and jpmorgan in particular at risk to fife of the top -- five of the top countries that seem to be russ are key, so i want to hear about that. >> 31 trillion in debt -- >> yeah, who's counting? maria: bingo, good point. todd, mark, james, thank you so much. great show. have a great day, everybody. see you again tomorrow. "varney & company" is up next. stu, take it away. stuart: it's up right now. good morning, everyone. we've got an energy problem, and the president is not looking good. "the wall street journal" reports the administration is negotiating to buy oil from venezuela dictator nicolas maduro. biden had begged the saudis to pump more oil, they turned him down and cut production. russia wins, europe loses, and american consumers pay more for gas. we are still not allowed to go get the energy that's under our own feet. look at this, gas prices going up again. 3 cents higher this morning at an average price now of $3.if 86

a gallon. at this rate, we'll be at $4 by the 'em of the month if not sooner. it is, by the way, $5 a gallon on the west coast, and it's $6.42 in california. elsewhere, annal amicable meeting of political rivals in florida. the president went to see the hurricane damage, the governor, desantis, showed him around. a hot mic caught the prime minister if don't f with a -- president saying don't f with a bind. i'll leave it there. we've got some red ink but not much, dow down can about 70, s&p down 8, 12 down for the nasdaq. that's not a big move. enter rates are still pointed to recession. the 2-year yields well above 4% at 4.16, and the 10-year right around 3.70, now 3.76. bitcoin, not much movement

again, $20 the ,000 -- 20 the,160, that's your price. we have a big show for you. the republican candidate for governor of new york joins us. lee zeldin tackles the crime surge and the migrants just 10 minutes from you. john kirby is on the way. he speaks for the add a managers. are they really going to fire 20,000 trained military people without a pension for not getting a vaccine that doesn't work? and tudor can dixen is coming too, the trump-enforced candidate for governor of michigan. it's thursday, october 6th, 2022. 33 days until the elections. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ here comes the sun, here comes the sun -- stuart: look at that, sunshine in new york city. we'ved had, i think, four days of, consecutive days of straight

rain. lauren: nonstop. stuart: and now bright blue skies are coming. it's going to be a great day. we've got to start with this one, here we go, the administration's looking to ease sanctions on venezuela allowing chevron to pump venezuelan high-car born, dirty oil and ship it to us. morning, lauren. we're make deals with dictators? lauren: maybe the biggest dictator of all, iran. and i'll explain in a second. let's just say the u.s. eases sanctions on venezuela to get their oil back on the market. that's going to take years for chevron and others to produce the quantity, the 3 plus million barrels a day that they used to, the right? they're talking about 700,000 barrels a day. at the same time that happens, you're emboldening maduro with fresh cash regardless of how much comes out of the ground. so the optics, president biden begging first saudi arabia, now venezuela, could go back into the iran nuclear deal. they are currently producing 2.5 million barrels a day.

no call to texas. what is our foreign policy and national security policy right now? call midland, texas. call oklahoma. stuart: you sound almost as whats painted as i am. lauren: that makes no sense. stuart: it doesn't. lauren: we could have a deal with iran to get their oil. that's how this could play out. stuart: we don't want to hear that. jason chaffetz is with us, sitting right next to me, thankfully. why is president biden more willing to work with the with dictators than support our own energy -- i don't get it. >> it makes absolutely no sense. look, this can -- this is a president, this is a choice election that's coming up because it was a choice to get rid of and dismantle the energy sector here in the united states literally in the first week, and now he's advocating for those that are some of the biggest thugs on the planet. stuart: he's going into the elections 33 days away with oil prices up, gas prices getting back close to $4 a barrel and negotiating with dictators. this, it looks terrible politically.

>> well, it looks terrible, it feels bad, and you pay more at the pump, you're paying more for your groceries, there's a reason for it. it's because of the policies of the biden administration. stuart: i just don't get why he won't change. there's only one thing left that can fix this, pump for our own oil. why doesn't he do it? i don't get it. [laughter] i'm whats painted. it's your fault. [laughter] if you can't ec plain it, it's your fault. [laughter] lauren: it also points to the stature of the administration, because cnn is reporting that janet yellen talked to the opec nations, we really need you noted to do this, and they didn't listen. what sway do we have on the world stage right now? stuart: we look weak. please stay there there, jason. you have the duty to stay with me -- >> very good. stuart: check futures please, dow down about 100 points. adam johnson's here with us. adam, bank of america analysts are saying that the rally at the beginning of this week is a signal, a bullish signal for the

markets. does that mean -- are you seeing a change in tone? >> well, you know, i can appreciate what the bank of america analysts are doing. they're looking at the short-term data and saying 90% of the stocks in the market were up for two days in a row. that doesn't happen off, and when it does, it's generally the signal of a turn. i appreciate they have pointed that out to all of us. but actually, i would point to what's happening in the real economy where we just learned overnight that here in north america businesses, not just a single buyer -- amazon, ups, fedex -- but businesses in general have ordered the most number of heavy duty trucks ever. of so if the economy were really so bad, why would the collective wisdom of all these companies be to go out and buy more trucks? and that's why i think if you drill down while there's some ugly headlines, the confusion in washington is a disaster, not supporting our own oil producers a disaster, but if you actually drill down and look at the real

economy and what people are doing -- not what they're sayins bad as what we think, and that's why people are buying stocks. stuart: are you prepared to say there is a turn for the market -- >> yes. stuart: -- and a turn for the economy? >> yes. and, stuart, i can't tell you if that turn was last friday as the low, if it's going to be today, next tuesday, but we are in the process of forming what i think is a generational -- that's a big deal -- a generational low. if you go back and look at the s&p 500 over 20 years, you get these dips that happen every so often. i think what we've, we're having right now is so many lows and so much negative i. that we're setting ourselves up for what will ultimately be the next 3-5-year bull run. stuart: the last great big low that i can remember was march of 2008. the dow went down to about 6,500. >> it was ugly. stuart: you think a similar turning point. >> yes, i do. stuart: that's a big deal.

>> well, and it goes back to earnings and employment. for all the negativity, for all the you have stuff that's screwed up in washington, we have employment at record high, and we have earnings, believe it or not, at record highs. that's a very powerful combination. stuart: okay. lauren: i would just say both es are in jeopardy right now, right? the fed wants to bring wages down and the same with the job market, too strong. >> i would love to know if this truck number includes the government purchases, because the postal service is buying literal wily by the tens of thousands. the government is spending trillions of dollars that we don't have, and almost 25% of our gdp is almost spent by the federal government, and that's to going to skew a lot of numbers. [inaudible conversations] >> honestly, skepticism is healthy. kept similar -- skepticism is good. it makes us have to evaluate and thank you, by the way, for mentioning the postal purchases

of new vans. this is priceless. for all the talk about we're going to go green and on and on, those postal vans are gasoline-burning engines. [laughter] it's mind-boggling. oshkosh, out of wisconsin, is making them, right? they're not electric vehicles. so, you know -- [laughter] what did i say, watch what they do not what they say? the federal government because of the biden administration is going out and buying gas-powered vehicles for the mail service. stuart: that's very interesting. >> you can't make this stuff up. stuart: thanks, adam. president biden and florida's governor, desantis, put their political differences a aside as they assess the damage in florida. roll that tape. >> what the governor's done is pretty remarkable so far. i mean, this is what he's doing -- end done. i think he's doing a good job. [inaudible conversations]

he's been on -- [inaudible] stuart: well, jason, that was interesting, wasn't it? if that was a pr battle, and it was to some degree, who won? >> i think it was somewhat neutral, but i think it raises the stature of governor desantis. here you have a national crisis, a huge crisis. the world is watching, he's standing before the podium, and he looks presidential. he looks head to head with joe biden. i think that portends something that might be in the future. stuart: and the presidential seal was on the front -- >> oh, or yes. stuart: that made a lot of headlines. check futures, please. 20 minutes to go until the opening bell. going to be down just a little. a deal may be in the works between president biden and venezuelan dictator maduro. why not let americans drill for oil and gas beneath our own feet? we'll ask john kirby what's going on. an innocent father murdered while visiting his son at college. the man charmed with the murder was wanted in two states.

lee seld isen is running for governor of new york. he says crime is a top priority for him, getting to fix it. how would he fix the crime problem? we'll ask him because lee zeldin is next. ♪ ♪ td ameritrade, this is anna. hi anna, this position is all over the place, help! hey professor, subscriptions are down but that's only an estimated 15% of their valuation. do you think the market is overreacting? how'd you know that? the company profile tool, in thinkorswim®. yes, i love you!! please ignore that. td ameritrade. award-winning customer service that has your back.

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cosentyx can help you move, look, and feel better... by treating the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting...get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections some serious... and the lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms... or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms... develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. watch me. stuart: america's crime crisis, yes, indeed. we're learning more about the suspect in the fatal shatting of a father -- shooting of a father who was visiting his son at college in new york. he went down to the lobby for coffee, he was shot and killed. that suspect had a long rap sheet. spell it out, please. >> reporter: yeah, he was wanted in at least two states. the suspected gunman on the run for months according to authorities.

roy johnson jr., the gunman, was hiding out in different hotels in and out of new york, so they say, made him nearly impossible to track down. this week investigators say he killed an innocent dad can when he should have been behind bars. lots of charges which local officials are wondering why he was even free in the first place. listen. >> the failed new york state bail laws and the failed leadership from washington is compounding in our communities. we want safe communities. we want our law enforcement supported by all elected officials. we're not getting that right now. >> reporter: johnson is facing several charges. he's in georgia after police say he was armed with a gun and dealing drugs in july. last year in new york, listen to this, he faced eight charges ranging from attempted assault to possession of a weapon as a felon. those charges were dropped. we asked why, we're told the case is sealedded, so they won't say. he's facing second-degree murder charges now, stuart, and was walking free when police say he killed the 54-year-old dad of three and loving husband.

he was shot while visiting his son at college in poughkeepsie, new york, on sun morning around 7:30 in the lobby of this marriott here. johnson got into an argument with a hotel employee about the coffee, then he started spraying bullets all around the room and killed the man. community members are wondering why this guy was not behind bars. fox news has still not heard back from governor kathy hochul, she will be with president biden today for an unrelated event, so we're hoping to get a question in, stuart. stuart: alexis, thanks very much. new york congressman and gubernatorial candidate lee zeldin is with me now. thanks for coming into the studio. >> good to be with you. stuart: yes, sir. what are you going to do about this crime surge in new york state? >> we need to repeal cashless bail, fire rogue district attorneys like alvin bragg. we have seen time and again crimes being committed because of pro-criminal laws. people are on the streets and they shouldn't be. the person who had attacked a woman in a brooklyn subway just

last week, the woman is battling for her vision right now, that person had murdered her grandmother, grandfather. that person was are released back onto the street because of a law called less is more which kathy hochul signed about 13 months ago. we have corrections officers, prison staff and innate mates being -- inmates being assaulted more because of the halt act. that needs to be repealed. we need to remove those who refuse to enforce the law and start unapologetically backing our self-ingless men and women in blue. stuart: if you were elected governor, do you have the power to say end this cashless bail nonsense, but you don't have the power to legislate change? >> that's plan a, is going through the legislature. this is a change of law. this is something that voters in new york, they don't just go to the ballot box to pick a new governor november if 8th, they're also electing all the state assemblymen and state senators. even new york city mayor eric

adam says judges should have discretion. so we need to put together the votes to change this law. what the governor does have the power to do, it's in the new york state constitution, is remove a d.a. who refuses to do their job. it's a constitutional duty. we do not have recall elections in new york, but the governor does have the power to remove a d.a. like alvin bragg. stuart: governor hochul is moving the national guard to move migrants from their tent city encampment in the bronx, moving them to randalls island. what would you do with the migrants arriving in new york all the time? >> the reality is it's going to get worse tomorrow because we have to deal with this on our southern border. the governor should be putting pressure on this president of her own party, who she'll be with today in poughkeepsie, maybe she should say, you know what? president biden, you should finish if border wall, support customs and border patrol agents, stop incentivizing and rewarding illegal entry. she won't do any of that.

and, by the way, the flights are still coming in to these small airports. we need to to who's coming, where they're going. you're never going to get control if the federal government doesn't do their job. stuart: and if you became the governor, you've got the power to do this, you've got to tell us who's coming in and when. >> absolutely. stuart: and do you have the power to say that flight's not going to land? out of here. >> that's right. and the state needs to stop incentivizing and rewarding illegal entry from the state level. stuart: okay, one more. taxes. we suffer from some of the highest taxes in the land in new york state and new york city in particular. would you do anything about that? >> absolutely. we need to get rid of the estate tax in new york. i happen to be someone who's in favor no -- of there not being any income tax. even if you reduced it, that would be big progress. there should be a statewide spending cap. there's a whole lot of inefficiencies with the money, the way it gets spent -- stuart: you're a real radical. >> we need to stave our state --

save our state. stuart: as somebody who doesn't like the income tax, that's a radical suggestion, low lowering it down to 3 or 4%. >> i would go further if i could. stuart: abolish the income tax? >> i would be in favor of it, but even if we were able to reduce it, that would be progress. many new yorkers pay the highest income tax rate in the country. stuart: if you make good money and live in new york city, you're going to be paying more, a lot more than half your income in city, state and federal income tax. that's just wrong. >> and people are more mobile than ever, so why not just go to another state? that genius up in albany who thinks you can make the wealthy pay their fair share, they're just going to go to florida, and they're paying 0% income tax in florida. stuart: the latest poll puts you 2 the points behind governor hochul. >> we feel it on the streets. we're on a plane headed up to buffalo from here. all across new york whether you're a are republican,

democrat, independent, people feel like they're at their breaking point, the state's at a breaking point. the direction of the statement cannot continue. i'm in this race to save new york. losing is not an option. stuart: i like the sound of that. congressman, we really appreciate it. come back again anytime you like. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: while the left rails against republicans for sending migrants to sanctuary cities, the administration is actually organizing more migrant flights of their own. lauren: it's flights of children, and they're going to upstate new york. it's happening at a small airport in orange county in the middle of the night. even the local cops don't know about this. "the new york post" is reporting that the police got a call about suspicious activity, so they stopped this bus that the migrant kids deplaned and got onto the bus. and even the authorities in charge of the kids wouldn't say much. eventually, they find out these migrant children are being taken to shelters in the tristate area, new york, new jersey and connecticut. the local mayor of montgomery

describes this as clandestine which is hip hypocritical on the part of the administration because they constantly hit the sanctuary cities and states for pushing the migrants elsewhere. stuart: just imagine if trump were doing this. i've got to move on. check futures, please. we've got, what, 8 minutes to go until the market opening, and we're going to be down just a little. we'll bring you to the opening bell next. ♪ -- why are you my clarity? ♪

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period of the year starting at the end of october through november, december. we have the strongest seasonal time of year. also in the four-year presidential cycle, the midterm year -- which, obviously, we're in right now -- this last quarter plus the first two quarters of next year are the strongest three quarters out of the whole four-year cycle. so we have some seasonal tailwinds helping us, and i think this bigger washout we had at the end of last week prepares us for a little bit of a reaction rally here. stuart: all right. tell me about costco as we approach the hold holiday -- holiday season. that stock has gone all the way up to $483 a share, but you think it's going higher, do you? >> i do, stuart. and it is down a bit this year, as many retail stocks are, but it has held up much better than most. and their year-over-year growth

has been right at double digits throughout the whole year. they're also opening 29 new stores next fiscal year. i think there's a lot of good things to like and some challenges, lots of people really clamoring many there. i think they're going to have a surprisingly big holiday season. we talked last week about the mastercard numbers, their projections looking really good. i think we're going to see costco as one of the chief beneficiaries. stuart: i think i'm like most investors, i get real worried when a stock goes straight up. and i'm thinking about buying it after it's gone straight up. i always think it can't go any higher than this, i'm not going to buy this. i'm just like everybody else, aren't i? >> well, i think a lot of people are like that, stuart. fortunately or unfortunately, costco has had one of those little pullbacks that i'd love for you to jump into right here.

it's been quite a bit higher earlier in the year, so i think this is the pullback we may have been waiting for to jump in. stuart: only time will tell. i just said it. d.r., thank you very much, sir. i'm sure we'll see you again soon. you see them clapping on both sides of the screen, that's the approach of the opening bell. we're almost there. they're ringing the bell, and in 5 seconds trading will begin. we're expecting some red ink at the beginning. no idea how the market closes, of course. these are volatile times. but there we go, the dow has opened. we're after off, we're running, and the dow has opened with about a 100-point loss. i see a few winners, verizon, walmart, united health, salesforce, they're in the plus column, the rest largely in the minus column. that's the dow, down about a third of # %. the s&p 500 down exactly one-third of 1%. the nasdaq composite is down a quarter percent, not that bad. big tech, how are they doing this morning? a mixed bag -- no, it's not

mixed, minor losses all around. slightly lower. i've got to get to grips with twitter and the latest drama. the stock's at $50 a share right now. susan has the latest. susan: yes. no official agreement here yet, stu. and a judge says he's still planning for that october 17th court trial. now, the good news here for elon musk is that today's deposition under oath, that has been postponed for him. so reports say that musk, he actually tried to negotiate a 30% price cut, then he tried a 10% discount. i think everyone was surprised by monday's letter that he intended to push through the deal on original terms at $54.t. i've been gaming this out with a few twitter and elon musk experts. it depends on whether or not the banks and financiers still put up the money for that $44 billion deal. musk could argue i can't get the money, people are walking away, and he could. these are scenarios here, he

could possibly walk away with a billion dollar break-up fee. the judge could also say, well, musk, you still have to find the money somehow. this is what we call specific performance this deal, get the deal done. twitter's board also could ask for a court-supervised execution of this deal in order to make sure that musk actually follows through this time. so this is not over yet. i think the next few weeks will be very interesting. you know, musk could potentially be the other than of twitter next week or maybe not -- owner. there's a lot up in the air with an up predictable man like -- stuart: exactly. he could put out a tweet finish. >> here's the thing, do you want to force the guy who doesn't want the company to take it over anyaway? you don't want to buy us, pay us, maybe there are damages in the billions of dollars on top of the break-up fee, i think there's a lot of scenarios here that we could still game out. this is not a done deal. stuart: okay. i'm going to leave it at that because i can't follow it -- one last are point, go ahead. susan: social media stopses.

whats' happened with pinterest today because of twitter and elon musk, pinterest is surging up 5.33%, also a takeover target. there have been reports that microsoft, you love microsoft, was looking to buy pinterest. goldman says it's worth $31 upside revenue growth. stuart: microsoft is my beloved stock. it's paid for a lot of college educations for me. okay, back to ford. we had it on the screen moments ago. they are raising the price of the electric f-150. susan: again, for the second time. stuart: i want to buy one with of these things. what's the price now. >> susan: well, you can aboard it. [laughter] you were going to say it's not because you can a afford it, it's because i you want to buy it. another $5,000 for the 2023 model, so you price it all in, i think it comes to $52,000 now for the starting price. no? stuart: well, yes. look, i can see $523,000 that's starting price -- 52,000, but nobody's going to walk into the

showroom and pay -- they'll pay 70 or 80. susan: plus, you're stuart varney, you don't pay msrp -- stuart: no, i pay over that. [laughter] susan: it's up 30 forth from tw. they said it was going to start at 40,000. i don't think so. nickel, cobalt, lithium costs a lot more and so do the labor costs. stuart: i'm going to leapt you get away with that price -- susan: msrp. stuart: peloton is on your screens and on my prompter. they look desperate to me, susan. susan: $8. it was closer to 40, wasn't it? stuart: more than that. susan: it was $100 at its peak just last year. a fourth round of heavies now, that's another 12 the % of the current work force after those four rounds of layoffs, and

here's the point that really is shocking, the ceo, barry mccarthy, says the company only has six months left to see if it's viable as a stand-alone company, meaning its survival, or it could possibly get sold. i wonder who the buyers are, because no one's stepped up so far with the stock chance. the stock is down i would say 90% over the past year, it's just a tenth of what it was at its peak, and it's bleeding money each and every quarter still. $1.2 billion, they lost in the recent quarter. stuart: but that ceo is an honest man. of he says we've got six months. how many ceos say we've got six months -- susan: how do you turn the around a company in six months? that's going to be difficult. they've been trying everything whether to sell direct now and also on amazon, closing factories. i think this will be a pandemic winner and also be a lesson for the markets that what does well during covid lockdowns doesn't do well after. stuart: amazon, can you put it on the screen, please? earlier this week we found out

or they were cutting corporate jobs. now we found out they're on a hiring spree. susan: so you just talked to r. barton, he said it's going to be a huge shopping -- amazon's hiring 150,000 workers. $19 an hour, by the way, up from $18 last year. they were the first to go $15 an hour back in 2018. you also have target hiring 100,000 people, walmart's hiring 40,000 for the holiday shopping period. so that tells me we're expecting a strong christmas sales season. amazon's offering a $3,000 sign-up business as well. stuart: they want 150,000 worker, each one gets a $3,000 signing bonus? susan: also think about what this means for the broader economy went you -- when you still have a tight labor market. 150,000, same as last year. stuart: it ratchets up wages all over the place.

susan: right. but also it tells me, again, we have a strong labor market. stuart: you're right. susan, great stuff, thanks very much. check that big board. we're in business for 6 minutes and down just 80 points. we have some dow winners, there's a list of them on your screens now. here we go. top of the list, verizon, nike, chevron, salesforce, caterpillar. s&p 500 winners, take two interactive, mccormack, the spice people, penn national, gaming company. advanced micro devices at the top of the nasdaq list. invidia, costco -- susan: i would say chipmakers, amd and nvidia coming back. stiewfer institute good point. susan, thank you. tyson foods joining the exodus from chicago. they say rampant crime has made it difficult to recruit promising employees. just like mcdonald's, i guess. senators limbed city graham and ted cruise, they say they have grounds -- ted cruz, they have grounds to impeach the

department of homeland security secretary. and watch this. >> we would rather not lose anybody to the vaccine -- >> this is an experimental vaccine that just came off the shelf. you know it's not valid, and it's risked our national security. stuart: john kirby is next. he's going to be right here. ♪ we ain't ever getting older. ♪ wen't ever -- ain't ever getting older ♪

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stuart: the administration is reportedly considering easing restrictions on venezuela so we can get their oil. john kirby is the coordinator for strategic communications at the national security council, and he joins me now. sir, thanks for coming on the show. but first, the president, he shook hands with mbs, now we're going to do deals with a dictator, or maduro in

venezuela. i don't think this looks good for the president of the united states to be doing deals with dictators. your response, sir. >> well, thanks, stuart, for having me. with all respect to the press reporting out there, there's been no change to our sanctions policy with respect to venezuela, no change at all. stuart: well, "the wall street journal" says that you are negotiating with the venezuelans at this point, but you deny it? >> there is, there are no active negotiations going on right now to change our sanctions policy with respect to venezuela, stuart. the maduro regime still has a lot of work to do to convince us that there needs to be any change in our policies. so there's no negotiations, there's no sanctions policy change to speak of at this time. stuart: yesterday with jake sullivan responding to opec's cut in oil production threatened opec. he said he's going to set congress on opec to restrict and limit their powers. that sounds like a very toothless threat that makes you

look weak. >> well, i think i would obviously differ with that particular view, stuart. look, what we've said is that we're going to continue to work with congress to pursue additional authorities needed to become less reliant on foreign suppliers of fossil fuel. we're already up to, going to be getting a record level of production here out of the united states this year. the president did release more than 180 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve to try to stabilize the market. we've got another 10 million barrels to be released through november. that will help stablize that. but the president's going to do what he needs to do to protect our economic interests and to make sure that we are doing what we can to ease that pain at the pump for drivers here -- stuart: he would ease the pain at the pump and do a great deal for the world energy crisis if he would unleash american oil companies and let 'em drill, but he won't. you can say that energy, oil

output is higher than it was last year or whatever, but we're not producing as much as we were before 2019 and the pandemic. we could produce our own, and the problem -- it wouldn't go away, but it would certainly help. >> the president has absolutely increased the number of he'ses available to oil and gas companies -- stuart: but the permitting process, the permitting process is still slow, so you can't get the oil off the ground. sir, you are going to foreigners, dictators to get oil and not allowing the full energy of american oil companies to be used to drill for our own. >> we are in a transition, stuart. we are trying to transition to a more clean energy if environment. that is good for the economy, that's good for, certainly, for the environment, and that's where the president wants to take us. but in these transitions, transitions are tough and they take time. and the president understands that. he also understands that we've got to reduce our dependence on foreign suppliers of oil. i think you and i agree on that

point. but that the, again, takes time. it takes some effort, and it takes cooperation with the oil and gas companies. we have, additionally, we have added hundreds of more leases and permits for them to drill here in the united states. we're looking forward to them taking us up on that. but eventually, we've got to transition away from fossil fuels. that's the future. that's where the economy's going to be. stuart: yes. and meanwhile, $4, 5, 6 gas is really hurting americans. >> oh, no question. -- [inaudible conversations] stuart: 20,000 military people are about to be fired, and they'll lose their benefits including their pensions because they would not get a vaccine that doesn't work. will you reverse this policy to keep valuable people in the military? >> stuart, the military trains and fights as a team. i myself was in the navy for almost 30 years, and i'd hike --

[inaudible] aboard several ship ises. you fight and you train, you operate as a team, and that means that the whole team has to be ready for those operations and for those missions. and readiness is not just the weapons and the systems, but@the people. but it's the people. team has to come first. this is a valid medical military requirement, in this vaccine. it works. it saves lives, and it certainly reduces the effect of covid on the individual who ising vaccinated. and we have looked at in this, the science -- stuart: if i'm not mistaken, sir, are you in quarantine right now? >> i am getting over covid right now. stuart: but you are fully vaxxed and pulley boosted, i believe -- fully boosted, i believe. and you still got covid. >> i am. sure, i got it -- stuart: why are you firing 20,000 trained military personnel because they won't get a vaccine that doesn't work? that's, that's wrong. >> because this is what i've been trying to say, stuart.

it's a valid military requirement for unit readiness. we fight and train as units and a team, and we need everybody to contribute to that readiness. and if you are not vaccinated, you are potentially putting your teammates and their families and their communities at greater risk. yes, i got covid, but i got a very mild case because i was responsible, and i was vaccinated. and because i i am still trying to look after my team at the white house and not go can in to work. it's a valid military requirement. look, just to join the military, stuart, you've got to take more than a dozen -- stuart: that was experimental vaccine. it was only 18 months old -- [inaudible conversations] stuart: it was experimental. if it was against the bubonic plague, of course. everybody needs to get it and should get it. but covid vaccine was experimental, and you tried to force -- >> institute, the only -- stuart, the only vaccines that are required are those that are fda-approved, very similar to other vaccines that we issue to

military troops. look, we'd rather not lose anybody. of course we'd like to keep all this talent in there. but if they're going to make a decision to violate a lawful order, then they're going to have to pay the consequences for that because the unit has to come first. stuart: okay, we're going to leave it there. sir, thanks very much for being on the show. we do appreciate the debate. come back soon. all right, there will be morean "varney" after this.d which saved investors over $1.5 billion last year. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. you love closing a deal. but hate managing your business from afar. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

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stuart: all right. just a couple of minutes ago we had a contentious interview with john kirby. we were talking about a deal with venezuela to bring their oil to us, and we were talking about the vaccine mandate on servicemen. we're going to lose about 20,000 people. jason chaffetz with me this morning. what stuck out to you most? >> that was the interview of the day. well done. very newsy. the idea that the administration is completely and totally denying any negotiation or talks with the venezuelans on energy productions, i think, is going to change and move the market. i have a really hard time believing that the "wall street journal" got this wrong, but it also portends the fact that if this supply is not going to come on the market, look out. stuart: but it looks so bad. i think the pushback in the media, you're dealing with a

venezuelan dictator like this? and he didn't deny it. kirby said we're not negotiating directly with them. you're talking. >> yeah, well, they won't negotiate and do things in texas and utah and wyoming and north dakota and places where you actually produce energy in the united states. they're out there talking to the dictators, but now they're saying, no. and i think they understand that the optics look so bad, just like it looks really bad to go out and fire 10,000 plus military members because of their refusal to get a vaccination. there are very legitimate reasons why you don't get a vaccination, and a blanket policy to take away their military benefits, that, too, does not look well -- look good right before an election. stuart: it's just plain wrong. >> yeah. ah stuart it's just plain wrong, that's what it is. lauren: flexibility on both accounts, but what kirby said at the end, it was brutally honest. yeah, we're transitioning, and it's going to be to painful.

that's all you need to know. we're committed to that policy. no flexibility other than begging dictators. stuart: it doesn't have to be painful. don't -- lauren: that's common sense. stuart: it does not have to be painful. if we -- frack like crazy to produce as much natural gas as we possibly can, export it everywhere, you would bring down emissions all over the world. >> i thought you did a very good job of when you said, hey, we're giving out the leases, but the permitting process, they're not accelerating that -- stuart: and the "wall street journal" says they're slowing it down. >> that's right. lauren: the oil producers do need a commitment from the administration, but they still can't get labor. what worker's going to go work on an oil rig right now thinking they might be out of a job in a year, right? so they have some major supply and labor issues. they do want to drill, but how can they even increase their numbers with no commitments? stuart: i did feel almost sorry for john kirby. >> he's a good guy. you can see why, look, 30 years serving our country, you can

tell why the white house, whose spokesperson struggles every day, why i think want to bring him over and let him be with the spokesperson. but the fundamental policy is wrong. stuart: okay, got it. jason, you're all right. thanks very much for being with us. good stuff. still ahead, texas congressman dan crenshaw, michigan gubernatorial candidate tudor dixon and florida's lieutenant governor, jeanette nunez. yep, the 10:00 hour is next. ♪ ♪ what should the future deliver? (music) progress... (music) ...innovation...

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