♪ on the first day of christmas ♪ my true love gave to me ♪ a partridge in a pear tree

♪ stuart: we going to go through all 14? i don't think so. not many people they are right before christmas. the lovely trees around. it is kind of empty. good morning. it is 10:00 eastern time. straight to the money, the dow up one hundred 47. it is green now up one hundred 47, the s&p up 4, nasdaq up 7 points, the 10 year treasury yield is at 4. 39%. the price of oil $70 a barrel, that is where it is now, bitcoin hit 108,000 earlier today, now it has backed off to one hundred 39. that's where the markets stand. the biden presidency is ending badly. he is tired and defeated and seemingly angry.

tuesday, he said, quote, nobody should be able to make money in the stock market when they are in congress. who do you think that was aimed at? nancy pelosi? she and her husband were active stock traders when she was speaker and she was the democrat who pushed president biden out of the race, he never forgave her so he sideswipe's her. the pardon for hunter. it was broad-based immunities that looked as though it would shield other members of biden's family. his recent clemency which treated the release of the judge and the kids are cash case is where a judge put youngsters away in return for $2 million by the prison. the bookkeeper was released to embezzled $50 million from a small town, why that kind of clemency on the way out the door? biden is angry at obama for his role in pushing him out of the race and his party for ditching him and losing the election. he's not happy his policies are

being reversed. 's climate policies will be dropped. he's no longer considered the president even though he has a month left in office. he had to watch donald trump takeover and that has been galling. biden said he was a threat to democracy, now he has taken over. it is almost over for biden. he is becoming the forgotten president, quietly walking away. it is a sad story but he must take some of the blame. he should never have run for reelection. looking at him now it is obvious he could never serve another term. second hour of varney just getting started. ♪ lose peak with me this morning. is biden becoming the forgotten president? liz: he is becoming a despised president. look at his approval ratings,

donald trump left office after the january 6th incident, all the terrible things that happened with 42% approval. biden is at 37%. this is an unbelievable hello for president walking out of the oval office. why? because of things you just listed and of course he should never have run again. it was a lie. i don't think he should have run the first time. we all saw incidents where his faculties fail at critical times. doubling down and doing things like selling off of these wall elements in texas for $0.05 on the dollar which infuriates half the country, may be more than half the country because it seems a stupid thing to do to the united states, not to donald trump but bad for the country. as he rolls out these things, his legacy shredded. he had aspirations of being the next fdr.

did that fall for it, do i feel sorry for him? not really because he brought it on himself and he keeps doing this stuff and there will be more pardons and his approval rating is going to go down again because i think he will indeed pardon some members of his own party. stuart: your op-ed, biden's drone stonewalling finally fulfills president's campaign promise, he's united the country. lack of information shows that biden's white house is dishonest, scared and inept. i hope -- liz: two possible answers, mayorkas and john kirby saying we don't know but everything is okay. we don't know who these are or why they are here or what they are doing but there is no threat. that's implausible, donald trump said the other day that the government knows, i assume that is the case. that $842 billion defense budget.

this is ridiculous. they do know and are not telling us so why are they not telling us? i'm surprised people aren't marching on the white house. this is an outrage. if they are not telling us because there's a threat to the homeland and these drones are trying to find nuclear elements which is what people are talking about we have a right to know this. if there is a worse example of communication from the white house i don't know what it is. this was going to be the most transparent white house in history, they have not managed to to do that. even today as i'm speaking, josh halley on twitter saying what's going on? christopher wray was supposed to testify before congress, not doing it. refused to comment. alejandra mayorkas didn't come to the senate to testify, right before the drone thing began. why is that? we have a right to know this.

this is preposterous. if there was an outrage call and i admit it. i'm outraged by this. everyone should be. stuart: come back soon. liz: merry christmas. stuart: back to the markets. i see green, one hundred 33 points, minor gain for the s&p and the nasdaq. i read your stuff, you know that. why do you say a rate cut this afternoon would be a mistake? >> it would be a big mistake. i don't think of a market will get what they want if that what they are looking for, we had two rate cut to this fall but there is no justification for further cuts. some people pushback about look at inflation, it's not near the 2% target and you can look at cutting rates this year is done in a recessionary environment.

right now the economy is strong, we had retail sales data and housing data, people are spending money, credit card debt is up. that's not a great thing but the economy is not showing signs of weakening so there isn't justification for cutting rates. i think people have become so used to 0% interest rates over the past 14 years thinking that the new norm and that is not reality. historically, fed funds is closer to 4% 5%. stuart: project into 2,025. what does the trump economy look like next year? >> i think the trump economy, i am bullish on the economy, economic outlook when you paired the regulation and tax cuts, he will reduce the corporate tax rate for domestic companies so 15%, you have deregulation across the board. manufacturing and energy and

financials. it will create this economic boom. outside of technology, the mega sector, the nasdaq hit a new high, the past few days but we are set up for a great year in 2024 but 2025, the pro-business policies said the trump administration is putting in place. stuart: lauren is looking at a new group of stocks, quantum computing stocks. lauren: he introduced these, where they are trading now since then. they are signing the deal, and

quantum computing since charles mentioned 500%. 1700% this year. since november 20, '26%. last one, q bts, a 15% gain. i described quantum computing as the right switch. the cpu, central processing unit, now on cue p you, quantum processing unit. for drug discovery, weather forecasting and scratching the surface.

stuart: "making money with charles payne," you just made a lot of money for people. next one. new data shows shoplifting incidents continue to surge. what the increase? lauren: 93% since 2015, it's an average of 177 shoplifting incidents per day. sometimes it's more than a thousand. these incidents became more violent and expensive. the dollar last from theft, society during covid started to think it is okay to steal. stuart: thanks. still at. governor hochul called to abolish the electoral college. >> the electoral vote should prevail. this convoluted process leaves candidates for president to spend an inordinate amount of

time in a few swing states. stuart: trump also won the popular vote. we will discuss of this. democrats senator fetterman keeping an open mind about trump's nominee's. will any other democrats take that approach. willing to compromise on a cease-fire and hostage deal. we will ask the nominee for us ambassador to israel, mike huckabee, if a deal is likely in the near future. mike huckabee next.

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stuart: last night congressional leaders took part

in the pre-hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony on capitol hill. mike johnson, hakeem jeffries with the first candle at the event. >> it's made of shrapnel of rockets shot down by the idf. you reminded of the true meaning of hanukkah. in the face of darkness, light burst forth with over 100 hostages held by the evil terrorist group hamas. let the light from the flame guide us towards unity, we will continue to reiterate with moral clarity, anti-semitism in any way, shape, or form. stuart: the first night of hanukkah land on the first day of christmas. donald trump once again warned hamas to release the hostages before he gets into office and all hell is going to break out.

has hamas responded? >> we heard from jay sullivan. they think the biden team can free the american hostages and ensure a cease-fire by next month but hamas is hanging. >> this is close. the final piece of the puzzle is for hamas to come forward with a commitment on release of hostages in the first phase of a multiphase deal. >> reporter: of that deal falls apart and is not in place by noon january 20th, that's when trump says hell will break out in the middle east. >> iran should take trump seriously. look what he did in his first term, had his foot on the neck of the irani and regime. he took action militarily when it was necessary to put america

first to strengthen our alliance with israel and that is what he will do the second term. >> reporter: president biden doesn't have a great personal relationship with the israeli prime minister, keeping things professional. >> about a cease-fire deal. >> reporter: president biden cited this issue ending the war in gaza, getting the hostages out when he dropped out of the race. the pressure is on. stuart: thank you very much. the washington post reports hamas is trying to compromise in a cease-fire dealing gaza. trump's nominee for us ambassador to israel, mike huckabee, joins me now. biden would love a deal before january 20th. he would like to go out with that deal in his territory. will he get one? >> i hope he does not are his

sake but for the family of these hostages. i spoke to a number of hostage families last week. i can't begin to tell you what it's like to hear their stories. they don't know where their loved ones are, if they are alive or dead. many have been through a living hell so when donald trump says they will have hell to pay if they don't let these hostages go i think hamas is taking it seriously. if president biden gets credit i don't care. what i care about is hostage families getting out. i wish he had been talking as tough as donald trump and doing more because he's been putting more pressure on israel for a cease-fire and to not going to certain areas of gaza to let those hostages go. that's why they are thereafter 140 days. let's hope it happens the sooner the better but i believe this with all my heart, donald trump wasn't kidding when he said if they are not released when he is sworn in they will have hell to pay. stuart: do you think we would

be near a hostage deal if donald trump had not been elected? >> no i don't and i hate to say it that way but the pressure we put was not on the irani and sauron hamas or hezbollah, the pressure we put has been on israel. no one can explains that was why do you put pressure on the victims rather than the criminals? it doesn't make any sense but that is what we have done and more ready than ever to say with a bullet in his front pocket for wyatt earp. stuart: israel wants to control security in the syria buffer zone. does israel have to secure israel to secure itself? >> without a doubt. if anybody doubts that, just roll the clock back to

october 7, 2023, and ask what happened when they didn't have command, they gave gaza completely completely to the palestinians in 2005, pushed 10,000 jews out of gaza and said you can't live here anymore, so if you want to know what a palestinian state looks like, look at gaza and the sad fact is, israel believed it they would honor the agreement and take care of themselves. instead, 1200 innocent civilian jews got massacred on october 7th so israel has to take seriously that security is in their own hands. they can trust no one else to get it done. stuart: thank you for being with us, wish you godspeed when you go to israel as our ambassador. thank you very much, governor. fox has confirmed house ethics committee has reversed course and voted to release the ethics

report on former congressman matt gaetz. they released the report after the final vote of the year. check the markets. nice again for the dow. it has been down nine sessions in a row. at lake out again today, one hundred 50 points as of now, s&p up 10, nasdaq up 29. look at the automakers, the top japanese carmakers, nissan and honda exploring a merger to stay competitive on evs. the merger could create the world's third-largest. coming up, 14 suspected gang members arrested after a violent home invasion in aurora, colorado. the police chief revealed shocking details of his white house conversation. >> that person told me once you get across the border that's all you care about. stuart: more on that coming up later.

in chicago residents were kicked out of the city council meeting after talking about the migrant crisis. >> cover up where our money went but you had the money, can he do the job? it is looking like you can't to do the job. stuart: we will ask pastor cory brooks about all this next. y'all see this, patrick mahomes is saying goodbye! patrick! patrick! people was tripping. where are you going!?

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independence, with that declaration, america was born. inspired by a belief in the god given rights of every human being, and in the good that comes from exercising these rights well. the founders of our great nation chose independence, as do we. hillsdale college accepts no government funding, because independence makes possible the good to which we aspire.

stuart: on the market this morning a little green, the dow is up one hundred 30, nasdaq is up 18. look at the weight loss drugmakers, mostly lower this morning, merck has signed a deal to develop an oral anti-obesity drug. look at coin base. they are aware of some users experiencing delayed sending and receiving of cryptos but withdrawals and deposits not affected. 14 members of the tren de aragua gang have been arrested for robbin kidnapping and torturing. a man and woman in aurora,

colorado, investigators say the two victims were not only kidnapped but tortured and according to local denver affiliate, police arrested five more people bringing the total to 19 in custody. they were taken to another apartment threatened, bound and beaten. one victim was stabbed, there other, their fingernail ripped t. this went on for four years when the victims were released after promising not to call the authorities. the victims bravely called anyway and he believes they were targeted by the gang because of their immigration status. >> they victimize their own race and ethnicity and the reason they do that is they are easy victims. because of the status they will

not come forward, they know they can mistreat them. >> reporter: this involved the same apartment complex with this viral video that appeared to show armed tdm members breaking their way into the apartment. and state and local officials is enough is enough. >> i'm tired of the situation, tired of this being portrayed as just another gang in aurora. this is actually human suffering. this is actual human suffering of the most vulnerable community who would be afraid to call 911. >> law enforcement tells fox news and fox business ice, homeland security and the dea are involved, they suspect 14 are tda gang members. stuart: now this. at a city council meeting,

chicago mayor brendan johnson ordered the removal of people protesting his action on migrants. watch this. >> you caused this money to go to illegal immigrants. you are going to be held accountable for it. you are trying to cover up where our money actually went. >> it is your fault because you gave the money to illegals. >> you still feel you have to harbor these illegals which is not a good idea. >> can you do the job? it is looking like you can't do the job. stuart: pastor cory brooks joins us now. if the election were held today, would brandon johnson still be the mayor? >> he would not be the mayor. we are in the midst of a leadership crisis in chicago. just had a budget approved to appease voters. it doesn't do anything for us

long-term, as relates to illegal migrants and illegal immigrants. of the election was held today, no question he would not win based on his past record. stuart: what the answer to the migrant crisis in chicago? mass deportation? >> we have to have mass deportation, those who have come to the country illegally must go back to their country. not to say we are a country of immigrants, we want to welcome immigrants. the stance our mayor has taken but he won't work with donald trump and all of those involved in the deportations is not the stance most chicagoans are taking. most of us understand what needs to happen and we support it 100%. stuart: what do you think happens when ice agents going to chicago at the urging of donald trump, what happens when

ice officers arrive? >> we believe when those officers arrive, they will find some resistance, a government, not just at the local level and the chicago police department. we support the police department 100% and believe they are doing a good job helping those who cause mass deportations but there has to be collaborative efforts. stuart: the largest in camdenton the city, residents told the chicago tribune there needs to be a better approach to tackling homelessness. what the answer to tackling homelessness in chicago? >> we have so many problems we are facing, the homeless

situation, what we have to have is partnerships, between public and private partnerships to make sure we are able to help individuals who find themselves homeless. the mayor's office is offering not a solution or fix that addresses long-term problems as far as addiction and crime. we have to do a better job taking care of citizens. this is one of the areas where there's an uproar. they feel you've done everything to take care of illegal immigrants and now you're not taking care of people who find themselves, that the number one problem the mayor's office is facing. stuart: thanks for joining us this morning. we wish you a merry christmas. >> always a blessing. chicago has cut back on public school buses. what are the parents doing?

>> getting creative, sending kids in ride shares to school. in chicago and across the country, school districts had a hard time hiring bus drivers. in chicago, they are saying we are going to get creative in doing so. they are not putting kids in approval but created their own rideshare company for parents and students called piggyback network allowing them to book a ride with another parent, driving their student to school in the same direction. it cost $0.80 per mile and they arranged a few hundred rides but the truth is that is a long way, chicago provides bus rides for the 325,000 students who are eligible for school bus drivers. they are not eligible for bus

rides, taking the bus as a kid. not so fond memories. 28% take the bus to school in america. stuart: times of really changed. stuart: tough to remember president biden's president. >> trump isn't president yet. it's getting easier to forget as biden seems to be disappearing. as his term comes to a end. stuart: trump's live-action presidency. china could be behind the mysterious drones, that is

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stuart: what is happening to big tech? nvidia is up 5 bucks, the rest of them are down the job, apple, on the downside today. the fbi and homeland security briefed the house committee on those mysterious drones, nate foy, was anything new revealed in that briefing? >> the short answer is no. numbers of the house intelligence committee say it is the position of federal authorities that there is no evidence to suggest the drones

are dangerous or belong to a foreign country. president biden made his first remarks on the drones last night. will think it is just -- a lot everybody wants to getn a de. no sense of danger. >> take a look at this. the man who took these pictures in middlown, new jersey says reports of foreign involvement us are concerning but not just the general public being kept in the dark. here's mike johnson on fox and friends this morning. >> i set up a briefing between dod, dhs, fdi members last weekend the answers are not forthcoming, they say don't worry about it. it's not foreign entities.

>> reporter: people in his town are getting more frustrated. he saw several drones last night. listen to this. >> last night the cloud cover started breaking so i started to notice roughly four different drones in the sky that should not be there. >> reporter: on the jersey shore the ocean county sheriffs office sent up their own drone last night, trying to identify specic drones that last night did not find any. one full month since the first drone report or drone citing reporting new jersey. people see a combination of drones, planes, helicopters and even stars. stuart: now listen to what the pentagon is saying.

>> approximately 8500 drones are in flight. the vast majority of these drones are probably going to be recreational or hobbyist, commercial drones, used in the things like architecture, engineering, farming or they could be used for law enforcement. is it possible some of those drones could be up to malign activity? entirely possible the vast majority, that is not the case. stuart: let's bring in jeff thompson, the ceo of the drone company red cat. is it -- i'm serious, is it possible this is a big fuss over nothing? >> what we are going through the last month in the us is something we went through in the first year of the ukraine war, drones flying around, you don't know who is who.

most were shot down by friendly fire but because you don't know you are fearful, no one is saying i'm the bad guy were the good guy. you come to the us and civilians going through the same thing, these drones can do a lot of good or bad. the bad part might be giving a little bit of fear. stuart: all of these drones have to have id, that is the law. why don't we know who they are and who is putting them up there? >> millions of drones were bought in the us before remote id came in. a million drones registered with the faa and a lot of hobby drones, 250 grand, they don't have to have remote id. a lot of things in the sky, the new ones, a big bucket of

drones, how do you identify these drones. stuart: house foreign affairs committee chair mike mccall believes some of them are from china. role that tape? >> in key energy terminals and areas that are not known for hobbyists for surveillance exercises or gain further intel. i agree with the foreign affairs chairman that this is likely a chinese prc surveillance operation. stuart: what do you think? could they be from china? >> he has more information than i do. no evidence that this is chinese but related to that, today in the senate they are voting on a national defense authorization act which includes language that could

result in chinese drones being on the covered list the same as while way -- while way -- --huawei. stuart: your company partnered with talent here. how are you incorporating ai into your drones? >> we just won a large contract with the army. not many people are getting revenue from ai. palance here has been generating ai revenue for years. ai will help the war fighter be safer, smarter and more lethal on the battlefield. stuart: you will be drone guy. hope to see you again soon. just ahead, new york times columnist brett stevens has a new column, stevens eloquently went after trump's over-the-top

critics, a takedown. "my take" top of the hour. trump told biden stop selling border wall materials. is there any way to hold up the sales? bill haggerty has a plan next. ♪ to go further, you need to be ready for what's down the road. as energy demand continues to rise, we're harnessing breakthrough innovations

to increase production in the u.s. gulf of mexico. our latest deepwater development, anchor, produces previously inaccessible oil and natural gas, allowing us to deliver the energy we all need today so everyone can follow their own road. that's energy in progress.

it's our son, he is always up in our business. it's the verizon 5g home internet i got us. oh... he used to be a competitive gamer but with the higher lag, he can't keep up with his squad. so now we're his “squad”. what are kevin's plans for the fall? he's going to college. out of state, yeah. -yeah in the fall. change of plans, i've decided to stay local. oh excellent! oh that's great! why would i ever leave this? -aw! we will do anything to get him gaming again. you and kevin need to fix this internet situation. heard my name! i swear to god, kevin! -we told you to wait in the car. everyone in my old squad has xfinity. less lag, better gaming!

i'm gonna need to charge you for three people. stuart: check the market. the dow is up 220 points, nasdaq 65. bill haggerty introduced a bill to block the federal government from selling off border wall materials. can you legislate this? don't sell that stuff? >> it to step in the right direction. it amazes the american people how out of touch the biden/harris administration is, didn't listen to the results at all, it's a slap in the face the american taxpayer selling off a border at $0.05 on the dollar, a disgrace, another disgraceful capstone to the biden/harris administration which i think will go down is the worst presidency in the modern era. stuart: the biden team seems to be trying to delay trump's

border wall, do anything to delay it and make it more expensive. >> they will do a lot of things to make the incoming administration's like more difficult. i sent letters to every administration official, all the department, all the agency heads demanding that they follow the law and not divert funds, this is a little different. to frustrate success the trump administration has. stuart: the op-ed in the new york times by britt stevens saying he says his side, democrats should give some consideration to trump's appointees, look fairly on the appointees. is that a step in the right direction? >> it is, not unreasonable at all to take a look. i met with biden's appointees, many during covid.

it is important we take an open mind and look at these nominees and democrats should consider that. stuart: democrat senator john fetterman promised to consider trump's nominee use with an open mind saying my votes will come from open-minded and informed opinion after conversation with them. it's my job. do you think other democrats will give appointees a fair shake? >> fetterman should because he comes from pennsylvania. i might remind him trump won pennsylvania. he better take an open mind and hope he can confirm our nominees because the people of his state have spoken. i think other democrats need to do the same thing. they need to get the message. 3 quarters of the american public think the nation is on the wrong track, democrats have had the legislation driving us in that direction. a wake-up call for democrats and hope they will come around.

stuart: does everything change on january 20th when trump walks into the oval office? >> it doesn't can't seem soon enough. >> reporter: are you seeing change before he walks in the oval office? >> i feel a sense of relief across the nation. every time i speak you see optimism now. look at public sentiment consumer confidence is up, small business, corporate ceo confidence is up, investment plans kicking up. that will get more jobs and economic activity and strength for america in the posture we want to be. $100 billion in investments, donald trump promptly encouraging to double that number. we see a lot of optimism here. stuart: that is one of the magic moments from the press conference. make it $200 billion or you don't know what to say.

thanks very much for being with us. merry christmas to you. still ahead, jason chaffetz on kathy hochul calling to abolish the electoral college. incoming special envoy for ukraine and russia keith kellogg, does he think ukraine killing that russian general is a setback for peace talks? bill hemmer on kamala harris are urging supporters to stay in the fight. will she run again for public office? california's sheriff on the expansion of ankle monitors illegal migrants. the 11:00 hour is next. ♪ ♪

(singing) i'll be home for christmas. you can plan on me. please have snow and mistletoe. and presents on the tree.

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in the lives of kids le me. because every child just wants to be home for the holidays, d your gift makes that possible. your call is the best gift of all. your gift will be my favorite christmas present this year. please call the number on your screen or go to loveshriners.org to give whatever you can. and when you become a monthly donor your first gift will be tripled! thank you for giving >> people like bre et stephens now having to recoize that that he actually speaks for the interest of americans across the co