end covid benefits for the unvaccinated workers. they will give 2 weeks emergency paid leave and unvaccinated workers is going to get a surge charge. >> >> the vaccinated and unvaccinated. and wrongheaded.

you think you're not going to get 2 weeks paid leave. they are an hourly worker, are they going to stay home and not get paid, mister paycheck or risk it and go to work? going to make the workplace less safe because of this policy and doesn't apply to union workers. stuart: it does not apply to union workers? >> is this a health thing or a power thing? you tell me. >> the $50 surcharge does not apply to union workers. think about this. who has power? health and power go together. stuart: there is another story here. it is from google, cracking down on their unvaccinated people. >> eventually firing them. google employees have to show proof of vaccination by january 18th. if they do not they are put on paid leave for one month. after that unpaid leave for 6 months. after that, can't, fired, terminated.

google added frequent testing is not a valid alternative to vaccination. google has delayed and delayed its return to the office, don't know when in the new year workers will be going back. stuart: this applies to google workers whether they are coming into the office, doesn't matter. you've got to get vaccinated. lauren: i will say apply to everybody because working from home employees will have to come to the office for something. some sort of meeting or conference. stuart: we are creating two classes of people. >> two classes of people and punishment for not putting things in your body. companies are punishing people for not putting things in their body. where does that stop? stuart: i they keep the rest of us safe by insisting on vaccination? >> they are choosing one path that might work. there are many available. why force people? we don't have to live by coercion to keep people safe but that is where we are in this debate.

neil: companies are stuck between a rock and a hard place. they have to follow the law that keeps changing of keep everybody safe and could face lawsuits. if i were the ceo i don't know what i do now. stuart: we didn't mention liability. employers have liability. >> the load biggest liabilities executive order that the president refuses to resolve and keep to tied up in the courts with that kind of uncertainty is driving all this stuff. the president can solve a lot of it, we are done with these mandates, courts don't like them, move on. lauren: in texas or florida you are breaking state law or federal law. if you're a company or a lawbreaker. it matters what you want to break. stuart: houston drives people nuts. frustrates people, quickly to the markets, let me show you what is going on. it is wednesday morning, big said meeting at 2:00 this afternoon. mixed picture on the markets before we hear what jay powell has to say. "the opening bell" is next.

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eddie gabor, what are the chances the fed will pull off a tightening move in this inflationary period without disrupting the markets? >> the probability, crystal clear that the federal reserve made the worst miscalculations of inflation in modern-day history. for 12 once the rate of inflation has been increasing a historic rate and finally at peak inflation they want to tighten and start accelerating, tapering, heading into a slowdown. there's a reason my twitter handle is common sense, you know better than anyone i have been. for years on your show. this is the most cautious i have been in years heading into the new year. if we get a santa claus rally i am pounding the table for investors. we've done this, starts the risking if you want to make

sure you are not sitting in the cat bird seat when we see a correction heading into next year because the market has sent crystal-clear signals that we are starting to head into a slowdown and the federal have to accelerate tightening, it is going to be a problematic thing for risk assets. if you're not actively managing around this you're going to be in serious trouble in my opinion. stuart: put that in claiming was? you are selling in a rally, correct? >> correct but i want to be clear we are selling cyclical stocks, small-cap stocks, financials. we want to own stables, utilities, healthcare, and also have some cash to buy the dip that we think is going to happen. we've seen a big selloff. the signal was clear. stuart: we have seen a big selloff in big tech. are you buying it on the

expectation of just talking big tech now? >> we are not adding to big tech right now. the next move for big tech will be sometime in january, we will take profits from big tech and paying more defense because the bigger head wents will start to materialize in the second half of the first quarter next year. stuart: put into plain english, the second half of the first quarter of next year, talking february, late february, early march, that is when the selling comes. plain english here, is that we are forecasting? >> exactly right. the yield curve has flattening, the gdp is starting to come down. you are telling me the fed will tighten him of the yield curve, gdp is slowing down, risk assets are not going to sell off, i don't buy that. we've had a hell of a year and a half and now we are doing that. stuart: that was planing listen we don't understand it. thank you.

"the opening bell" rings in 28 seconds and here is the backdrop to today's market action. at the top of the so i labeled this as an exciting. it is a fed meeting at 2:00 this afternoon we will find out what jay powell will do with interest rates. we will see what happened to my money. we have a week retail sales number, up 0.3%. we started already. we open with a modest gain and even split between winners and losers, the dow is up 28 points. where is that? virtually unchanged, 0.9%. the nasdaq composite, dead flat, slightly lower. i'm always interested because i have money in microsoft and

that has been the moving sector, mostly down except for apple. apple at 179, microsoft picked up a little bit, big tech still under a lot of pressure. tesla is below $950 a share. elon musk was named person of the year by another publication. >> a little bit of money in microsoft, you are watching that. it is because financial times, across the pond. the s&p is across the pond. a person of the year, not bad for a freeloader, musk has triggered a historic shift in the auto industry to electric, innovative, entrepreneur of his generation. part bad boy, part gladiator

and stock with his stock field, we are seeing $18 billion tesla stock sold by elon musk at the end of this year. there's a hot twitter threatened for elizabeth warren. you open eyes, i will pay more taxes than any american in history this year. the compensation package expires next year, use it or lose it, the compensation package to pay taxes on. stuart: i am with times on the financial times. i changed my tune. >> i read the back in 2018-19 going private for 20, smoking weed on the joe road and podcast, i can't put money in this type of company with this leadership. stuart: rehash my method. we are having a good time on the show so far today.

eli lilly up 4%. a nice gain for a company of this size. >> raising this year's sales guidance, raising next year's sales guidance as well and the shareholder meeting later on today, they say they are on track on their goal of delivering new treatments than the tenure plan that runs through 2023 but it is not just eli, look at the other drugsmakers like pfizer, the effectiveness of its covert drug which should be approved by year's end enter regeneron being downgraded by bernstein, bites best-selling i drug. and and it is a binary event, whether it is approved but competition. stuart: now explain robox. cou

meta-first play for most people and they just reported november daily active users, i thought the number was pretty good, 49 million plus and a majority of these gamers are under the age of 16. meaning there is stickiness in the long pipeline of users but that was disappointing for wall street. sales are up 85% plus. not good enough when you are this type of fast stock, down about 11%, that goes back to the fed and what they are going to do with interest rates, whether we get the earlier taper. stuart: how about city upgrading ups, do they think the stock or the company is better than fedex? >> traditionally they said fedex is a better value play, it is a by and better than fedex, worth 250. fedex is still good but ups has better value in their view

because delivery companies convey the muscle and pricing power and ups ranking its dependence on amazon, ups ahead of fedex. stuart: the last one. are you going to be glued at 2:00 this afternoon to the fed meeting. >> of course. it is exciting. markets are turning, don't worry your eyes, flat market waiting until 2:00 pm, get some surprises, the fed is being pushed to cut back on monthly bond purchases. like historical highs. stuart: i want to see what is going to happen. down winners on your screen, coca-cola, honeywell. s&p 500, eli lilly, big gain, and so is that. adobe tops the nasdaq winners

list. the big winners on the exchanges. big board down 43, right there at 35,500, the 10 year treasury, the yield, one.46%, the price of gold, display the 9% producer price inflation level has gone down $6, $17.65. bitcoin floundering around 47,400, oil, 71, 72, $70 per barrel, natural gas is not cold enough to get the price up there. it is $3 as we speak. the average price of a gallon of regular, we always quote the california price for you to see how they were suffering, $4.67 for regular in the formerly golden state. not laughing at them but as rain falls -- question. is president biden the perfect president for this moment in time? speaker pelosi think so.

role tape. >> our country could not be better served them with his most experienced, capable hands than yours, president biden. stuart: of it or mike huckabee will address that. i can't wait to see what he is going to say about that. according to a writer for the atlantic if you're unvaccinated you should the last in line for hospital treatment. is that legal? is it moral? we will discuss it. senate democrats want to expand the child tax credit. republicans say we can't afford it. the problem is it is politically popular. senator marsha blackburn has strong views on this and she will join me next.

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stuart: there is capitol hill, cloudy, 43 degrees. democrats are pushing for an extension of the expanded child tax credit. the congressional bean counters say keeping this program will cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years. hillary, you spoke to speaker pelosi. what did she say? >> i asked about the $6 trillion big year, to tailor the program, to trim it down a little bit and if it isn't is expensive, that is what joe manchin has, the child tax credit, to do it affordably. the work requirement, new

analysis from the university of chicago that is not having to work requirement tied to this monthly cash families are getting is a disincentive for people to go to work. >> do you think it is the policy to punt this task into the economy for a labor shortage? >> they are paying rent, paying for food, paying for school supplies, for things they need. not being paid to sit on a beach someplace they don't want to get to work because they get this credit. i think comments like that are disrespectful, condescending to america's hard-working families. >> the child tax credit has been paid out monthly, we don't have to pay taxes or file taxes to get it, it paves the way to universal basic income because

families who don't pay anything, to get a monthly check for the irs, under the age of 6, $900 a month from the government, to cut off democrats to see it go away. stuart: extremely difficult to cut something up when giving money away, you can't take it back. good stuff. thanks very much indeed. senator marsha blackburn, and it is politically popular. >> it is one of the things we know, and if biden and his build back that are broke agenda were not driving up inflation. and what they are doing to hard-working families.

whether it is saying this is a tax credit when they are actually distributing this as a subsidy. when you look at what they are doing to childcare costs, the billback broke agenda would increase childcare costs about 13,$000 per child. if you look at how they are going to run faith-based organizations out of the childcare, and and it is very disrespect, to support families and make ends meet and you are increasing their tax burden. they are taking money out of the pocket of hard-working

taxpayers, bring it to the federal government and the federal government, saying this is what we are going to let you have back, it will be our rules, our framework, it will be our choice as to what you have back of your hard-earned dollars. stuart: thank you for joining us on an important issue for build back better. thanks very much indeed. president biden is holding a second meeting with senator joe mention, >> and the social welfare programs. senator manchin, the same time her raisin, and the it is in popular.

there is a deadlock, delays of vote and potentially kills it. he can twist senator manchin's arm, >> what president -- joe mantenses is a $3 million addition to the deficit will have an additional, president biden may say that is not going to happen. it is going to happen. let's have a conversation on that basis. they will not support that much new debt. stuart: you talk about spending trillions upon trillions when you have inflation. is economic madness. am i crazy or what? you can't do this. >> it is cause and effect. chuck more money in, prices go up. the president knows he can't

argue against it which is why you wants to deny the premise in the first place. stuart: fascinating stuff. biden should not run again and should say he won't. that is an opinion piece in the new york times. and i will take it on in the 11:00 hour. just when you thought things will get back to normal mask mandates are back in new york city. what is the impact on business from this. lydia has a report later. ♪♪ ♪♪ everyone dancing merrily ♪♪ a new old-fashioned way ♪♪

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stuart: masks are back. mandates are in effect. there is nothing about new york city that is open. 180,000 businesses have until december 20 seventh to get all workers vaccinated or face fines. lydia who is here. is there anything legally these businesses can do to fight it?

>> yes, businesses can file lawsuits to challenge the forthcoming mandate which federal courts have caused president biden affect the mandate on businesses because it is government overreach, this community here, for the vaccine mandate, they can argue this is another example of overreach. omicron, philadelphia, rolling out a vaccine mandate for indoor dining. states are bringing back mask mandates, reinstating, new york state started its mask requirements on monday, republican-controlled counties say we will not enforce them. here's a look at a democratic control states with mask mandate in place. could extract out these policies were enacted and rush to judgment about omicron. in spite of evidence the

omicron ferry and causes less severe cases of covid there has been one reported death in the uk reported to omicron. the fact that vaccines are available now is one of the reasons some governors are refusing to reintroduce mask mandates. the democratic governor of colorado, republican governor of massachusetts and republican new hampshire, with statewide mask mandates for now. we are seeing varying reactions by the business community, suspending the vaccine mandate after a court halted enforcement as applied to federal contractors. apple is renewing its mask mandate for customers and employees. you can see a patchwork of responses from local government and businesses as businesses in the city wait to hear more from the new york city mayor about a sweeping vaccine mandate on all

private businesses. stuart: thank you very much indeed. i want to show you sixth avenue, new york city, outside our studios. this time of year, christmas time coming up very soon, should be far more traffic, people in the streets, it should be a full street but it is not and i think that is because of these mandates in the city. >> reporter: patchwork is the right word, they vary all over the place, you don't know what is in or out. small businesses around thinking what will have i violated? i don't even know, how can i invite people in when i can't tell them what they need to do? >> across the street from what you are looking at, radio city music hall. a lot of families like to take the kids of the kids aren't vaccinated they cannot go. stuart: is young as 5 years old, you can't go to the

rockets and the christmas special at radio city. >> your tenure make is not vaccinated, if you live in another state you can't come to new york city and go to the american girl store. stuart: way to ruin the city. >> you can't a perfectly healthy 10-year-old to see a show at christmas in new york, you think the city is coming back with those rules? stuart: thank you very much for being with us for the hour. you have a lot of energy and we like that. to the market, you've got to see this, the dow is down over hundred and the nasdaq is down 80. some selling going on. still ahead on the show, bret baer is going to join us, kayleigh mcenany, mike huckabee and attorney general ashley moody. the 10:00 hour comes next. ♪♪ ♪♪ thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience.

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if you wake up thinking about the market and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech. for insights on when to buy and sell. and proactive alerts on market events. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. ♪ stuart: that is frank sinatra. i didn't know frank sinatra did "jingle bells"? >> he sang everything. stuart: he did. let it play for a while. good morning, 10:00 eastern. you better take a look at money to start with because we're in a selling mode at the moment. the dow is off 130. the nasdaq is almost down 100 points. remember there is a big fed meeting, a big fed announcement

at 2:00 eastern this afternoon. we'll find out what jay powell does about interest rates and money printing. could move the market. the market is moving down already. the big tech almost uniformly downside. microsoft is up 29 cents. the rest is down. 10-year treasury yield, 1.44%. bitcoin is 47,300 right now. the latest news, december. elizabeth: it is december. stuart: homebuilder sentiment. what are they thinking? elizabeth: it rose for the fourth month in a row tying the highest left of the year. why is this important? because strong demand despite low inventory. respondent cited one thing, builders saying congress doubling canadian software lumber to 18% is a major headwind for them.

that was done in an inflationary environment. the cost of a home is going up even more because of tariffs came on doubled last month. stuart: the lumber thing from canada? that made a difference? elizabeth: starting to. that is what they said in the report. stuart: no impact on the market for that number. now we have this for you. senator elizabeth warren told the world how little the left understands about money. she is a politician driven by ideology, socialist ideology. not economics. she said this, i will abbreviate it so the point is made clear, quote, we need to get the billionaires to actually pay income tax. we have a debt problem partly because the very richest people just aren't paying end quote. point number one please, senator warren wants to confiscate the billionaires wealth, confiscate, not tax it. seize, grab it. that is constitutionally questionable at the very least.

point number two, the massive debt is a result of massive overspending. not a result of the rich paying their fair share, far from it. taxes are record levels. it is spending pushing us into uncontrollable debt. no matter how much you tax the rich you won't pay for all the spending senator warren demands. then there is elon musk, a man worth over 200 billion. the senator warren said he should pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else. freeloading. musk is not a man to take that lying down. he fired bacalling her senator karen. if you opened your eyes for just two seconds you would realize i will pay more taxes than any american in history this year. he went ons quote, don't spend it all at once. oh wait, you did already. thought that was rather funny. the billionaire and the socialist. the billionaire won. hands down. second hour of "varney" we're just getting warmed up.

♪. stuart: liz peek joins me right here. i can tell she is itching to say something about this, about elizabeth warren. get it off your chest. go ahead. >> she live in a fantasy world. i don't know what she is talking about. the spend sergeant highest it has been since world war ii. we are not at war. 34% of gdp federal spending. this is all-time record since the war. stuart: huge. >> you cannot tax your way to prosperity. this is something that the left does not understand. in fact when you lower taxes you get more revenues. president reagan cut taxes massively over eight years, tax revenues went up 50% in spite of that. president trump cut taxes. tax revenues went up. that is something that elizabeth warren just doesn't understand. if you raise taxes right now on

the back of also the fed beginning to tighten its monetary policy, we're going to look at seriously dumbed down growth rate, possibly a recession. this is so stupid. by the way, freeloading? she is the one, what has she created? what jobs has she created? she is being paid by the likes of elon musk and you and me and lauren. she isn't creating anything. i could go on and on but i won't. sorry. stuart: now turn your attention to build back better. do you think, i think the president thinks that build back better is going to build him back. >> yeah. stuart: build -- will huge spending not a chance. that is your opinion. make your case. >> it is not my opinion. it is actually borne out by the facts. we passed a $1.9 trillion gigundo bill in march. only democrat votes, american rescue plan. enormous numbers of checks going

out to 60% of americans. polling shows they were not moved by it. it barely helped them. that is the 300-dollar incremental unemployment and the child welfare tax credit and also 1400-dollar checks started going out in the middle of summer. polling shows voters were not impressed by that. they gave biden no credit, even during that period where they were receiving checks for breathing basically, biden's approval ratings went down markedly. i don't think, around by the way, the reason i think, that they had that reaction and the reason build back better is not going to help joe biden's approval ratings, voters are saying this is creating inflation. the biggest tax is inflation. we believe it is because of big spending and they are correct. stuart: liz peek, thanks very much indeed. >> sorry about the rant. stuart: rant away. thanks, liz. senator bernie sanders he is going to rally with striking kellogg workers. what is he up to.

elizabeth: this is a big story. it is going to happen friday in michigan. so on october 5th, 1400 kellogg workers went own strike at four u.s. plants. they wanted to improve the pay. they didn't like the two tier pay system. the average veteran unit employee makes $35 an hour. newer workers made less. they didn't like that. two months later kellogg gave them the final offer, they rejected it. kellogg is looking to replace the 1400 striking workers. legislation already passed in the house is looking to make it illegal, you have senator sanders, this is stalled in the senate rallying with the striking workers on friday. two more things, a lot of support on social media, on tiktok. they're getting people to submit fake resumes to kellogg to overwhelm the system so they can't replace the striking workers. kellogg, big business, fighting back. we don't usually see that. they gave 8500 bonuses, 10% pay

raises when their workers went on strike. stuart: this is a fight 1/2. whenever it is. elizabeth: friday. stuart: let's get back to the markets. we've got some selling. it is not huge at this point. the nasdaq is down 80, the dow down close to 100. bob doll with us. what is jay powell going to say 2:00 this afternoon? do you want to speculate wildly? >> it is clear. they will act tell rate the pace of tapering. slow purchase of fixed income instruments in the open market faster than thought. why are they going to do that? they see inflation is a problem. going with this transitory thing for a long time. i think they overstayed their welcome, and they will be forced to raise rates sooner than they originally thought. that is why they're getting the tape otherring out of the way. that is what is behind what he has to say.

stuart: how do you think the markets will react if you're right. we're speeding up the taper pointing towards rate increases early next year. how does the market react to that? >> the market is reacting. it is tired. fraying at the edges, stuart. with inflation coming in at five, 6, 7%, depending which index you look at. the market doesn't like that. it got used to one and 2% inflation. the fed came along, said we want inflation to be above 2. be careful what you wish for. when you drop out money out of b-52 bombers, when you spend billions like we have done, if not trillions, that puts so much money in the system. it chases too few goods. that is the definition of inflation. markets i think are going to take a pause here. stuart: do you think ordinary, everyday investors should lightening up on some of their stock holdings now before the end of the year? >> well if they had the pleasure of doubling the money over the

last 18 months, they're fully invested, take a little money off the table. no one ever criticized you for taking a profit. i think we've got a bumpier year in 2022 than we had in 2021. stuart: i think a lot of people are saying just that. bob, thanks for being with us this morning. i'm sure you will be glued at 2:00 this afternoon, won't you? >> close as i can be. stuart: got it. thanks, bob. we'll see you again soon. >> bye-bye. stuart: we've got some stocks in the news. i'm looking at blackberry. i had for gotten all about that company. they're up today. the story? elizabeth: automotive options. they unveil a couple at ces next month. it is a big win for blackberry, pfizer, what is the story? elizabeth: are you ready for this. look at the stock price. stuart: new high? elizabeth: new high. pushed 58 moments ago. they have a covid pill. very good sign it is effective against the new variant.

stuart: 830 eastern time we got retail sales figures, extremely disappointing. up 0.3%. what is impact on retailers. elizabeth: almost 5 1/2% down for department stores. show you two department stores. look at this, macy's down 4%. nordstrom 1%. stuart: we were shopping earlier, weren't we? elizabeth: i think that is it what it was. we saw it was hard to get items. we got them early at the store. literally picked them up or put an order to get them shipped in time. stuart: november we're supposed to be shopping all over the place for christmas and we're not. tell me about google, what they're doing with their unvaccinated employees. elizabeth: they will eventually fire them this is how it works. you have to show proof you've been vaccinated. do so by january 18th. you get paid on leave for 30 days. if you don't show hey, i'm vaccinated. you're put unpaid leave for six months. they're done. you have to be vaccinated or you're fired. stuart: what is prudential

doing? something new. lauren: a lot of banks led the way getting workers back to the city, now because of omicron they have delayed the return to the office date to january. it is on a voluntary basis. we're starting to see a lot of this. stuart: i think the return of america's cities is being delayed. lauren: a person of new york city persons are at their desk. 8%. stuart: that is the backbone of the city. they're not here, not working. they will not come back. we've done this several times on the show, shown you 6th avenue. midtown manhattan. nowhere near as busy as it is supposed to be. lauren: brian in the last hour raised this point. if you didn't bring employees back by labor day, the chances of you doing it now for two years people are working from home. it will be hard to get you to change. stuart: midtown man -- manhattan, 10 days before christmas.

not an open city. lauren, thank you very much. president biden headings to kentucky, seeing hardest hit areas hit by the deadly areas. 100 people still missing in kentucky. we'll bring you the latest. speaker pelosi gushes over president biden's first year as president. watch this. >> other country could not be, could not be better served with this most experienced capable hands of yours, president biden. he is just perfect. stuart: well, well, mike huckabee is on the show. he will deal with that right after this. i just wonder what he is going to say. the second hour of "varney" ♪olls on. (vo) singing, or speaking. reason, or fun.

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stuart: markets showing some selling. remember, please, 2:00 this afternoon, the fed speaks about interest rates and money printing. we'll find out what the market is going to do when we hear from the fed at 2:00 eastern this afternoon. some of us will be glued. president biden lands in kentucky about a half hour from now. he will be surveying from the past weekend's tornadoes. grady trimble is in mayfield, kentucky that was the place that was virtually leveled. i think the president visits mayfield later on today, correct? reporter: he is. fort campbell first and coming through mayfield. we learned that the tornado that ripped through here caused all this destruction in a matter of three minutes. that is according to new information from the national weather service. this is the type of devastation you can only begin to understand when you see it first-hand. that is exactly what president

biden will do today. we visited a relief site where people are in dire need, picking up basic necessities, food, water, some people left without clothing. we talked to the survivors what they hope president biden takes away from the visit today? >> i hope he sees the devastation that we're in because it will take a long, long time to get back to normal. >> people have lost everything. their whole lives, they have nothing. they have nothing. it is just like a war zone, totally devastated. they just lost everything. reporter: people and companies across across the count countrye been moved by video they have seen past several days. walmart and other big corporations donated supplies and money. kentucky's famous bourbon distillers are purchasing in

rare barrels of bourbon donating for a live auction they expect to break records. on top of that the governor of kentucky, andy beshear, says the state's donation site has collected donations from 66,000 people. nearly $10 million has been collected. now what they need now, stu, is toys. this christmas is potentially ruined but they are hoping to brighten their day with toys from the toy drive they started. stuart: grady, that is a wonderful thing. thanks for joining us. we'll see you later. grady trimble. president biden has a message ahead of the republicans for the midterms and speaker pelosi fawns how perfect the president is. watch both of them. >> we look at 2022. i want to tell my republican friends, get ready, pal, you have a problem. i believe we're going to win. we're going to win in 2022.

>> our country could not be more, could not be better served than when this most experienced, capable hands than yours, president biden. he is just perfect. the timing couldn't be better. stuart: all right. former positive -- governor of arkansas, mike huckabee joins me now. deal with speaker pelosi and the perfect president. your response to these. >> joe biden is perfect like andrew cuomo is the perfect gentleman and jeffrey dahmer has the perfect table manners. stuart: governor, that is a little harsh. that is a little harsh. a little sharp there. >> it is a little accurate, stu. it is accurate. by gosh, joe biden perfect? our economy is tanking. his poll numbers are tanking. our borders are wide open. we've gone back to ridiculous things that mean we're no longer energy independent. we're now begging opec to -- stuart: it was a fund-raiser. i think it was a fund raiser or a holiday party to raise funds.

you can expect that kind of thing. >> you have to have a tinge of honestly in it. for him to say get ready, pal, we'll win big in 2022. that is the kind of thing you say if you're about to get pummeled in the boxing ring. go out there do a little trash-talking. everybody in that room knows what he said is absolutely banana oil. there is no way that what he is saying he could believe. it is just impossible, stu. stuart: do you see that editorial, it is an op-ed in "the new york times" this morning, before stephens saying that the president should say that he is not running and should say it publicly. it was quite a bombshell to me. >> well, i think it would be good news for the democrats. maybe bad news for the republicans for him to admit he is not running. the fact he is not running in 2024 a lot of americans are worried about. it is not he is not fully awake to the job that he has right now. i'm not sure he knows on most

days where he is. if it weren't for the doggone teleprompter and him squinting and screaming at it, that he would be able to get through two sentences without having somebody come and point the words to him. this is what we're dealing with. but i'm glad he is going to kentucky. he will be able to do something valid there consoling those people but beyond that his policies are abysmal. stuart: the president is going to kentucky. will arrive at half hour i think it is. this is what a president is suppose towed do. he is doing the right thing for sure. >> yes. yeah i'm glad he is going because one of the jobs of a president is to be the consoler in chief of a time of national tragedy and this is one. the other thing he does by he is showing up, he brings attention and makes sure that people across america who live nowhere near kentucky or one of the other states including my home state of arkansas hit so hard by these tornadoes, make sure people contribute generously to

organizations like samaritan's purse, red cross and others, genuinely reach out to lend a hand to these folks whose lives have been upended never to be returned to normal again. stuart: indeed. governor, we appreciate you being on today. our best wishes to you, to yours, all the people in the devastated community. thanks for joining us, sir. >> you bet. thank you, stu. stuart: china's xi xinping and russia's vladmir putin they held their meeting, virtual meeting. it sounded like a love-fest. the squeeze is on president biden. morgan ortegas worked at the state department. she will take that on in a moment. why isn't natural immunity given consideration with these mandates? as more states implement mandates, dr. marty makary gave congressional testimony yesterday and he is next. ♪

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stuart: markets pointing south,

ahead of the fed announcement coming this afternoon. susan with us. has coinbase recovered from the little snafu, susan? susan: crypto world is talking about the coinbase, coin market cap glitch made a lot of people quadrillion airs instantly. astronomical quotes including $1,000 for dogecoin. it trades less than 20 cents in reality. bitcoin was trading at $100 million plus yesterday. now both coinbase and coin market caps as trading was an impact, meaning no one actually bout or sold any crypto for lots of extra zeros. there is still no word what exactly caused this error or caused this malfunction but there was so much commentary out there, it is nice to feel really, really rich for a lot of people. goes back to show the cryptocurrency industry is still working out the kinks, whether from trading glitches or hacks, more development is needed.

they have uber billionaire for three minutes. stuart: it would have been a wonderful moment, you got serious money. it is smashed away from you. in a moment. susan: i know. stuart: thanks, susan. see you later. new york city mayor bill de blasio will release details on the city's new private employer vaccine mandate. david lee miller in new york city. what do you have for us. reporter: the mayor started speaking moments ago. it was supposed to be begin at 10:00. he was half an hour late. in the next few moments we hear what many believe will be the strictest vaccine mandate in the country. the mayor has said two days after christmas on december 2th, any private sector employee working on site in new york city must show proof that they are fully vaccinated. according

about 184,000 businesses in the city will be affected by the de blasio mandate and for many it will be costly and difficult measure timely meant. there is concern it could spike the city's unemployment rate which is now at 9.4%, twice the national average. covid cases in the city are on the rise. the 7-day average for people testing positive is over 4 1/2%. it was 3% one week ago. hospitalizations are also increasing. meanwhile there is growing resistance to democratic governor kathy hochul statewide mandate requiring businesses to make sure all employees and customers are vaccinated and required the to use masks. leaders of 13 counties

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♪ stuart: want to show you midtown manhattan. looking at it right now. we're showing you this, that demonstrates how far new york city is from coming back full time. only 8% of office workers are in their jobs five days a week in new york city at this moment. you can see the results right there. and now we're going to impose vigorous vax and mask mandates throughout this city on all private businesses. that's why it is almost deserted, 10 days before christmas. pathetic. check the markets please, we're down across the board. remember we have this big fed meeting coming up at 2:00 this afternoon, fed chair powell will explain what he is doing printing money and raise interest rates. the market will move a lot more probably 2:00 this afternoon. we have front line workers, some of them seeing wages increase by

up 12%, however with inflation, lauren, how much are they taking home. lauren: depressing story. example brooks institution gave. kroger work making 16.25 an hour. adjusted for inflation that becomes an increase 17 cents an hour. $1.25 to 17 cents 25 bucks amonth. complete wage erosion. cannot keep up with the cost of living. that is the base wage. doesn't include benefits and other perks. stuart: that is tangible example with a sole lid reasoning why they're not making as much as they think they are making. the effect of inflation. it is a hidden tax. that is what it is. that is a very good example. bret baier is with us. >> good morning. stuart: greetings, sir, 9.6% inflation, huge, does that doom build back better. >> it is definitely on the ropes, stuart. one of the big reasons is that

senator dick cheney talks about this all the time. we have to see where inflation is going. seeing the ppi number is massive. the wharton analysis saying inflation causing households to spend $3500 more for 2021. just out, add that up it is a real concern that translates to votes not only from manchin but there are other moderate democrats who fall under his umbrella. while he is take the heat from progressive side, there are other moderates who i think are ready to vote against that effort right now. stuart: if you had to handicap it build back better could be done before christmas or highly unlikely not to be done by christmas? >> put it this way, if i had the candidate casino 100-dollar chips, i had to put my money down, i would put 70 by christmas and 30 by christmas.

might go 80-20 at this point because i think the, then once you get into the new year, stuart. it is another bag of tricks because you're talking an election year and you're talking about inflation that potentially still in there until mid 23. stuart: if it is key laid until next year the real chances of getting something are fading quite rapidly? that is where you are? >> rapidly. here is the thing. suddenly decide they get through christmas, start negotiating, will scale it back in the senate, then you have to worry about keeping progressives in the house together if they take it down too much. where that negotiation is, whether nancy pelosi can hurt those caps i think is really a question mark. stuart: can i interject a different subject for one second. i don't know whether you saw it, there was a blockbuster op-ed in "the new york times" this morning, it was about from bred stephens that president biden should say publicly now he is not running again in 2024.

i thought that was a real game-changer within the democrat party. >> that was in "the new york times." bret stephens is really a message to democrats saying there has to be a change in the way things are going. you have a number of different issues that don't line up. to hear the president last night at this event with donors saying they're going to win in 2022, if you look at the numbers, stuart, the data just isn't there. he is upside down in every major issue. stuart: let's get to tiger woods. that is a real change, big one. he is coming back to golf 10 months after the dreadful accident. he is going to play this weekend with his son charlie. you're a golfer. great to see him back, isn't it? >> this is massive. it is great to watch. it is great the father, son, kicking it off the pnc championship. the pga tour said if you want to

ride a car at any tournament, this is a great thing for golf. this is almost ben hogannesque, come back from that kind of injury. stuart: do you have a handicap of two? >> 2.8 i'm sliding up as still working more. stuart: can you drive 300 yards? >> i can. stuart: you can? >> i can, yes. i can. stuart: okay. >> i mean i have to keep it in the fairway but i can hit it far. stuart: who is the guy that drives 400 yards. bryson dechambeau. i cannot do that. that is a different deal. i have a day job. stuart: why not. you're the greatest political journalist on the planet and you can't drive 400 yards? >> i will work on it. stuart: great to have you on the show. we're watching your show tonight at 6:00 eastern, "special report". bret baier. >> yes, sir. stuart: a writer for the

atlantic says hospitals should treat unvaccinated patients last. is it legal or immoral? we'll discuss it. incentives for workers, how about a mortgage-free home. yeah, it is happening. we'll tell you all about it.

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stuart: we told you at the top of the hour that homebuilder sentiment was holding steady in december. the reading was 84. that is a pretty solid number but it is holding steady. jerry howard with us here. you're the president of the national association of -- >> homebuilders. stuart: that's correct. it wasn't on the prompter. so what do i know, okay? is inflation, that inflation concern, i mean it is out there, doesn't seem to be hurting homebuilder sentiment. >> right now our guys can't build them fast enough. the demand is still there. the demand is fueled in a large part by coming out of the pandemic. and people want for the first time in years they want what

existing homes can't give them. they want more house. for 30 years people were willing to accept smaller houses. stuart: went other way for 30 years. >> they want an exercise room. if they are locked down, they want exercise. want a home office. people want a porch or patio, deck they can sit outside. all lessons learned earlier. >> there was doubling on canadian lumber coming into the united states. that was a real problem for you guys. is it? >> it adds to the inflationary element that is one of the big question marks for the spring buying season. inflation, the supply chain and all of sudden it is as if president biden remembered he has control of regulations. regulatory machine in washington is gearing up. we're afraid to just overturn all the deregulation that the you will trump administration put in. stuart: i think there is some regulation within build back

better, certainly the green new deal, says all new homes, i think from existing homes too, have to be inspected for their energy efficiency. government inspector, knock on the door, come inside, changing this, this, and this, is that the situation. >> i don't know it is that draconian. they are looking making all new homes adhere to much higher standards of energy efficiency and sustainability. and the reality is, we can make every new home zero carbon footprint for the next 50 years. if you don't apply it to existing homes. it will not make a hill of beans difference f you're going after the residential sector, all at once. if you do that, you got to recognize that people will not be able to achieve the american dream of homeownership in the numbers our country is used to. some people will be shut out of the market. stuart: shove the price right up. >> yes. stuart: you have to conform to a whole new set of energy regulations up goes the price,

guaranteed. >> i went to the climate change conference in glascow, i talked to a man about that there. if you can make it so these new gadgets and new regulations pay the consumer back within 8 to 10 years, americans will have no problem with that. he said why eight to 10 years? >> because the average american only lives in their home for eight to 10 years. i know what his response was? the world can't afford that anymore. americans will have to change. stuart: oh. >> nice. stuart: red meat to slap in front of you guys. i don't know what your response was. but one day i will find out. jerry, thanks very much indeed. >> thank you. stuart: as always. this one, a company in florida is offering mortgage-free homes as incentive to bring in workers. okay, lauren, who is doing this and how does it work? lauren: the company is a company called mechanical one. they purchased two lots for $500,000. they're building two homes for workers. here is the if, they stick

around for another year. so this time in 2022, two employees have the pots ability of getting a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom mortgage, free home. if they stuck with their job for a year. stuart: they build the homes. what do you say to that, jerry howard, an employer building homes to bring in the workers? >> frankly must be a house that they were able to build relatively, relatively low cost. i can't imagine that it is going to pay for itself in a year. i'm surprised not asking them to stay longer. lauren: 500,000 shocked me. but i'm not a expert on the florida market but that is low? >> yes. stuart: i didn't realize that. lauren: central florida. central florida. stuart: to me that makes all the difference. jerry, thanks for being here. >> thank you. stuart: lauren, thanks a lot. big board we're doing some selling. the dow is down 104 points as we speak. back down to 35,400. remember, we got this 2:00 announcement from the federal reserve. it will be about money printing

and interest rates. that could move the market. currently the yield on the 10 year treasury coming in at 1.44%. holding pretty steady right there. gold doing nothing recently, despite that. what is it, 9.6% inflation rate? gold still at 1765 per ounce. bitcoin still around 46,000 bucks. down a bit today. the price of oil holding on to, no it is not. it just dropped below, 69.88. price natural gas, relatively warm fall in the northeast and other parts of country. nat-gas is relatively low-priced. up 3% at 3.87. average price of regular gas in america is $3.32 per gallon. in california, we always say this, it is 4.62. got that? still ahead, kayleigh mcenany, todd piro, florida attorney general ashley moody.

look at the op-ed in "the new york times," it reads, biden should not run again and he should say he won't. democrats have been whispering about this since approval numbers started to tank. there is a more immediate concern though, can biden get through the next three years. difficult to talk about this. it is in "my take" and it is next. ♪ (naj) at fisher investments, our clients know we have their backs. (other money manager) how do your clients know that? (naj) because as a fiduciary, it's our responsibility to always put clients first. (other money manager) so you do it because you have to? (naj) no, we do it because it's the right thing to do. we help clients enjoy a comfortable retirement. (other money manager) sounds like a big responsibility. (naj) one that we don't take lightly. it's why our fees are structured

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gold. your strategic advantage. >> the rate of change of inflation at a historic rate. when we are at peak inflation they might tighten, the most cautious i've been in years, heading into the new year. >> they pull back on cutting tapering. equity investors could stay the course and continue to buy on any dip. >> with inflation at 5%, 6%, 7% the market doesn't like that. >> you don't need this child tax credit for biden and his billback broke agenda were not driving up inflation.

>> the reason billback better will not help president biden's approval rating, they are creating inflation. stuart: that is the kinks all day and every night. ray davis singing that. 50 years old. 50 -- we are in new york. straight to the markets. we've got this 2:00 announcement from the federal reserve about interest rate and money printing. that will move the market. it is down at this moment. bitcoin on the downside, back to 46,600 points. financial markets ahead of the fed meeting announcement. opinion piece in the new york times lays open the democrats presidential dilemma. bret stephens writes this was biden should not run again and

he should say he won't. the democrats have been whispering about this since his approval numbers started to tank. now it is plastic across the editorial page of the new york times, don't run again and say so publicly. stevens is talking about three years from now but there is a more immediate concern. can biden get through the next three years. it is hard to talk about this but we really should. he is already frail and uncertain, forgetful, weary and unfocused. three more years? waiting in the wings is vice president harris whose approval rating is the lowest of any veep in history. her performance has been a disaster. this is a problem for the whole country, not just the democrats worrying about who to run in 2024. it is the nation worried about who is really in charge right now. it is not a political issue, not democrats versus republicans, it is who is competent and capable of running the country now and in the future.

big deal. third hour of varney starts right now. look who is here. kayleigh mcenany. that was a blockbuster in the times this morning, don't run and say you are not running. >> you are deciding between vastly delusional which is biden, he think they are going to win in 2022 or the next in charge would be kamala harris who is incompetent and the next, west wing rumors and whispers are about peter buttigieg but he is part of the sinking ship. there is no alternative. bret stephens makes a compelling point i don't think there is an alternative. the alternatives are just as bad. stuart: what about the next three years, brett stevens is writing about don't run in 2024 and say so publicly but what about the next three years.

i find this difficult to get through. the president is frail and forgetful, he doesn't always appear to be there all the time. >> we are in trouble. there's going to be a massive break put on his presidency in the form of the 2022 midterms, i think republicans will prevail and it will put a halt to the domestic agenda but what is so worrisome the next three years he doesn't seem to be all with it. what does that say to our enemies? china building hypersonic weaponry, north korea back to their antics, russia after we had president biden talk to put and put 10,000 more troops on the border of ukraine, no message got through to them, a break could be put in from the domestic standpoint. foreign policy, he is the guy in control and it is not going well. stuart: talk about being delusional, the white house is blaming rising inflation on the meat industry. role tape. >> the president, people across the country, american families,

digest inflation is by price increases. the president, secretary of agriculture, have spoken to what we have seen as the degree of meat conglomerates, people go to the grocery store trying to buy a pound of meat, it is the prices are higher. you could call it jacking up prices during a pandemic. stuart: the greed of the meat conglomerates? >> we knew this was a plan, asks about inflation, jen psaki and president biden blamed the consumer, people are running more goods at the store, that didn't work out bringing, blaming the american people for inflation so reporting suggested on background folks in the white house told reporters they were launching a plan to blame big conglomerates. you are seeing it play out, the reporting appears to be accurate. i don't think this will be palatable to the american people, the biden administration says our number 3 issue behind

the economy and they are intertwined. stuart: as a fellow spokesperson for the white house how do you judge jen psaki's performance? she has a difficult job but is doing quite well. >> i don't grade jen psaki's performance, tough questions at all. i don't know how close she is with the president because yesterday she was at the podium briefing as president biden's remarks, the press secretary talking about tornadoes and the president at the same time, made me think do you at all coordinate with the president of the united states because that is a messaging disaster to have the press secretary -- hard job for any press secretary but there could be a better job coordinating with the messaging. stuart: do you think she's using power? is she a source of power? making decisions for the president? can i go that far? >> a fair question to ask

because she's the primary messenger like when i was there, there is a primary messenger in the trump administration, take a wild guess who that was, it was not me. stuart: do you miss those days? >> i do but it is a fun job, a hard job, i'm sure jen psaki can attest to that. we had a lot of fun and that is the key, have fun while doing it. stuart: it was fun being screamed at by radical reporters? >> we loved trying to come up with what was the hardest question reporters would ask. we could identify the hardest question and they would never ask it. stuart: kayleigh mcenany, you are a lot of fun on this show. i'm going to be watching you on outnumbered, 12 noon eastern on fox, thanks for being here. back to the markets. where are we now? three hours to go before the fed announces what they would do with interest rates and money printing, we are down across the board. not a lot but we are down. look who is here on wednesday

morning. mark tepper is with us. following up from our previous conversations we've had on the air quite frequently, do you want the federal reserve to stop printing money and do you want the president to pause or cut build back better? you want all of that? >> i want all of it. the fed needs to stop buying bonds completely, they don't need to actually the taper. they need to stop buying bonds completely and in fact i think in 2022 the narrative is going to become how much of those bonds are they going to sell. they will unwind the balance sheet because let's face it. inflation is out of control. we need to deal with it quickly and strongly or else we will have big problems and we don't need build back better. we don't need any more fiscal stimulus was what we are experiencing is runaway

inflation, look at consumer confidence trending lower and that is probably because the average american is making more money this year but their wallets are lighter because expenses are outpacing wage growth. stuart: if we got that, if the fed did all this, no more money printing, none of that and no more build back better, what would the market do? i suspect the market would go down. what do you say? >> there would be a knee-jerk reaction where the market pulled back a little bit in the short run but the market would recover. as long as inflation is coming down that will help boost consumer confidence. inflation is -- lowering some people but for the entire middle-class. what percentage of people have a considerable amount of investments where they benefit from inflationary period? i would say it is a small percentage. don't know off the top of my head but not great. the market would pull back but in the long run it is going to be just fine.

we have to curb inflation. stuart: we are not going to see gains in the market the way we've seen gains in the last year or two surely. >> this year's hurdles combined with the thruster of all the fiscal stimulus will become difficult for next year, fiscal stimulus is going to go down. we are at 11% of gdp, that will go down 2% to 3% if build back better gets pushed through. this year is too easy, every company was beating 30% to 90%, we are back to reality. i am more concerned about multiples contracting than earnings. when looking at 6% inflation all of a sudden multiples come down at that could offset earnings growth. stuart: i will pick my stocks carefully for next year. see you again real soon.

telethon is one of the movers we are looking at, downing $36 a share. lauren: jpmorgan cut the price target to 70. it is a resetting of expectations. is the problem the fact that there was a heart attack on the dike, the bike now becomes a clothing rack. people stop using it, sales are down, showing up on facebook marketplace, discount prices and it is not the item you waited months to have. that is killing the stock more than anything else. stuart: that is a new low. moderna is up one.5%. lauren: clearing it for all adults, that is positive. stuart: boeing, i bought this thing years ago in the $300 range not asking with the impact

of the pandemic would be. it went down to 80 and i lost my shirt. now it is at 190 none down 2%. >> the price target is 270. but look. that is a cut for them. there is a strange relationship between boeing, they are improving, pre-pandemic despite the fact the 7:37 max is back, the 787 reminder is having d lays. stuart: thank you very much. a new poll shows 60% feel won out by changes we had to make during the pandemic. vaccines and restrictions, we will tell you about that. andrew cuomo made millions off of his pandemic book deal. he will give it back, all $5 million of it. the systems the white house press secretary.

>> the administrative consider your biggest achievement in foreign-policy? >> this is a great question. stuart: we will take that on. we are in the third hour. ♪♪ ♪ (man) still asleep. (woman vo) so, where to next? (vo) reflect on the past, celebrate the future. season's greetings from audi.

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are these two cooperating against the us, ganging up on us to squeeze us in the middle, is that what is going on? >> this has been the 30 seventh meeting between the two of them since 2013-14 so there is precedent for this. i think of this as you see two women at dinner and both share the same ex-boyfriend and both dumped by that ex-boyfriend and teaming up together, and easy way for everyone to understand what is going on. there's a lot going on behind-the-scenes. russia may be getting closer to china on the surface but they also have been courting india, vietnam. many of china's adversaries in the region, russia is playing a smart game. they get a lot of attention, they could to irritate us, the chinese get irritate us at this meeting but if the two of them do something like coordinate simultaneous invasions in

ukraine and taiwan i don't know that they are there yet. stuart: we are told they will hold another meeting before the end of the year. is it possible they will discuss that kind of coordination of tweaking president biden? i'm sure that is a possibility at least. >> i think so. they average three meetings a year so it would make sense to meet again and where there is weakness in an american president, adversaries will speak to exclude that weakness was one of the things we need to do whenever we, one of the most dangerous times since the cold war, if we are going to box in china and russia we need allies to do it. our allies in europe have been week standing up to russia. we been more worried about advocating, pacifying the germans than we have been building up the military deterrence they need against russia. allies in the indo pacific have

been fantastic, australia, india, japan, others, are working to stand up to the communist party. we should be concerned that the two of them continue the use meetings. >> a week president and weakens america is not good for the world. that is my opinion. i'm sure you share it. jen psaki was left speechless by this question. role tape. >> what does the administration consider your biggest achievement in foreign-policy? >> i want to talk to the president about it and happy to do that. stuart: what is your reaction to that? >> briefings, really hard, i had to do it at the state department. i'm hesitant to be critical. it is a tough job. i think you should be able to rattle off the accomplishment of your administration evening year one.

stuart: can you name -- foreign-policy successes? >> for the biden team know but for the trump team i can tell you we had abraham accords, the maximum economic pressure campaign against iran, relatively stable middle east considering what was going on and donald trump did more than any human being on earth to rally the world to the realities and threats of the chinese communist party. the world was asleep, america was asleep until donald trump came into office and we changed the game. stuart: a very worrying situation when a week president has week america is confronted by evil and by people who hate us. >> by the way, week allies in europe as well. stuart: let's not forget the europeans. we will see you again soon. merry christmas to you. kroger, the grocery store chain

say they want to longer provide two weeks of paid emergency leave to employees who are not vaccinated and who contract covid. unvaccinated workers will see a $50 monthly surcharge added to their health plans. however unionized workers will not have to pay that fee, 60% of kroger employs are unionized. extraordinary stuff with some new monmouth poll shows most americans are worn out by the pandemic. take us through this. ashley: we are all worn out. straight to the numbers that tell the story. 6 in 10 americans feel worn out by the pandemic related changes they had to make to their daily lives in the past 20 months, if you like 20 years, 36% feel worn out, 24% feel worn out a little. the poll finds half of the public feels angry about how

covid has impacted their daily lives, 24% say a lot. 20% say maybe a little. the number of people supporting reinstitution facemasks and social distancing guidelines dropped from 63% to 65%. support for requiring people to show proof of vaccination in order to work in an office or other settings has dropped from 53% to 44%. on the political side, president biden's numbers on how he's handling the pandemic are sliding, the biggest drop among independents were positive ratings have gone from 50% to 38%. the decline that is seen in most states biden won in 2020 where positive ratings have fallen from 60% to 47%. there is the political implication as well. stuart: apple now has a mask

mandate. is this for customers as well? ashley: it is, apple requiring customers to wear masks in us retail stores after dropping the requirement for half of its locations. because the number of rising covid cases in many communities customers have to join staff members in wearing masks while inside the store. reports claims in stores will impose occupancy limits although apple isn't commenting on that. apple, part of the cycle, the company started relaxing mask requirements to some stores in june but easily bought them back in most locations in july. the latest change comes after a widespread outbreak was reporting's and apple store in texas earlier this month. reports, 22 employees tested positive for covid following black friday, staff reported unmasked customers were packed into the store shoulder to

shoulder. stuart: back to you shortly. police find nearly 200,$000 of stolen goods in san francisco, the result of the brazen retail thefts in the city. a staff writer for the atlantic facing backlash for suggesting hospitals should treat unvaccinated patients last. is that legal. how about the morality of that? todd pyro next. ♪♪ [engine humming] [clapping]

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♪♪ it has our back. and goes out of its way to help. ♪♪ when you start with care, .. stuart: that was always one of my favorites when i saw her standing there. i love that one. that is sixth avenue. this is 10 days before christmas. this is midtown manhattan, new york city. what you expected to be more crowded with holiday shoppers and holiday traffic? it is not because of all these mandates. that is what is hurting new york and christmas. on the downside, still waiting

for the fed announcement at 2:00. what is with amazon? >> what year was it? stuart: 1964. >> quite a while ago. amazon web services was down 30 minutes, 45 minutes ago but service has been restored and so has connectivity to the west region. i missed the big outage but in this world of cloud computing there's a lot of need to get online. i want to show you retailers, shoppers and the lack of shoppers, the retail sales number in the month of november, less than half of what was anticipated in november but pull forward attack of shoppers doing christmas shopping early in case of the supply chain crisis. look at the retail stock getting hammered, talking about

possible, and macy's. air b&b added a new board member, block formerly known as square, joining air b&b's board. what does this mean for air b&b, financial payments in the future and a lot of developments. stuart: it is down 3.7%. see you later. a writer for the atlantic suggests hospitals should treat unvaccinated patients last. let hospitals quietly triage emergency care to serve the unvaccinated last. two issues here, the legality of that and secondly the morality of it. >> legality questionable because you know there would be

lawsuits flowing from this was hospitals don't want sued, they get sued a lot and frankly it is a slippery slope hospitals don't want to go down. what about smokers? what about meat eaters and heart attacks? what about the litany of things we do, as to what we put in our own bodies that could then lead to being triaged in a certain -- it is not what a hospital wants to get into so legally i don't think it would stand. stuart: morally -- >> who is this guy to call balls and strikes on who lives and dies? this is not human behavior. this is something you see among animals. this is hunger games stuff, this guy should be embarrassed. what are we creating a dual class of citizens, the unvaccinated or separate class to be dumped on and bullied? >> a house divided against itself cannot stand. we've known that for decades,

centuries at this point. it is a ridiculous notion, the covid stuff is gone completely, these two camps. if you do, if you want to get vaccinated, and and they do not believe in mandates, that is abundantly clear. stuart: i'm right there in that camp. distressed governor andrew cuomo has been ordered to return, $5 million made from the book about pandemic leadership. and >> he will not do that. i don't know if the attorney general's office to alter lee's in charge of enforcing this has any idea, seems like uncharted

territory, something, the ag's office needs to figure out how legally we clawback this money in this context. not necessarily bankruptcy but was donated to charity, some was interested cuomo's daughters. you go into a legal morass as to how you do this and i don't know if the ag's office knows how this would be playing out. stuart: who should take the money back? if you take the $5 million often who does it go to? >> it is going to go back to the ag's office according to the ethics committee but what the ag's office would do at that point uncharted territory. stuart: what do you think of new york city with these mandates coming down the hike? we have details on it today. >> it is wednesday, it should be crawling.

stuart: viewers not a lawyer with midtown manhattan should know on the right-hand corner of the screen is radio city music hall which has a huge extravaganza every year. they should be lining about the door and they are not. >> before whether they for the middle of temperatures, from my own personal family we are not coming in. we've been in the city before. stuart: so sad. >> nature of life in new york city in 2020. stuart: we are watching you. i will be watching you at 4:00 tomorrow morning when you do early fox and friends. >> fox and friends first. you've never gotten the name right. carly looks so serious and that picture. she has never been that series in her entire -- there she is again. we joke about this was the serious picture. we are going to redo this and rename the show in early honor of you, the early fox and

friends. stuart: you look about 12 or 13. fire forced evacuation near cinderella's castle in disney world. the grove added barbed wire type barriers prevent smash and grab robberies. kelly a grady has a report from the grove. ♪♪ what do you want from me ♪♪ what do you want from me ♪♪ (judith) in this market, you'll find fisher investments is different than other money managers. (other money manager) different how? don't you just ride the wave? (judith) no - we actively manage client portfolios based on our forward-looking views of the market. (other money manager) but you still sell investments that generate

high commissions, right? (judith) no, we don't sell commission products. we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in our client's best interest. (other money manager) so when do you make more money? only when your clients make more money? (judith) yep, we do better when our clients do better. at fisher investments we're clearly different.

.. ♪♪ ♪♪ california dreaming ♪♪ stuart: is ironic we are playing the mamas and poppas from 40 years ago talking about dreaming of california while they are stuck in new york. i call that prophetic. the golden gate bridge, san

francisco, 45 degrees and cloudy. police just recovered 200,$000 of stolen items in the san francisco area. this is all about the smash and grab operation. ashley: yes it is. the most basic robberies. two suspects have been arrested in what police call a large bay area retail fifth operation following a recent arrest. authorities go to search warrant and discover merchandise from a multitude of stores including cvs, victoria's secret, gap, lenscrafters, tjx, nordstrom, safeway and so many more. another search of a storage facility revealed more stolen goods. total, 13,000 stolen items worth 200,$000 all recovered. the chp released a statement saying in part the arrests and

seizures we are announcing today are the result of an ongoing investigation with more arrests expected. we hope to send a message to would-be thieves, those facilitating their crimes, that they will be held accountable. which is good news. stuart: yes it is. take a look at this. i am going to show you four armed men outside a luxury apartment building in los angeles. they ran behind two people, robbed them at gunpoint outside a luxury area in los angeles. kelly o'grady is in los angeles. we just showed pictures of barbed wire put outside a luxury morgan, the growth. that is unbelievable. >> when they are taking it down during the day but put it up every night to keep out the thieves because the smash and grabs of gotten so bad and this is spirit what we call a blame game between officials and retailers. yesterday california's attorney general convened businesses to discuss the response strategies

to this, crime rates resell stolen goods on online marketplaces and that is the finger-pointing at many tech giants for providing a platform but in a state to foxbusiness and amazon spokesperson said the company supports the efforts but asserted, quote, it does not allow stolen goods in our store and we work closely with law enforcement, retailers and brands to stop bad actors and hold them accountable. the blame is put on a shortage of law enforcement officers. san francisco's mayor is calling for emergency funding to hire more police officers to ensure those stolen goods don't end up sold on the streets. >> it is time that the rain of criminals who are destroying our city, and it is time for it to come to a end. it comes to a end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement. with the changes in our policies and less tolerant of all the [bleep] that has destroyed our city.

>> reporter: the mayor mentioned policies and you just had speaker policy say she's not sure where it comes from. in california, sentencing policies are being blamed. i believe you with this was the nordstrom robbery that happened before thanksgiving, 14 suspects were arrested in connection with this. hours later they either post or were all released without bail. stuart: this thing is in the tail. thank you very much indeed. moore from los angeles. the la school board is delaying their vaccine mandate for students. seems to me if they delay like this they are backing down. ashley: they are backing down and the fact that so many children would be sent back to online learning for not being vaccinated. the la school board agreeing to delay a portion of its mandate from january to the fall of 2022 to the fall of next year. as it stands, 28,000 students have not complied and under the

rules would be barred from in person schooling and enrolled in independent study which is already overwhelming the system. so far, 80%, 87% of la unified students 12 years and older have shown proof of vaccination. school board members say that the high number but dealing the vaccine mandate was the right decision considering what it calls the fluid circumstances of the pandemic so delayed until fall of next year. stuart: andrew in the education of 1 million minority students in los angeles and they have done that. dow 30, we like to give you a sense of the market, the predominance of selling, the dow is down 85 points was the governor of florida has essentially banned vaccine mandates in his state. private companies and

government workers, everybody included, i will ask the attorney general of the great state of florida, ashley moody who joins us next. ♪♪ i want to be free ♪♪ i want to be free ♪♪ i want to be free ♪♪ i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this. life is for living. let's partner for all of it. i'm so glad we did this. edward jones new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. ♪♪ whose resumes on indeed it starts with a mother's determination to treat her baby's eczema. and grows into a family business that helps thousands more. it starts with an army vet's dream of studying the stars. and grows into a new career as an astrophysicist.

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>> cloudy and 74 degrees. a fire broke out in disney world's magic kingdom in orlando. suggests had to be evacuated. of 3 caught fire near cinderella's castle. the cause of the fire is under investigation. the governor of florida, ron desantis banned vaccine mandates. ashley moody joins me. >> are you fighting mandates on private businesses and government workers. >> we were shocked and appalled when we saw cities and counties in the state trying to mandate vaccines, they are pleading for help.

law enforcement, many of us on the front lines since day one. we had covid, don't want to get the vaccine to the governor and i. amazing to work with such a governor who values freedom, we stepped up, fought them and saw cities and counties back down. since then our legislature has banned the use government mandates and in florida, first responders, you know who i feel sorry for, i feel sorry for law enforcement, reports through the biden administrative, no one is fighting them. merrick garland isn't fighting them. they are requiring their law enforcement to upload their papers, proof of vaccination or face penalties. they issued a new rule for head start programs, the employees must be vaccinated. another mandate on top of three we've already seen and even requiring children as young as

2 years old have to wear masks in these programs. that will affect so many people across our nation. stuart: does the mandate you just talked about apply in florida? >> this will apply to head start programs absolutely. employees with that program, teachers, those we trusted to teach our young children, not only does that appalled me because children two years old have to be masked but most of these teachers in head start programs, 85% are women who will now be forced to be vaccinated and this is a new mandate that not many folks are focusing on. i am a mom paying close attention to what is being mandated for our young children and teachers, i will aggressively push back against this mandate. stuart: what do most floridians think about these impose mandates? for them or against them? >> we have been advised since covid started, look at the

research out there, evaluate your risk. governor desantis did a tour promoting the vaccine, he then promoted the therapy if you contracted covid but we have always been against mandates and actually biden was against the mandate, said he would never do it and when they announced it this summer we were shocked. we had such a guttural reaction to that end we came out immediately and said not important. we will fight back against a federal mandate. it is unlawful and we won't allow mandates in florida. stuart: i'm looking forward to spending christmas in florida and no doubt enjoy myself. need to talk to you about smash and grab robberies across the country. have you had any smash and grab cases in florida? i've not heard of any. have you had any? >> so glad you asked about that. we won't tolerate lawlessness in florida. we support our law enforcement. we make sure they have the tools and resources for their

effort and what you are seeing is soft on crime policies in big cities and states that don't value law enforcement and i saw you earlier showing the mayor saying we won't tolerate this. putting our foot down. she can put her foot down and say you are not tolerating at all she wants but if they are not giving law enforcement, a prosecutor that will go after those that are committing the crimes when they do the investigations and bring them in and make the arrests there is nothing they will do about it. it is lipservice if you say i am putting my foot down at this point. stuart: i will be there in christmas and thank you very much for being with us this morning. see you soon. it is 11:54. you know what that means. let's bring in ashley. i was going to go to the trivia question. i jumped the gun. which city has the highest inflation rate in the country? i think it is florida. ashley: kind of the trivia question.

the answer would be tampa. west coast florida city saw inflation increase by 8% compared to the same month last year. according to the us bureau of labor statistics that inflation spike was higher than new york the recorded a 5% increase and 6% jump in los angeles and chicago. among the reasons for tampa's pricey economies increased number of people moving to the city and those supply-chain shortages and estimated 100 people moved to tampa every day. the most notable price hikes to be seen, purchasing a car or real estate. the top 5 areas for inflation spike tampa number one, riverside, san bernardino, southern california followed by dallas-fort worth, minneapolis-st. paul and san diego. stuart: now it is time for the trivia question. here it is. which country first created ice cream? the correct answer after this.

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stuart: okay, i want to bring ashley into this. here is the trivia question. which country created ice cream? what is your guess, ash, or do you foe? >> i don't. i like to thank them. i was saying with italy but i will go with china. stuart: so am i. a lot of things invented. that is the answer. >> we got it right. how about that? stuart: ice cream was created in

china around 200 bc when a milk and rice mixture was frozen by packing it into snow. so now you know. italy gave us gelanti. that is ice-flavored ice. there is not any dairy. china got the rice and milk thing, gave us ice cream. thank you, china. thank you very much indeed. i love it. ash, you're all right. thanks for being with us. neil, it is yours. neil: did you just downplay italian's role in this? stuart: yes, i did. neil: wow. stuart: i did. sorry. neil: okay. stuart: can i still do the show tomorrow? neil: you can. i mean but i mean, i don't know if i will show up but, wow, all right. just let me relatives know stuart didn't mean it. thank you, my friends. we're focusing on this minor selloff here. a lot has to do with the federal reserve ending a two-day meeting two hours from now. we're looking at at least