with itrustcapital you can buy and sell real bitcoin 24/ 7 with the tax advantages of an ira. real bitcoin means no middleman, no restricted stock market hours. choose the path of direct bitcoin investment with itrustcapital because access equals opportunity. invest in bitcoin at itrustcapital.com today. stuart: all right, good morning, everyone. it is 10:00 eastern. almost, i should say. let's get straight into the money. we've got modest green, let's put it like that. we're up77 points on the dow, 50 points on the nasdaq. even split, winners and losers, amongst the dow 30. the 10-year treasury yield has reached 4.80%. that's not going down well with investors. the price of oil, $77 a barrel the morning, it's down about a buck. bitcoin has recovered from yesterday's selling, it's now at

$96,2000 per coin. that's the markets and now this. in 2019 the l.a. water department wanted to widen a fire access road. it's close to the pal sides -- palisades. it is the town of pacific palisades that's been decimated by the wildfires. the department five years ago was trying to improve if its preparations, is so they started work clearing the land and replacing old power lines to the make them fire-resistant. they didn't get far. construction crews removed an estimated 182 baronton a's milk vetkh plants, they're endangered. the work to widen the fire access road was halted. 9 state officials investigated this destruction of an endangered plant. if one year later, the water department was fined $2 million. and was required to mitigate the impact on the species. that meant replacing non-native vegetation with plants that are

native to the state. this is ridiculous. it shows only too clearly the idiotic lengths the climate crowd will go to to pursue their religion, because that's what it is, it's a religion. we wouldn't know about this had pacific palisades not been burned to the ground. it's the same with the smelt, a very small fish on the endangered list. when he was president first time around a, trump wanted to bring more water to southern california. it would have helped farmers and helped fire wildfires -- fight wildfires. but governor newsom went to court to stop it. it's another example of environmentalal extremism that borders online city. this has got to change, and trump's the guy to change it. second hour of "varney" just getting started. ♪ stuart: before we go any further, i do want to credit

alicia finley for digging into this story about the plant. [laughter] yeah, the plant. she's going to be on the show in the is 1 -- 11:00 hour this morning. let's bring in steve forbe ifs. i'm i saying things have got to change. will environmental extremism change? >> yes, because there's a new crowd of leaders in california now and in the future, and people are waking up. these things have consequences. you called it a religion, it's more like a destructive court. we read from time to time california has drought, so they a say cut down on your with water use. 10% of the average rainfall goes to commercial uses, 50% gets flushed out into the pacific ocean for nonsense like the smelt. that is massive self-destruction. we've seen the consequences of it, and consequences do have consequences. there's going to be a change in california. finally, after years of idiocy.

stuart: it's going to change, good. all right, steve. senator elizabeth warren wrote an op-ed in the "wall street journal." quote, if trump wants town rig the economy, i'm in, unquote. what does she mean by unrig the economy, and how come a socialist is agreeing with trump? >> it's the like karl marx wearing an adam smith max. nice try but it doesn't work. it means more government intervention. she says she wants the government to to work with local communities to the reduce red tape. the wants the federal government to help with housing? hey, they can't even build ev recharging stations. this is just a disguise of trying to get in the tent and push modern socialism in the name of capitalism. stuart: she wants inside the tent. >> yes. stuart: that's now being built and formed by donald trump, and she wants to be inside it because otherwise she's irrelevant. >> give it to the left, they always try the find ways to stay in the game.

they get set back and they keep fighting back. this is just an example of it. i'm adam smith. no, not. not going to work. [laughter] stuart: i'm dying to hear mr. trump's response to this. steve, thanks so much, indeed. >> thank you. stuart: the green is still there but only just. dow's up 130, nasdaq up 82 points. mike lee with us this morning. he's wearing his trump outfit. [laughter] mike, are you still a super bull? >> absolutely. absolutely. we have an improving economy, okay? we have earnings exploding from the best companies in the world. unfortunately, the government needs to refinance $9 trillion worth of debt over the next 12 months. this is putting pressure if on interest rates, okay? so interest rates, the 10-year and the 30-year, the 2 2-year treasuries, they should be linked to economic growth and inflation. and it will be over time, but in temporary situations it can get pushed out of mace by things -- place by things like issuing

more debt in one year than we've ever possibly imagine ifed -- stuart: the so the debt crisis could limit market gains in socks. >> what i would say though with that is these aren't fundamental changes to the economies or the earnings power of these companies. so it will just put pressure on stock prices for temporary periods. basically, you're pulling on a rubber band to where once we get past this, stock prices should explode. and i'd imagine they start moving much higher before it's all resolved. stuart: wait, wait, how do you get past raising -- borrowing $9 trillion in one year? at which point are you past that a? >> after one year. stuart: really? [laughter] >> so -- stuart: are we're going to borrow even more after that. >> it's refinancing. we're not going to create $9 trillion in additional new debt. it's -- what a janet yellen did, instead of issuing debt as debt matured when she was pressure thely secretary and the $8 trillion that they added to the federal debt, she used mostly

short-term instruments. so to keep the long end of the yield curve from going much higher, if you remember, something bad happened to to liz truss in the u.k. when long-term interest rates start ad to to go up rapidly. so this is a little bit of three card month ety, in my opinion, by janet yellen -- stuart: she rigged it. >> absolutely. stuart: she rigged the yield curve. >> yes. stuart: okay. i want to talk to you about nvidia. they've got new chips. you're telling me that they are three times the performance for the same price. is this the blackwell chip we're talking about? >> yes. stuart: or something else? >> yes. so everyone -- the main headlines i took away from jensen huang's speech at ces was this new laptop that was coming out. to me, that was a side show. what i took away from it was the amount of compute, the amount of power. if you think of it like a car, the v8, v12 the engine needed to create the large language molds is going to increase on an

exponential basis. you can get three times the amount of compute or power, or you could spend a third of the money and get the exact same power that you were getting a year ago. so as, as more data's created over time and it's the happening on an expone known, basis, so all of the the data created from the history of time until the end of the year 2003, we new do that every two days. in a couple years that'll be one day, then it'll be 12 the hours, then 6 hours. this is a hockey stick type growth. you're going to continue to need more power, more power. so the bare argument against -- the bear argument against nvidia is that the it's hardware, and it will slow down over time akin to our iphones. i disagree with. that's i think we're going to continue to need more power as the compute, the amount of energy needed to process these large language models is going to continue to increase on an an exponential basis, nvidia's the

leader, stock is going higher. stuart: 200 a share? >> much higher over time. stuart: very interesting stuff, mike lee. thanks for joining us. >> thanks, stuart9. stuart: lauren's looking at the movers, and you better start with signet jewelers. >> didn't everybody we know get engaged over christmas? the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry cut their holiday forecast. they said consumers are buying less expensive jewelry. stock's off 21 president p. stuart: who would have thought? i do know a few people -- >> i know. i know four. stuart: people who work with us -- djt. >> countdown to the inauguration. stock is down 3%. it was up 21% yesterday. also this, don jr., donald trump's son, he has joined a polymarket competitor, the prediction market, as an adviser. stuart: okay. am amazon. lauren: so their cloud unit, aws, is investing $5 million in

mexico -- $5 billion in mexico. 73 are expected to be constructed not just by amazon, but 73 in the next 5 years. stuart: $5 billion in mexico? all right, lauren -- lauren: a lot of power. stuart: coming up, biden highlighted what he calls his foreign policy successes. >> it's clear, my administration's leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play. stuart: former u.s. ambassador to nato, that would be kurt volker, he's going to take that a apart. hamas if has reportedly accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire with israel and the release of dozens of hostages. we'll deal with that next. ♪ ♪

do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we

could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

let's go boys. the way that i approach work, post fatherhood, has really been trying to understand the generation that we're building devices for. here in the comcast family, we're building an integrated in-home wifi solution for millions of families, like my own. connectivity is a big part of my boys' lives. it brings people together in meaningful ways.

♪ ♪ stuart: moderating inflation? the market goes up. ppi coming up 3.3% over the past 12 months. the market likes it, the dow is up 160, nasdaq up 128 points. here's we for you, what do the people of greenland really think about joining the united states? well, alex hogan is in greenland's capital, nuuk. alex joins us now. you spoke with the residents, and what are they telling you? >> reporter: hi, stuart. yeah, so a lot of mixed reaction from residents here in greenland about president-elect donald trump's comments about the island. but to set the stage and give our viewers a little insight, nuuk is the capital of greenland. this island is the largest in the world, three times larger than texas but only 57,000

people live here because most of the territory is ice. but with that ice melting, that is creating the potential for new shipping routes which world powers are looking at. this island is also a location that is very critical defensively for the u.s. in the middle of the atlantic between europe and north america. greenland is also home home to to the u.s.' northernmost military base. so the hot topic here, as you mentioned, has been those comments and, as i mentioned, a lot of mixed reaction. take a listen. >> apart from -- and also their opinion about trump. >> i hate it. basically, i don't know what hi- [inaudible] >> me personally, i want to stick with danish government. >> reporter: so while most people that we spoke with said they did not support president-elect trump's comments, one man we talked with has been an advocate for years saying that the this kind of

partnership is exactly what greenland are needs. >> the danish government has spent no money the to defend greenland and not -- [inaudible] to ships and and everything in that area. as the world is now, we have to be protected by u.s. more. and trump and u.s. is the best -- and do it for greenland. >> reporter: denmark's prime minister has said that the island is not for sale, and greenland's prime minister yesterday called for independence but also said that the island is going to continue to work more9 with the u.s. as it pertains to defense and mining in the future. stuart? stuart: alec, thanks very much, indeed. former u.s. ambassador to nato kurt volker joins me now. mr. ambassador, do you think that america is likely to buy greenland many? and who would we buy it from? [laughter] >> well, first off, no, i don't

think it's likely. the greenlanders don't want to be americans, they're happy being greenlanders. and second, anything that we actually need, we're talking about security, if we're talking about shipping, if we're talking about investments and resources in minerals, we can do all that. as you just heard from the report there, the greenlander's are open for business, they're looking forward to working with the u.s. denmark is as well. and denmark is prepared to 40 co-invest with the u.s. in strengthening defense in the area. there's no reason for talking about ownership went -- when we can have everything that we need. stuart: got it. mr. ambassador, hamas has reportedly accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire deal with israel and the release of dozens of hostages. would this be with happening if trump were not taking office in six days? >> definitely not. you know, hamas was holding these hostages in order to keep leverage over the israelis and the united states. and they see now that trump is coming in, he's made very clear

threats about hamas if they continue to hold american hostages. he's been very direct about iran's ultimate respondent for this. and so i think -- responsibility for this. and is i think the pressure is on to come up with a deal, get rid of the hostages, and i think it is very much because of trump's inauguration. stuart: could this be a repeat of 198 81 when the iranians released american to hostages? a repeat because trump's in power, could that be? >> right. i remember that very well, and it could play out in a similar way. we don't know for sure exactly what the timing would be. maybe it'll be a few days before, but i think that dynamic that you're describing of adversaries preemptively deciding that they better get back on track or else they're going to face consequences from the incoming administration, that i think that's exactly the dynamic at play. stuart: president biden says he is leaving trump, quote, a very

strong hand the play on foreign policy. watch this. >> it's clear my administration's leaving next administration with a very strong the hand the play. we're leafing them -- leaving them an america with more friends, stronger alliances whose adversaries are weaker and under pressure. and america once again is leading, uniting countries, setting the agenda, bringing others together behind our plans and ambitions. stuart: so, mr. ambassador, is he leaving america stronger? >> fortunately, our energy production is up and so we actually have good energy production, but in almost every other respect our position in the world detenderness has failed. people -- deterrence has failed. people have not looked to america as a source of strength, they have looked at america as weak. and i think the catastrophic withdrawal from afghanistan cemented that view among so many

people around the world, and we did not have the will or the resolve. and as a result, we've seen the biggest war in europe since world war ii, we have a major war in the middle east that is still not fully under control yet, we have growing threats from china against taiwan and other threats in asia with, north korea has been empowered by russia a with missile technology, we've seen governments being flipped byes lammists in -- islamists in syria and the sahel, so the world is on fire. it's a stretch the say we're in a better position. stuart: got it. mr. ambassador,s very much for joining us, sir. coming up, officials are in china are talking about selling tiktok to elon musk. tiktok i says that is pure fiction. we'll tell you what musk is saying about it. the winds in los angeles have intensified. is the is city prepared for new fire outbreaks? we'll deal that with from the source in just a moment. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

so, what are you thinking? i'm thinking... (speaking to self) about our honeymoon. what about africa? safari? hot air balloon ride? swim with elephants? wait, can we afford a safari? great question. like everything, it takes a little planning. or, put the money towards a down-payment... ...on a ranch ...in montana ...with horses let's take a look at those scenarios. j.p. morgan wealth management has advisors in chase branches and tools, like wealth plan to keep you on track. when you're planning for it all... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management.

stuart: almost one hour's worth of business on this tuesday morning. the dow is up 1800, the nasdaq is up -- 1800, the nasdaq's up 107 points. lauren's looking at tesla.

lauren: the new york times is reporting that the elon musk set up office space in the eisenhower executive office a building in d.c. adjacent to the white house. he is keeping his proximity reportedly even physically to the president-elect. stuart: doesn't hurt, and it helps the success. there you go. h and e equipment services. lauren: way up, more than doubling. it's being bought by united rentals in an all-, cash deal. united rentals is -- all-cash deal. this is tapping into demand for equipment rentals. cheaper to rent than buy for construction firms, flush with money for the rebuilding efforts we hope to see soon in california. stuart: when one buys the other, it's unusual to see both of them go up a lot. lauren: correct. stuart: southwest with airlines. lauren: they're pausing corporate hiring, promotions and summer if internships to to save money. stock's up 1%. stuart: thank you, lauren. red flag warnings all the way

through wednesday with the winds expected to hit 70miles an hour. griff griff jenkins is there. griff, do you feel the wind yet? >> reporter: good morning, stu. the sun is coming up, and we're not feeling those strong winds yet, but officials say don't let your guard down. the national weather service says we are now in that red flag warning window of the particularly dangerous situation of eds, the highest urgent alert they can put out for fire conditions. when you have high winds, dry vegetation and low humidity. but already an hour mort of me up in ventura county -- north of me, we can show you aerials, you've got firefighterses fighting what was a fast-moving brush fire called the auto fire that they've been pretty successful in tamping down to spot fires. but it's an indication of the dangers they're worried about in this window running, as you mentioned, through tomorrow evening. and it could also ignite here in

the malibu or palisades area where those fireses, the palisades and eaton, are not fully contained. in palisades yesterday, we met a gentleman who stayed behind the to fight the fire. he'd been staying to put out spot fires, and he's a home builder. he tried to extinguish a home he wilt, he was un-- built, he was unsuccessful. listen here. >> i built a house for some people out here near the point, and the neighbor's house caught on fire and spread to it, and there was no -- i was over there with a hose, but it wasn't enough to put out. once it really gets going, a hose won't do it. >> reporter: take a look at this video, stu. this is a fire engine putting out embers in the very exact spot where i am standing. that was yesterday afternoon. and that literally is an indication, i'll just leave you with this, stu, these collapsed

houses in malibu and palisades and all over the devastated los angeles area, you've got heaps of houses that have collapsed on themselves. these hot embers, a week later to the day, still are smoldering and still have sparks that can be picked up if these winds do, indeed, reach the expected warning at 60, 70 miles an hour. a fire captain telling me 60 miles, 700 miles an our an ember could quarry 1-2 miles -- carry, and that's how they get out of control. we'll bring you more f indeed, bad conditions break out, stu. stuart: it's not over. griff jenkins, thanks very much. former los angeles firefighter john knox joins me now. thanks for coming on board this morning. is los angeles prepared for the stronger winds that are likely to ping today? we've -- pick up today? we've already had one more fire reported. >> yeah. good morning, stuart.

you know, we're usually prepared for these winds because we know a day, two days in advance, you know? the palisades fire, i think, took the city, you know, really, for lack of a better word, by storm and swallowed up all of our resources. at this time now you have cal fire who is running that fire, and so it's freed if up a lot of our resources. i mean, we still have, you know, at a the city they still have resources there that they're using. but the the city definitely, i would think at this point, should be ready. stuart: has anyone come up with an explanation if as to why there was no water in the fire hydrants when the fires began? >> well, there's a hot of finger pointing going on right now, you know? i think that that's too early to to really know, but unfortunately it looks, i mean, the me the department of water and power, personally, has a lot of questions to answer, you

know? the santa ynez reservoir that was there -- well, it's still there, technically, is 117 million gallons, and it's been empty for quite some time. and then the state, it appears, has another five reservoirs that are empty as well contrary to what, you know, governor is stating, that all reservoirs are full. stuart: 50 of the water -- 50 of the water that falls on california or comes into california, 50 of it are just -- 50% of it are piped out into the ocean, and governor newsom won't let it come south to help the fire fighting because he's worried about the smelt. this is crazy. >> yeah. there's a lot of issues there. and i think something that a lot of people really don't know is that, you know, there's a very wealthy family called the rest nicks, and they own over 60 of the water rights in the state of california. you know, when governor newsom was recalled, you know, or they gave about $250 the ,000 --

250,000 to his campaign to stop that recall. so the systems that were put in place, they own a large portion of the current water bank as well that was funded by taxpayer dollars, but yet they own over 60% of the water rights in the state of california, and they sell those, that water and divert it back to the californians. so there's a lot of questions that really need to be asked. stuart: let's bring -- can you bring everyone up to speed on looters? we know that dozens have been arrested. we're also told that, in fact, there are hundreds of looters out there going through abandoned property. what can you tell us about this? >> yeah. unfortunately, you know, in any disaster there's always looters, you know? when we were in helene or milton or any hurricane, ian, you know, we have looters. unfortunately, society today, you know, for whatever reason people want to take advantage of people that are being affected

by these horrible incidents. and, you know, law enforcement, lapd, l.a. county sheriffs, they've definitely made arrests and they're out there. the national guard now is out there and enforcing, you know, the curfews in the p.m., and they're also blocking access. but there are people that are depression up as firefighters and -- dressing up as firefighters and other workers trying to get in there and take advantage of the situation and really that's a add state of affairs. stuart: i believe you were fired for refusing the covid vaccine. >> yep. stuart: can we say karen bass, the mayor, put dei over disaster? can we say that? >> sure, you could. dei is a massive issue especially in the fire service right now, you know? we are not able to hire individuals. they're passing up perfectly good individuals. i mean, the city of los angeles fire department over the past several years created an actual

d can ei bureau, spent somewhere between $800,000 to $1.2 million on that, and the total expenditure that they're expecting in the first two years is $2.5 million. for, you know, diversity, equity, inclusion. what happened to her if tock rah city-based hiring, you know? individuals that can do the job and are qualified. stuart: do you think this is going to change? i mean, i've got calls for change coming from every which way demanding this nonsense has got to stop. will it? >> you know, it would be my hope that it does. you know, at the federal level with trump coming in, you know, kennedy, the new administration, things look very promising from that aspect. but, again, you know, each state has the ability to do what they wan to do. now, governor newsom is saying that that, you know, he's going to trump-proof california, and you know, move in that direction. well, he can go ahead and do

that, it's his state to run, but, you know, i believe that probably i would think federal funding at some point would dry up for a lot of the the issues that -- stuart: i think so. >> -- he's going to continue pushing. stuart: yeah. there's going to be strings on that money. john knox, the man with the famous name, by the way. thanks very much for joining us, john. see you again later, cheers. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: fox corporation has donated to the wildlife relief efforts. you can donate by visiting go.fox/redcross or by scanning the qr code on your screen. celebrities lending a helping hand in los angeles. which? lauren: many. paris hilton is volunteering at an animal if shelter. is she's trying to find owners for many pets who lost their homes too. >> hey, everyone. i am here at pasadena humane society today. i am here with this cat. he has been here for four days so far. we don't know who his other than

is, so i wanted to show him -- owner is so he can go back to his home. i'm also going to be fostering another dog who was surrender or home in the fire. lauren: jay leno served food to firefighters. he parallelled this tragedy to 9/11. watch here. >> it's unbelievable. it's the biggest natural disaster -- not this that 9/11 was a natural disaster, but it's literally on that scale. i mean, it's the 10,000 buildings. i mean, you can't even -- if you drove all day, you couldn't see 10,000 buildings. you get on the hill is and you look for miles, and there's nothing. it looks like hiroshima or some horrible thing. but, you know, the sense of community, neighbors meeting neighbors never met before and people all pitching in, i mean, i try the look at the bright side of things. lauren: it's hard to look at the bright side but people are. jennifer garner handed out meals to the evacuees and first

respond's. halle berry donated her entire chose set to victims who will need clothing. and hen there's this, harry and meghan. they visited an l.a. fire evacuation site in pasadena. there's pictures of them. they're getting slammed by many people. hey, you don't live here, you live in montecito. yes, they donated, they opened their home to evacuees, but they call that that disaster tourism because harry and meghan, to to me, embody the woke culture that sort of created this mess. stuart: all right, lauren, i'll leave it at that. right now pete hegseth's confirmation hearings are underway. it's on capitol hill. we'll bring you any tense exchanges, there have been some. one family saved their home from the fires by using a pool pump. watch this. >> we always have a high fire risk here, and we know that going into this season. there's no doubt in my mind that the setup that we had was what saved our house. stuart: they pumped the water out of the pool the douse the

flames. we have the residents explaining how they exactly did it. that's coming up. ♪ ♪ louis! cut! more mud! action! louis, louis! cut mud on her face! louis! okay everybody, that's lunch! (♪) (♪) mud mask? no, no, no! compare hotels in the hotels.com app

(♪)

(♪) what took you so long? i'm sorry, there was a long line at the thai place. you get the sauce i like? of course! you're the man! i wish. the future isn't scary. not investing in it is. nasdaq-100 innovators. one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com all the buzz around bitcoin isn't just talk anymore crypto has gone mainstream. at itrustcapital, you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies 24/7 with the tax benefits of an ira. that's right, with an itrustcapital ira, you can defer taxes until retirement or choose a roth ira for tax-free withdrawals later. setting up an account is quick and easy it only takes minutes. open your account today at itrustcapital.com. the new era of crypto is here.

stuart: check those markets. we're in business for 1 hour and 11 minutes. the dow's up 170, a 52- point gain for the nasdaq. officials in china, well, they are talking about selling tiktok the elon musk. come on in, grady trimble. what is musk saying about this? >> reporter: stu, he is not commenting directly on the reports, but in typical fashion he replied on x with a laughing emoji the a post suggesting that tiktok users would be upset if he bought the app. the "the wall street journal" reports that's one option chinese officials have discussed, to let elon musk invest in or take control of tiktok's u.s. operations. the journal says it's unclear if the chinese government floated

this idea the musking, himself, and they say -- to musk himself, and they say it has not discussed contingency plans with parent company bytedance. but when you think about it, stu, it's not the most far-fetchedded decision. musk already has a social media platform. he's got a good relationship with president-elect trump and a good relationship with top chinese officials because he has business with tesla in china. still, the company is throwing cold water on the idea of a musk takeover of tiktok telling fox tiktok, quote, can't be expected to comment on pure fiction. kevin o'leary, who's also interested in buying the app alongside frank mccourt, says it is unlikely. >> i'm a huge elon musk fan, no question about it, you know? he's a phenomenal entrepreneur. but the idea that the regulator even under trump's administration would allow this, pretty slim. >> reporter: i think o'leary

said the same thing to you this morning. that was on "watters' world" last night if. tick tock has said a sale is -- tiktok has said a sale is not feasible, could go dark in this the sunday. the clock is ticking. stuart: there's going to be all kinds of wild headlines like musk might be buying tiktok. i think he's right. thanks very much, grady. see you again later. the senate confirmation hearing for trump dependence secretary nominee pete hegseth is underway. good morning, ashley. what has happened so far? >> it has been a fascinating watch as this thing has gotten underway, stu. the 44-year-old army national guard veteran is certainly on the hot seat. hegseth served in the infantry and was deployed to iraq and afghanistan and guantanamo bay. during that time he was awarded two bronze stars and a combat infantryman badge. democrats are questioning his qualifications to to cover see the u.s. armed forces second only the to the president as commander in chief.

hegseth says, look, he has been the victim of a smear campaign once his nomination was announced. listen to. to this. >> there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. that was clear from moment one. and what we knew is that it wasn't about me. most of it was about president donald trump who's had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time, and he endured it in incredibly strong ways. so we, in some ways, knew it was coming. we didn't understand the depth of the dishonesty that would come with it. so from story after story in the media, left-wing media, we saw anonymous source after anonymous source based on send or thirdhand accounts. >> so democrat senator jack reed of rhode island gave his opening statement saying he just didn't believe that hegseth is qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of the job

and yesterday the nominee's personal character. now, hegseth went on to say that unlike the current administration, politics, he said, shuled plano part in military matters. he said we are not republicans, we are not democrats, we are american warriors. and by the way, a number of protesters had to be removed from the hearing as hegseth was giving his opening statement. it was almost coordinated. one got up, shouted and scream ised, was booted out s. and then within a minute or two, another one. and that was the pattern. i think they're all out now. interesting stuff, stu. stuart: this one's for you. governor ron desantis called on florida legislators to hold a special session. what's that for? if do you know, ash? ashley: yes. to get the state ready for the illegal immigration crackdown that is expected once president-elect trump takes office. but everyone greeces even in his own party -- agrees, top gop legislative leaders in florida push back calling the request premature and saying, look, they

could wait until the rell regular 60-day session to handle a long list of items. in a memo to lawmakers both the statehouse speaker and senate president said while the governor has a power to call a special session, it is the ultimately up to lawmakers to decide what bills to pass. stu. stuart: ashley, thanks very much. here's what we have later in the show, biden on the way out. he made america look weak. trump on the way in, he's already oozing strength. the whole country feels it, and so do our enemies around the world. that is me take coming up, temperature of the hour.

stuart: ah, let's see, we've got brian kilmeade. he's about to appear with us. in the meantime, look at this. the dow is up 150, but we've got a smaller gain for the s&p and the nasdaq. still green but less green. put it like that. 10:51, here is brian kilmeade. brian, our very own peter doocy shared a warm moment with white house press secretary karine jean-pierre in what may have been their last exchange with one another. i think you've seen it, but let's look at it again. >> reporter: thank you, karine. [laughter] if i don't see you again -- >> i, well, you know -- >> reporter: -- in the briefing, thank you for, you could have stopped taking the hard questions years ago, and you didn't. so we appreciate it. >> over two years, my friend,

this is, let's say, one last dance. i don't know how i'm going to fill my dance card. how will i fill that void without you? [laughter] >> reporter: you tell me. [laughter] you tell me. so -- >> start some rumors many in here, i guess. [laughter] if. >> he's getting red too. stuart: you know, brian, they have a cupid of contentious relationship. but i think that's a nice way to go out. what say you? >> it is. jen psaki, i thought, was very -- there was a lot of sparring there too, i thought it was a classy way to go out, and it was good that she kept on calling on him and vice versa. you know, the it's just a shame there weren't more people who were challenging the administration. and i think that's going to be one of the stories, stuart. i know whatever happens between them, unlike jen psaki, jen psaki gave peter answers. even if they weren't the answers you wanted, but they gave answers. i never remember an answer if from her. it's almost as if she wasn't in the room.

so i found it kind of painful to watch, but it's the not peter's a fault, it was hers. stuart: i agree. >> but jen psaki, i thought, was right on the money. stuart: a former senior white house staff ther says biden became a the different person as he aged in office. why are we just hearing this from the staffer now? >> listen, we're getting this, we're seeing these stories. this is going to be the ongoing story, and people, stuart, are going to continue to say, oh, i knew it all along. no, no, there was almost nobody knew it all along. the derision you got for bringing up his cognitive the fail beings, well, he's a stutterer, you just don't like old people, you're being unfair, you just don't like what he's saying. no, i can't understand what he's saying. i don't know where he is. why does he not do anything unscripted? remember, only in june when he failed in front of the entire world did the he decide i'm going to go put myself out there, i'm going to do network

interviews, i'm going to do press conferences to try to save my career. they were all epic if fails. epic fails. and now yesterday's speech when he tried to defend his foreign policy as a great success? almost everything about our military has suffered under him. he says our allies have increased? name one. please tell us. are we safer in europe? absolutely not. is the middle east calmer, do we have a bigger presence there? absolutely not. what about china? are they back in a box? are they contained? not even close. tell the philippines --, tell taiwan that. he never submitted a budget for defense that even matched inflation. so don't tell me we're stronger. the recruiting is not -- has not hit any goals in if any branch except the air force briefly. stuart: this follows on from a new gallup poll that shows the majority of americans think the u.s. lost ground on the economy, immigration and our position under president biden in the world, position in the world

under biden. brian, this is a failed presidency. it's harsh to say something like that, but i believe that's the case. >> it is. it's going to be impossible to defend, and americans answered. they said let's leave the house in republican hands, let's give the senate a respectable majority of 53 seats, and let's go back to the other guy in the white house. let's put him in there. go a back to what we were doing. it was not continue this ridiculous path with kamala, it's change with djt. and that's what i think america's already spoken. i don't need to see a poll. sadly, they kept almost all a facts from this president, and we suffered as a country because of it, and there's no way to soft pedal it. the worst is yet the come. the books that are going to comd missed, by the way, missed all of this. stuart: that's true. where were they? brian kilmeade, we know where you are.

good stuff. >> go get 'em, stuart. thank you so much. stuart: still ahead, jimmy pail la on karine jean-pierre if struggling to answer the question about who will be the future leader of the democracies. sheriff thaddeus cleveland on his conversation with the house border security caucus, and the "wall street journal"'s brilliant columnist, allysia finley. she says the left has turned california into a paradise lost. 11:00 hour of very in and -- "varney & company" is next. ♪ ♪ (auctioneer) let's start the bidding at 5 million dollars. thank you, sir. (man) these people of privilege... hoarding the financial advantages for far too long. (auctioneer) 7.5 at the back. (man) look at them — unaware that robinhood gold members

now enjoy the vip treatment — a 3% ira match on retirement contributions. (auctioneer) 11 million sir. (man) once they discover their privileges are no longer exclusive... their fragile reality will plunge into disarray. ♪ sofi is helping me get my money right to achieve my ambitions. like a saving for a better swing. loosen that grip. with sofi, i earn more money on my money and pay no account fees. plus i'm investing in my game. sofi can help fund all your ambitions. (♪) no matter how ambitious. bank with sofi to score

a higher apy and an epic welcome bonus. sofi. get your money right. at harbor freight, we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. whatever you do, do it for less at harbor freight. ♪ oh, it's cold outside. time to protect your vehicle from winter's wrath. of course, the hot sun can be tough on vehicles too. you need weathertech. laser measured floorliners and cargo liner will shield the carpeting from sand and snow. for your interior, there's seat protector and sunshade. plus, mud flaps and bumpstep for the exterior. impactliner, with shock absorbing rings, safeguards your truck bed from costly damage. order american made products at wt.com surf's up!

do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had

planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. >> what everybody is concerned about is those winds once again whip up flames and we see more destruction. >> the hard work became more dangerous because the people in charge of levers of all these resources did not plan for an event that they knew could happen. >> every taxpayer in america, include colluding those in california, would like to tie this aid to removing newsom and bass. now. gone. not a dime until those who are whacked from their jobs. >> when we're talking about water, 50% gets flushed into the pacific ocean for nonsense like the smelt. that is just absolutely massive self-destruction. >> the supreme court said yo