maria: welcome back. let's get some final thoughts from this esteemed panel. markets are closed today because of the funeral of president jimmy carter. fox business will be showing you the funeral live as it takes place beginning at 9:30 a.m. eastern. >> well, prayers for everyone in california affected by these fires. hopefully, they can do something today, immediately, as soon as possible, to to begin to contain these things. it's just devastating. maria: sure is. lee. >> it's absolutely devastating. our thoughts and prayers with all of the people who are suffering if this. but we have to look at the root causes on how this happened. and one of the the things we really have to look at is how do we protect our people first, make sure our people are safe. maria: all right. final words. jonathan, lee and mark, thank you. "varney & company" picks it up next. stu, take it away.

stuart: good morning, everyone. let's get straight to it. the l.a. fires, here's what's happening. it has not been contained. the latest outbreak coming in the hollywood hills. some small communities to no longer have any if structures still standing. pacific palisades is in ruins. some parts of santand monica are under an evacuation order. strong winds have been the driving force. there is some moderation in the wind force expected today, but 30,000 acres are burning. the authorities under intense criticism. the president-elect says governor newsom should resign. trump blames him for blocking the transfer of water to the los angeles area. newsom if says trump is just politicizing the disaster. l.a.'s mayor, karen bass, had nothing to say when she returned to california. she'd left on a trip the ghana just as the emergency began. if she had cut the fire department's budgets by $17 million. some firefighters couldn't be sent out because of a shortage of equipment.

bass now blames the weather for the disaster. well, there is other news. in a half hour, the funeral service for jimmy carter quinns. presidents biden, obama and clinton will be there, and so will president-elect trump. the service begins at 9:30 eastern. the markets, closed today to on everybody the passion of america's 39th president. it is thursday, january the 9th, 2025. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: all right. we are going to start by taking you to the heart of california's fire disaster. max gorden joins us from los angeles county. bring it all together, please. what's it like where you are, max? >> reporter: good morning, stu. well, what's been most shocking for me is this is not necessarily what you think of when you think of a wildland fire. we're in a residential neighborhood here in pacific

palisades, and and we are seeing block after block, home after a home burned to the ground. you can see cars burned to their hub caps in their driveways. just awful scenes here in pacific palisades. this fire now confirmed at 17,20 the 0 acres, around 2,000 structures now confirmed to be destroyed. while there aren't any fatalities on this fire specific i clue, fire officials say that many people were injured as they tried to's a cape the flames, a frantic evacuation as people tried to get out. these flames were fueled by the santa ana winds gusting at up to 100 miles per hour at some points. it's going to be windy later on today but, luckily, those winds should be dying down. to the east of us, the eaton fire has killed five people. that that fire sitting at 10,600 acres. but here in the i city of los angeles, mayor karen bass has faced tough questions and criticism for her handling of

the fire. take a listen. >> do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars, madam mayor? have you nothing to say today? [inaudible conversations] have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today? no apology for them? if do you think you should have been visiting ghana when this was unfolding back home? >> reporter: now, once again we had perfect if conditions for an inferno. a very dry winter here in southern california and very strong santa ana winds. now, those winds, again, should be dying down as we move through today and into friday, but the fire weather warning still remains in effect, and people are being told to still be on guard. stu? stuart: well, last night as he merged from his meeting with senate republicans, president-elect trump had something to say about those fires. watch. >> well, it's very sad because

i've been trying to get gavin newsom to allow water to come. they have water they send out in the pacific because they're trying to protect a tiny, little fish which is in other areas, by the way, called the smelt. and for the sake of a smelt, they have no water in the fire hydrants today in los angeles. it's a terrible thing. and we're going to get that done. it's going to finally be with done. i'll get it done from the federal side, and he didn't want to sign it. it's not going to happen like that. stuart: joining me now, marc thiessen. newsom if protects the smelt, the i mayor, karen bass, cuts the firefighters' budget $17 million. surely, there's going to be some change to the california's politics. what do you say? >> yeah. president trump is 100 right and, look, it reminds me of new york mayor ed koch when he lost his primary to to david dinkens. he was asked if he would ever run again, and he said, no, the

people is have spoken, and they must be punished. california is paying the price for the incompetent leaders they've elected. mayor bass cut $17 million from the fire-fighting budget in order to pay for the homeless crisis that she helped unleash. governor gavin newsom, he's put all of his effort into banning gas-powered cars in california so he can fight global warming rather than filling the less reservoirs -- reservoirs and killing the brush to fight the fires that he blames on global warming. his job is not to stop global warming, it's to mitigate its effects on his citizens. if you believe global warming is i increasing the fire risk, then your job so to increase your mitigation efforts, to have controlled burn, to make sure that the water is flowing and into the fire hydrants and not being diverted into the pacific ocean to save an endangered fish. you don't get a get out of jail free card for global warming. if you believe in global

warming, it increases your responsibility to take steps the make sure that the fires don't go out of control and this kind of disaster doesn't happen. stuart: all right, marc, listen to what president biden said to the firefighters battling these wildfires. watch it. >> it's astounding, what's happened. there's only one piece of good news. my son lives out here and his wife, they got a notification yesterday their home has probably burned to the ground. today it appears they're still standing, they're not sure, but the good news is, i'm a great grandfather as of today. [applause] 10 pound, 4 ounce baby girl -- baby boy. so we're going to the remember this day for a lot of the wrong reasons. stuart: i'm going to call that tone deaf. what about you? >> i mean, you're sitting here in front of your burned-down home, and president biden is talking about his great granddaughter. first of all, nobody cares. your job is not there to

celebrate your great granddaughter being born, it's to help support the firefighters. and second of all, this is a man who has a grandchild he doesn't even recognize and hasn't met. so spare me the proud great grandpa rue peen. routine. we can't get to january 20th fast enough. stuart: got it. marc thiessen, thank you very much for being with us on a very important day. >> thank you. stuart: we appreciate it. let's see now. a reminder, the markets are closed today in honor of jimmy carter. there is futures market activity until 9:30 this morning, and i've got some red out there. full market returns tomorrow at 9:30. adam johnson with me now. >> sir. stuart: before we get to to your market analysis, i see vast cost to this fire and an impending insurance e crisis. >> yes and yes. and that's only the beginning. it's almost impossible at this point to quantify the depth, the extent of those costs. and the problem is, this isn't

the first time it's happened which is why we actually have the insurance crisis now. how many times, stuart, is are you seen headlines over the past call it 20, 25 years, topanga canyon burning, malibu homes burning, celebrities' homes on fire and destroyed. and yet we keep going back and rebuilding, and the insurance company keeps paying for all that that. and therein lies the rub and the impending crisis. stuart: how are you going to get fire insurance, homeowner insurance? >> i would imagine you can't. look at what's happening in florida where homeowners can no longer get flood insurance. stuart: tell me about it. >> and with good reason. think about new orleans where we build below sea level. i mean, why would we do that? so there are places where we are knowingly putting ourselves and our families at risk because, you know, we want a view, or we want to be closer the nature or something. and that's something that i think individuals have to wrestle with, but now states,

regulators and insurance companies -- lauren: there's a tremendous cost to rebuild, tremendous. there's at least $50 billion in damages here. but how do you rebuild in california with the permitting process? the climate people. stuart: yes. lauren: how do you get this done fast? i don't mean to ask is a stupid question, but with the technology that we have, why aren't they putting protect -- better materials in these houses to be able to withstand the fires? stuart: you're right. i didn't thinking about that, but there's a vast rebuilding operation require required, and how do you do that in a state like california -- lauren: quickly. stuart: -- with all kinds of permitting rules and regulations and a green lobby that won't let you do anything? >> let's say you actually do rebuild, and then you look at the environment, and because clearing is not allowed, you're not able to get out the brush. you're not able to back burn. you know, that's one of the things that we learned from the american indian population, and that is that they used to do

controlled burns, and that has not been allowed. remember, smoky the bear came along and said zero tolerance. back burning actually makes areas safer, ironically. stuart: i believe that california's politics is going to change because of. this. >> i would think so. stuart: it has to. adam, thanks very much, indeed. the dock workers' union and port owners have a new deal. it's avoiding a strike. lauren: finally, some good news. both sides have agreed the a tentative deal that allows the use of automation at the ports to do things like carry the containers if union jobs are added at the same time. finish so you have that with the already agreed upon 62% wage increase. it averts a strike at the east and gulf ports that handle more than half the nation's shipping containers. the union does still need to ratify this contract, but in a statement they say this agreement protects current ila jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while

modernizing east and gulf port coasts. so more technology, more jobs, more money. and in the end, some dock workers will be making over $200,000 a year. stuart: at least we get some automation. got it. lauren, thank you very much, indeed. here's what's coming up. president trump touting unity after his meeting with senate republicans. watch. >> we're going to get something done that's going to be reducing taxes and creating a lot of jobs and all of the other things that that to you know about. but this was a really you -- unified meeting. stuart: trump wants one big, beautiful reconciliation bill. will he get it? we'll ask florida congressman byron donalds. california residents describing the terror of fleeing the deadly firestorms. >> you know, it's really scary when you can see the names coming up over the houses two block withs away, and you're just getting out of the driveway and the smoke and the ash is so thick you can't even see. stuart: it is an ongoing

catastrophe. it is the not over. we're keeping a close eye on all of the news out of california, and we'll bring you the latest in the 11:00 hour. ♪ ♪

stuart: president-elect trump will attend former president carter's funeral today before returning to palm beach where he will host republican governors in the evening. nate foy joins us now from palm beach. trump had a lot more to say about those wildfires. tell me more about that, please, nate. >> reporter: hey, stuart, good morning. president-elect donald trump is highly critical of california governor gavin newsom and

specifically with what he did and did not do in the years lead aring up to these fires. trump believes he made poor water management diss and put california in a bad -- decisions and put california in a bad spot. quote, fire is spreading rapidly for three days, zero containment. nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before. gross incompetence by gavin newscum and karen because. trump fails newsom if failed to sign a claim that would have brought more area to the l.a. area. california said it wasn't scientifically justified and sued to protect endangered species. newsom's office wrote on, and, quote: there's no such document with. as the water restoration declaration. that is pure fiction. newsom also said this about trump last night. >> people have lost their lives. kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down,

and this guy wanted to politicize it. i had a lot of thoughts and i know what i want to say. i won't. >> reporter: but trump says newsom if should resign for not doing more to protect californians. >> they had plenty of water. they send it out to the pacific, and it's the crazy. so what's happening in if california is a true tragedy there. >> reporter: so shortly here trump will attend former president jimmy carter's funeral, and later today he'll head back to mar-a-lago where he will host a dinner with republican governors tonight, and he is awaiting a decision from the u.s. supreme court about whether or not the sentencing in his new york criminal trial will be clayed. right now it's scheduled to the happen tomorrow, and he will have the appear at least virtually for it. back to you, stuart. stuart: nate foy, we'll take it. now this. listen to the what trump said after his meeting with senate

republicans on capitol hill. >> we had a, a great meeting. there's great unity. whether it's one bill or two bills, it's going to get done one way or the other. i think there's a lot of talk about two, and there's a lot of talk about one, but it doesn't matter. the end result is the same. we're going to be reducing taxes and creating a lot of jobs and all of the other things that that you know about. but this was a really unified meeting. stuart: florida congressman byron donalds joins me now. here's my question, congressman: you put it all together in one big bill, doesn't that that raise the danger of it not passing? because you can't satisfy everybody. >> well, i mean, look, to be blunt with you, one bill, two bill, i don't really care. it's really about the details. yes, there's some concern about if it's all in one package, can you get everything done in a timely fashion, and we have some other pressure points. you have appropriations that are going to be going on not just over the next month or so

because we have to address the government funding deadline on march 14, but again on september 30th, the end of the fiscal year. and then you also have the debt ceiling which we are going to have to to address at some point over the next couple of months. so there's a lot of back and forth on that. as far as as far as i'm concerned, let's get the details of what the entire agenda look like and are agreed to on patient, and then we can talk about where it's one big, beautiful bill or two big, beautiful bills. stuart: i really want to talk to you about the california wildfires. you're a florida congressman. florida's very good at handling disasters. governor desantis has offered to send aid to california. what's your comment on newsom's response to have -- so far? >> my response to what has happened in california is, of course, florida's going to do what it can to help people of california, and i want to really follow what governor desantis has said about that and his leadership once again is showing through for the entire country. but what's happened in

california is the fault of gavin newsom and the legislature there. they don't take care of hair forests, their forestry management, they don't take care of underbrush, they've not done the necessary work the to make sure there's fresh water flowing into question areas. the mayor of los angeles, karen bass, a former colleague up heren capitol hill, she's saying there's water in the hydrants, but the fire department has said on multiple occasions there is not enough water in these hydrants. it is an epic if disaster of mismanagement. and so what really happens is people suffer. look, the people of california at the end of the day have a respondent to elect competent leadership starting with the governor, through the state assembly and and into local government. instead of following the far-left, woke policy of california which have been disastrous throughout the entire country -- that's what joe biden and kamala harris brought capitol hill -- the american people have said enough, and now it's time for the people of california to say they've had enough. they need new leadership if they

want the avoid these type of disasters in the future. stuart: california politics just has to change. congressman -- byron donalds, thanks sister joining us. >> thank you. stuart: a corporate news item. google just announced a donation to trump's inauguration fund. lauren: they're dote nateing $1 million -- donating. if you are keeping track, it's google, meta, amazon and the ceos of both openai and and apple plus everything you're look at on that screen. for google this is about the future. they have a big stake in artificial intelligence and social media where their competitors, meta and x, have already announced plans to uphold freedom of speech online. it looks like google is now making a move with this money into kissing the king. stuart: right. hour lauren into following through. stuart: so adam johnson, huge changes at x, big changes at meta. what changes are coming at google? >> oh, i think they're already happening, stuart, and it's because people like us and like

so many others are keeping google honest and and calling them out to. if you remember at the first assassination attempt of mr. trump, if you went to google and you typed in trump assassination, that didn't come up first. it was attempted assassination of reagan and then lincoln and on and on. and they buried trump down below. that was google engineers who did that. and the company was excoriated in social media because so many people said you can't do it. that's not the way it works. this is the biggest news item of, arguably, the year if not the the decade, they're trying to assassinate a likely president, and they bury it? so google has already been called out. thank goodness. the irony is i actually own google because i have to invest in a dispassionate way. i can't think about some of these other issue, and i do think that a google is a stock that you need to own just as you need to own those others that we named. thank goodness there are also people out there who are keeping google honest. stuart: got it.

adam, thank you. coming up, live coverage of jimmy carter, the 39th president of the united states. (woman) i don't have time for this. come on! ugh, what? (vo) free your team with verizon business complete. shipping. setup. replacement. recycling. we do it all. so you don't have to. where ya headed? susan: where am i headed? am i just gonna take what the markets gives me? no. i can do some research. ya know, that's backed by j.p. morgan's leading strategists like us.

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stuart: cnbc has a church service with nice music. ♪ ♪ ♪

[background sounds] stuart: the funeral proif session, i think you should call it, jimmy carter's casket on its e way to the cathedral for the funeral service. it will arrive at the cathedral in approximately 90 to seconds. these things are timed rather finely. as you can see, it's an extremely cold day in washington d.c. finish there are very -- there are very few people watching the cortege the as it moves along. shortly it will arrive, and the crowd is gathering, the congregation is gathering in the cathedral. everybody in politics is there including president-elect trump. i've not yet seen him walk in, but he will be there. either he's there already or he'll be there very shortly. other former presidents are there. president biden, obama and bill

clinton. they will be there. lauren: five living presidents are expected to be there to mark this, to pay their respects to to president jimmy carter. there will be a private funeral in georgia later today, but this is the nation mourning the death of the 39th president of the united states. stuart: okay. we'll watch as the casket goes into the a cathedral, then the service begins. ♪ ♪

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