stuart: good morning, everyone and welcome to "varney" & company. there is a delay in the cease-fire deal between israel and h hamas. prime minister netanyahu says hamas has not complied in full with the details of the plan so his cabinet will not yet meet to

radify it. there's opposition inside israel and hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds of palestinians some of whom are serving life terms for murder and terrorism. president biden gave an 18-minute farewell speech from the oval office last night. it was grim. full of warnings. he thinks tech ceo's are abusing power. he calls them oligarchs who threaten our democracy. a.i. is a threat to our privacy he says. the tech moguls are like barrons. there was a dark tone throughout and he came across as an angry old man. that's my opinion. donald trump, meanwhile, has never been more popular. a new fox poll shows a best-ever approval rating, 50%. to the markets. we're looking at a mixed open after yesterday's nice, big gains. the dow is going to be down over 100 points but a modest gain for the s&p and a 78 point run-up for nasdaq. big tech is doing well again today. the yield on the 10-year treasury show it to me, please. right now, it's at 4.67.

the two-year yield, that was around 4.30. it's 4.29 at the moment. bitcoin, quoted let's see now we've got $99,000 per coin that's where its been most of the morning. all right to the price of oil. that is at 7,983 because that movement up in oil, gas prices, they've started to move higher we have regular up 2 cents at 3.10 diesel reaching 3.60. politics i guess you could call this a political story. president-elect trump has launched a last-ditch effort to save tiktok. his national security advisor, mike waltz says trump will take action to preserve access to the app. also, tiktok's ceo will reportedly attend the inauguration with several other tech titans. on the show trump as the disruptor in chief, buying greenland, retaking the panama canal, no tax on tips, k to reorganize the entire government.

trump keeps everyone off balance. just wait until we see what's in the 150 executive orders he promises on day one. it is thursday, january 16, 2025. four days to go. "varney" & company is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: goodbye, looks good. what's this? >> goodbye looks good as in goodbye, mr. biden, that's looking good. [laughter] stuart: young man. >> i'm just having fun. stuart: that's what that music is all about i do believe. a slight pickup in traffic. lauren: i noticed that too. i'm trying to figure that out. stuart: it may have killed everybody off so let's start the morning with president biden's farewell address. lauren, good morning to you. in my opinion he came across as an angry, bitter, old man.

lauren: i couldn't agree more. it was negative. it was dark. president biden warned of a wealthy tech oligarchy that threatens our democracy. >> today, an oligarchy is taking shape in america. extreme wealth, power, and influence, that literally threatens our entire democracy. lauren: he took a swipe at the tech titans and said the free press is crumbling. >> americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. the free press is crumbling. social media is giving up on fact checking. lauren: and he doubled down on climate change, being an existential threat, even linking it to the california wildfires. watch here. >> so much is at stake right now. the existential threat of

climate change has never been clear. just look across the country. from california to north carolina. lauren: he's out of touch. he's leaving office unpopular. bad blood in his own party, and american people that quite honestly have largely tuned him out. that was a 15-minute speech. i saw it as an attempt for him to solidify, to give a good grade, a passing grade, to his presidency and his legacy, but the issue is, americans gave him their verdict back in november. stuart: yes it was, the dark is the word. lauren: negative. >> strange. stuart: it was. it was a strange thing to watch last night. >> yeah. stuart: ben domenech with me this morning. ben, i'm going to sum up his farewell speech as a bitter ending to a failed presidency. he could have been gracious but he wasn't. how did you see it? >> i saw a guy at the end of his presidency but his political career who essentially is saying i have toking to show for this and it's all your fault. he was blaming the people,

basically, over and over. that's the subtext of that speech and for not going along with all of the different things he wanted to do and for not making him more successful and rewarding him for it, with another term. and i want to particularly cite that misinformation and disinformation talk t that he h. one could make the argument the only reason joe biden got to the presidency in the first place was misinformation and disinformation that was recycled through these tech entities themselves as it related to the hunter biden laptop. misinformation and disinformation about it being a russian op or something along those lines that was engineered both by those who were a politically allied to him, through the metric of not just then twitter buffets book but fk as well so the real objection he has to the tech oligarchs is not that they exist but that they aren't on his side politically and aren't willing to put their hand on the scale to benefit him or his party and that's

something he finds to be unacceptable. and if that's the only message he has going out at the end of this career to democrats, it's a message of blame. it's a message of his excuse-making. it's not something that sounds optimistic or triumphant note or points of things he was able to achieve over a lifetime in politics. stuart: well now listen to this. according to the latest fox poll, trump's favorability rating hit an all-time high. he's at 50%. meanwhile biden is leaving office with a record low approval of 36%. it seems americans like our new president, the democrats don't get it. what say you, ben? >> i think that it's about more than just personality or communication or anything along those lines. i think it's about the policies. you can look back at sort of the way that joe biden approached this when he was running for office when he was running for the presidency. he represented himself as a return to normalcy and instead he gave us extreme policy after extreme policy that didn't benefit the american people.

they've rejected that and it wholeheartedly and they are very optimistic and hopeful about what a return to donald trump as president will mean for them and for their bottom lines and for their lives. that's something that a dem demt should wake up to and make for real reconsideration of their agenda. i don't think they have done it yet and certainly joe biden hasn't yet. stuart: got it ben domenech thank you for joining us. thank you, sir. let's get to the california fires. >> laura: earn? lauren? how many are contained? lauren: the palisades fire is 21%, eaton, 45%. those two burped some 40,000 acres. i do have good news. the hurston auto fires are nearly completely contained and forecasters say these extreme winds, they've eased. that gives reprieve to the firefighters who need it. in total, 25 people have died and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed in los angeles. residents there have lost everything. they are angry.

as their mayor, karen bass, posed for photos, we have them for you, at a cocktail party in ghana as the fires started to break out. the national weather service had warned about them. she took her trip anyway, and she left her city vulnerable and exposed. bad optics. stuart: bad bad optics indeed. let's look at the futures where the market looks to be going, dow down about 100, modest gain for the nasdaq up 53. adam johnson, i'm looking at the nasdaq, adam, and i see that it's down about 7% since its december highs. now, it's coming back, it's the correction if i can call it is the correction over? >> the correction is over, yeah, absolutely. stuart there were four corrections last year. four times the nasdaq felony where from 5-11% the average was seven, so yes, you're right. you look at this current one and say well that's right in line. maybe this is the first of what will probably be two, three,

maybe four this year because that's the way markets move but there are two reasons why i think not only is the bottom in on this correction but we're going higher, and here is why. catalyst number one is we found out earlier this week, inflation is backing off. cpi and ppi backing off that's good. it may also enable the fed to keep lowering rates but even more important than that, earnings growth. we get earnings, we're already getting the bank earnings right? stuart: banks look good. >> that's a tell on the consumer. and since two-thirds of the economy is consumer-driven that's very good sign. i think we're going to see 11% earnings growth this quarter stuart. that's the highest since 2022. stuart: that's very strong. i'm looking at the s&p 500 around 6,000 almost exactly. at that level, it's 20 times earnings. >> correct. stuart: is that expensive? >> no it's not. if you go back for the past 25 years, in bull markets the market is typically traded anywhere from 17 to 23 times. so, at 20 times we're right in the middle. we're not expensive we're right in the strike zone.

in fact i've been buying this week. i've had clients call me and say you know, i've got a bonus or i've got new money or cash, what should we do with it and we want to put it to work. i think we'll see new highs in 2025 because we have earnings growth, because we have economic growth and because we have an administration that is supportive to business. stuart: we'll take that view. >> yes, sir. stuart: adam stay there, please. more later. >> okay. stuart: we have the latest read on the economy out fresh this morning. it's the december retail sales figures and. >> laura: lauren has the numbe. lauren: this captures holiday sales at 0.4% in december that was lighter than expected. november was revised to the upside. let me show you the annual basis. this is a different story. retail sales up 3.9% in december from 2023 and that was the most in a year. where's the strength? in car sales? online sales and electronic sales. simply, pretty good end for the consumer at the end of 2024. stuart: i'll take that too.

thanks, lauren. more prominent tech leaders are set to attend the trump inauguration. the latest confirmed guests being google ceo sundar pachai, and also reports trump has extended an invitation to the tiktok ceo. we have a full list of the billionaire attendees. president biden was asked point blank who gets credit for the cease-fire and hostage deal? >> thank you. >> who gets credit for this , mr. president, you or trump? >> is that a joke? thank you. stuart: my opinion, president trump's role in the negotiations was pivotal to getting the deal moving. senator ted cruz on that, next. 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

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stuart: the cease-fire deal between israel and hamas is now uncertain after israel prime minister delayed the ratification vote. lauren: the cease-fire that was supposed to come to the temporary halt on sunday ending 15 months of war, it's now in doubt. this morning, we've got this statement from the israeli government. and i quote, hamas reneged on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions. israel says there is issue over which prisoners be released in exchange for the hostages. the jerusalem post is reporting the worst of the worst would have been released from the jails, and trey yingst told fox this morning that he actually saw that phase i of this multi-phase cease-fire deal and nine hostages be exchanged

for 110 prisoners that were serving life sentences. stuart: it's unequal and not that popular inside israel, because of that exchange. lauren: concern hamas could regroup. stuart: thanks lauren. now listen to biden's response when asked about who deserves credit for the deal? roll it. >> thank you. >> who deserves credit for this , mr. president, you or trump? >> is that a joke? thank you. stuart: texas senator ted cruz joins me now. mr. senator, as i see it, the biden team did get "the talks" to the table, but it was trump who pushed netanyahu to get the deal done. so who do you think deserves the credit here? >> well, let's be clear. the credit that is unequivocal is the credit for the disaster that is october 7 and the extended war that followed and that credit is unquestionably at the feet of joe biden. joe biden spent four years undermining the state of israel, undermining the israeli government, when october 7

happened, joe biden, entire biden administration began daily pressing the government of israel, stop killing the terrorists, stop killing hamas, at every stage, the biden administration opposed israel's carrying out its stated objective of eliminating hamas. i don't know if a deal is going to happen or not. i do know that the reason hamas came to the table is because of donald trump, that he said there be hell to pay, if the hostages were not released and so my prayers are certainly that the hostages are released and released immediately, that the american hostages are released, that the israeli hostages are released but at the same time, i strongly and unequivocally support israel stated objective of completely eliminating hamas. that is an israel national security interest and it's in america's national security interest. stuart: mr. senator, you're working with texas congressman jodie arington trying to end biden's 11th hour ban on offshore drilling. can you stop the ban? >> well, we are introducing

legislation reverse the ban. we're going to bring it to the floor of congress and force the vote on it and every elected member of congress will have to decide where he or she stands. you know i've got to stay stuart. the last three months what joe biden is doing, i've never seen an outgoing president in my lifetime behave the way biden is. he is angry defying the voters. in november the voters came and voted and gave a clear mandate to donald trump, and joe biden, everyday, is putting policies in place that are essentially saying, screw you to the voters. they are doing everything they can to make it harder for president trump and the new administration to follow through on their promises and this is one example where a massive amount of offshore resources joe biden just created it's all off limits from offshore drilling. that hurts america. there was a clear mandate in november to unleash american energy, to lower energy prices, to lower prices

across-the-board, and so the legislation that i'm introducing is to do exactly that as a matter of statute. i fully expect president trump to do everything he can as a matter of executive authority and regulatory authority and so this is complementary of those efforts. stuart: trump's treasury secretary nominee scott bessent has his senate confirmation hearing today. senator warren will no doubt go after him. your laughing but is he going to get a fair hearing, senator? >> well i certainly hope she goes after him. i'd be very dismayed if senator warren was happy with president trump's treasury nominee that be a big sign he made a mistake in who he nominated. i like scott bessent a lot. he's going to be a terrific treasury nominee. he actually believes in lowering taxes and lowering job-killing regulations and unleashing small businesses and that is going to be a critical part of delivering on our mandate. stuart, i mentioned a minute ago the mandate that came from the voters. now the voters have done their job and come out and said change

the path we're on. it's now time for us to do our job. roll up our sleeves, get to work, deliver results and i'm here to tell you, we will secure the border. we will unleash american energy. we will unleash small businesses and bring back economic growth and bring down prices and we will defeat america's enemies and return us to peace and prosperity. that is the charge the voters have given us and we have an obligation to deliver on that promise. stuart: one more, senator, real fast. you're introducing a no tax on tips bill. that's part of trump's agenda during the campaign. can you explain how it would work? >> well sure. it's very simple. it provides the tip workers whether waiters or waitresses or bartenders or taxi drivers or barbers or hair stylists or nail salon workers that receive tips, they could deduct those tips from their income tax so that those tips are tax-free and president trump announced this idea in las vegas and when

he did, i thought it was a fantastic idea. i immediately began drafting the legislation to make it a reality. my bill is bipartisan legislation. two democrats have joined my bill in the senate. jackie rosen and katherine cortez basto, both democrats from nevada. the reason they joined they told me when i introduced it they said 25% of the workers in the state of nevada are working in tipped professions. i think this is a great idea and i think it is emblematic of the reality that today, republicans are a blue collar party. we are fighting for the working men and women of america, and next time you go out at a restaurant, i'll encourage you just ask the waiter and waitress, hey, what do you think about no taxes on tips? this is a tax policy directed to people who are hurting and who need relief. stuart: and of course, trump did win nevada. senator cruz, always a pleasure. thanks for joining us sir, we appreciate it. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: adam johnson still with me. >> yes, sir. stuart: if bessent, treasury secretary nominee, if he can

get trump's tax cuts to stay in place, then he's done his job, hasn't he? >> yeah, he's done one of his jobs. that's key. tax cuts, because that benefits everyone for obvious reasons, but you know there's other components to that. yes, we can cut taxes, but we have a spending problem in this country, so not only do we want to see tax cuts. we actually want to see lower spending and we need to balance the budget and we responsible. we need to get back, we need to right the ship. i think that republicans and democrats alike realize during covid that if they gave people more money, they got re-elected. i get it, right? but that's not responsible. that's not a path for long-term success. so he's got a few jobs. stuart: quick look at futures see where we're going when the market opens in just a few minutes time. we've got green for the nasdaq, tiny bit of red for the dow. the opening bell is next. ♪

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from hr to payroll, adp designs for the next anything. stuart: we've got a mixed picture as the market heads towards the opening bell mostly green. d. r. barton with us. look we've had a terrific run for the markets. gains of 20%-plus in 2023 and

2024. so, what does history tell us about what's likely to happen this year? >> yeah, stuart, i have so many friends and families, folks at church that say hey! you know, we've been up so strong, so long. i want to get out of here, and that is not the thing to do. after two straight 20% up years, stuart, dating back to the last century, back to 1897, we've had four times of back to back 20% wins where the next year, the market was up on average 20% again, so it's not statistically significant or valid but it does tell us that this isn't the time to bail. let's look at everything else, not what happened the last two years. stuart: quickly, deal with meta, please. i know you like it. its been on a terrific run recently. where's it going? >> well, i think it's going much higher for two big reasons.

number one, they have decided to play nice with the incoming administration, especially our new president. that is going to be nothing but good for them going forward, especially in the near-term. secondly, they've gotten out of the metaverse quagmire they are in and have embraced a.i. as a path forward. that's paying them dividends right now in terms of lots of different returns in their current cash flow streams. i think we're going to see more of that not less, stuart. >> [opening bell ringing] stuart: biden went out of his way to blast zuckerberg for ending fact checking last night. i think trump is in favor of meta actually. all right the market is open hit the button please, thank you very much indeed. we're up, we're running and we have the dow opening with a gain, do we? let me see. yeah, dead flat. let's call it for what it is. dead flat. there's a bit more green than red, among the dow 30. s&p 500, on the upside i believe at least the very opening bell,

yeah, 11 points higher, and the nasdaq composite looking for a bigger gain there. i think tech is doing well again this morning you're up one-third of 1% on the nasdaq. all right now show me big tech. i think they are mostly higher. microsoft is 428 up, amazon is up only $0.79, apple, alphabet and meta are all down. yesterday, terrific reports from the banks. well there's more banks reporting this morning, taylor's covering it for us. start with bank of america. taylor: yup, similar story, right? let's hear it for the traders. bank of america also deal-making investment banking doing really well. investment banking fees jumped 43%, net interest income is up 3%. that's just a measure of profitability for these banks. the ceo said every source of revenue has increased and they are doing better than industry growth when it comes to both deposits and loans. stuart: morgan stanley. taylor: let's hear it for the traders, right? especially within the equity division and some of

the volatility they are benefiting from that. equity trading revenue jumped 51% that reached an all-time high overall profit for the company doubled. stuart: what's wrong with united? they reported the stock is way down. taylor: so look elevated medical costs are persisting. they are talking about higher patient care costs. one of the ways that you can measure this within the health insurance industry is the medical loss ratio. that jumped up to over 87% the lower the number the better so they are just making less money when it comes to patient costs that are rising in medical costs that are rising. unfortunately, as we know this was after one of the top executives was murdered here in new york, so we're hearing also about that on the call. stuart: show me taiwan semi, please. i know that it's up sharply. it released its earnings, doing very well and the rest of the chipmakers yes. taylor: so tsmc leads the way the big chipmaker for apple and nvidia they are telling us

things are good so you can go down the supply chain and other companies are also going to benefit from that. they said that revenue and capex projections are beating what analysts were looking for , and they are saying that they think spending on technology when it comes to a.i. will be between 38 and $42 billion. that's about 19% higher than what analysts wanted and so again, all the chipmakers will benefit from that a.i. capex spend. stuart: apart from nvidia, do you have a favorite chip stock? adam? >> well we're looking at marvel up there as one of the other five, own that one. marvel is a company that makes chips, that specifically help organize data and that's key to the progress of a.i. stuart: got it. tesla offering discounts on the cybertruck. that's news. the stocks down eight bucks, 2%. why the discounts and how much of the discounting? taylor: the ev market is becoming crowded in case you haven't heard and so tesla and the cybertruck, they're lowering the prices again trying to

makeup in volume what they might be losing in otherwise market share and hoping volume can get them there. so, a it new car, a new cybertruck you're getting off about 1,600 bucks, and if it's -- stuart: that's it? taylor: i know and if it's a car in inventory -- stuart: wait a minute that's $100,000 vehicle isn't it? taylor: about on average 80,000. stuart: whoa. >> 80 grand for the ugliest thing ever made. taylor: i see them all around new york city. stuart: so do i but only 1,600 bucks as a discount on an $80,000 vehicle? i'm not running to the showroom. taylor: okay but if you actually buy a vehicle from the showroom that's in inventory you're getting $2,600 off. does that per sway you? stuart: no. >> no. taylor: oh, okay. next time. stuart: i've seen a lot in new york. looks like a tank. >> it's so weird. stuart: target? holiday sales. they had a report. what did they say? taylor: they're trying to convince us that the turnaround is underway, right? because we remember this is a company that probably hasn't even improved that much since

the big backlash and the big boycott against this company. so, target, they are coming out and saying look, total sales during the holiday season, november, december, were up 2.8%. digital sales up 9%. traffic is up 3%. discretionary spending on apparel and toys, that did well. they're highlighting a record black friday and a record cyber monday. again, trying to show us that the turnaround is underway, that they are a real competitor in this space. stuart: i'd call that a little lackluster, but that's my personal opinion. >> it's a hard one to own. stuart: it has and you've owned it right? [laughter] >> voice of experience. stuart: all right, taylor, thank you very much indeed. now adam back to you. you bought your stock picks so let's start with market access. >> this stock, well it's the number one automated trading platform in the world. its had five round-trips now from 200 to 250. it's getting back down towards

200. just buy it. this is a company by the way that at the height of the trading frenzy when we're all staying home, you know, during covid, this stock was 450, $500 so it's a wonderful company growing 10-15% trading at a reasonable multiple, just own it. stuart: i see blackstone you like it because i own a little tiny bit of that. >> good man. it's the largest and best-known private equity and venture capital firm in the world. they are levered to all the news that we've been talking about from the big banks to lower rates, to an improving yield curve, to m&a coming back, to ipo's coming back, blackstone is a machine buy it, own it, love it. stuart: i do, and i do love it. thanks, adam. coming up, biden has four days left in office and karine jean-pierre says he might not be done with pardons. >> i'm not going to make any commitments right now. i'm not going to lock ourselves

into a potential another opportunity to ask questions about the pardons, but what i can say is stay tuned. stuart: [laughter] you know, it does sound like some 11th hour pardons may be in the cards. just saying. the washington post says trump is considering an executive order to stall the ban on tiktok, despite the national security concerns. >> we certainly don't want the chinese government seeing all their data and passwords. he's a deal maker. i don't want to get ahead of our executive orders but we'll create this space to put that deal in place. stuart: you know, it sure looks like trump's trying to save tiktok which is of course a very popular social media app. first though, a new report reveals that in the first few hours of the pacific palisades fire, the fire chief only sent five fire engines and held back a thousand firefighters. congressman carlos gimenez was a firefighter for 25 years with a lot to say about this. the congressman is next.

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stuart: let's get back to the los angeles wildlife story. madison alworth is with us she's in altadena, california. are the fires under control right there? reporter: stuart, things are moving in the right direction. yes, this fire here, the eaton fire has hit 55% containment. i have some good news for you today. this is the first day where we are not in a red flag warning since january 7. so, firefighters, they're getting that much-needed break from those strong winds, but even still, we did have a new fire break out yesterday. so the little mountain fire that broke out yesterday. firefighters were able to respond around 2:00 p.m., and it has expanded to 34 acres. it's at 0% containment. 34 acres to put that in perspective, that's about 26 football fields.

now, the san bernardio police department, they also responded to the scene there and they have arrested a man that they believe is connected to the fire that broke out there. but that fire, much smaller, than the other four fires that we have been covering. again the big news today. this is the first day that we are not at that elevated fire warning since january 7, when those fires broke out. palisades being the largest one. palisades fire has now hit 21% containment and here, this fire, the eaton fire, 55%. that increased by 10% in just one-day. so in terms of fires we're talking about good news there, but as this chaos settles down, the new reality also settles in. i met a family here, stuart, that lives in this neighborhood and they barely escaped with their lives. one of the sons, both sons are veterans. one smelled smoke and was able to leave his house, as his neighboring house completely burned down. now, they live with the mom. three adults in one studio

apartment, two adult men, that have no belongings. >> it's bad. you know, they are staying with me, and in a micro apartment, and a cat, and they are just probably right now like in shock, and then like two days ago his truck broke down just out of the blue, so its been like so, so devastating and it's heartbreaking to see my son's going through that. reporter: the devastation on the ground as the sun comes up, every day you're just faced with it and it's the reality for these families and they are dealing with it for years to come, but again, some good news in terms of the fire. these winds, they are supposed to remain calm through the end of the week, stu. stuart: we'll take the good news. madison thank you very much indeed. now, according to a new report, this is a real shock. in the first few hours of the palisades fire, the l.a. fire department sent just five engines and withheld a thousand fire trucks and 35 regular

trucks. congressman carlos gimenez joins me now. congressman, i didn't know this but you were a firefighter for 25 years. i guess you've got some pretty strong opinions about the l.a. fire department, right? >> yeah, when you have something like that and you have these strong winds and you know that this is going to be catastrophic, i think you try to put it out as quickly as you can. you don't really want to hold everything in reserve. i mean, once it got out of hand, it doesn't matter how many firefighters or fire trucks or how much water you put on it you have 100-mile an hour wind and all that fuel it's almost impossible to stop. you've got to stop it as soon as you can if you're going to have a chance. stuart: you were the mayor of miami-dade, so what do you make of l.a. mayor karen bass' response to these fires? >> incredibly weak. i mean, you've got to be in charge. if you're the strong mayor of a town like i was, you've got to be in charge, and the people

have to know that you're in charge, that you've got your stuff together, and you've got your act together, you've got everybody there, and you're going to do everything you can in order to save as many homes as possible, but in the fire business, you know, it's not about after the fire. it's really preventing the fire, and so you knew you're going to have 100-mile an hour winds and really dry gas and all you needed was an ignition source to have a disaster. you should have started taking away some of that fuel, maybe creating some fire breaks ahead of time, so that even if it started that you could at least have a line of defense and i don't think that any of that was, and add to it that there wasn't even water in some of these reservoirs that just, you know, just icing on the cake for a disaster. stuart: yeah, just going to change the subject for a moment. i want you to listen to what trump's incoming national security advisor mike waltz what he had to say about the looming tiktok ban. roll it, please. >> president trump has been very clear. number one, tiktok's a great

platform that many americans use and was great for his campaign and getting his message out but number two he's going to protect their data. there's people who don't want the u.s. government seeing all their data and passwords. we don't want the chinese government seeing all their data and passwords. he's a deal maker. i don't want to get ahead of our executive orders but we're going to create this space to put that deal in place. stuart: congressman? are you on board with mr. trump trying to save tiktok? >> look, congress passed a law that was fine by the president we want to ban tiktok because it poses a national security threat so i'm not going to get ahead of president trump's executive order. i don't know what it is. he needs to protect, and he will, protect america's security interests and so that's the issue with tiktok and that's why we banned it. it is controlled by the chinese government. they do get all our data. that data is used by them in order to enhance their artificial intelligence

capabilities. those are a potential threat to the security of america and i know the president knows it and i know that mike waltz knows that so whatever they are trying to craft, i'm pretty confident they are going to take that into consideration but there was a pretty good reason why we banned tiktok. stuart: congressman thanks very much for joining us as always we'll see you again real soon. thank you, sir. >> thank you very much. stuart: senator marco rubio spoke about threats at his confirmation hearing. lauren? who does he think is the biggest? lauren: china, by far and away. he warned of the grave dangers of any imbalance in this u.s. and china relationship. watch here. >> prc is the most potent and dangerous adversary this nation has ever confronted with elements the soviet union never possessed. they are technological adversary and competitor and industrial competitor and economic competitor and geopolitical competitor and a scientific competitor. we have to rebuild their domestic industrial capacity and

make sure the united states is not relying on any single nation for critical supply chains. lauren: china was a large part of that five-hour confirmation hearing. it was mostly friendly. he's likely in as the next secretary of state. stuart: thanks lauren. coming up, biden's farewell speech last night had a dark tone. that's the word everybody is using. he is leaving as a deeply unpopular president. it is a saddening. that's my take, coming at you at the top of the hour. first though, the recreational vehicle industry, the rv guys, they are facing green regulations that could really hurt the industry. ashley webster will break it all down for us. he's taking a look at some of these rv's at the super show in tampa and he's next. ♪ 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?

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stuart: the 40th annual rv super show is underway in tampa, florida. ashley is there. all right, ash. that industry is facing some pretty tough green regulations, isn't it? ashley: yes, it is, stu, but it's kin a changing landscape. of course its being led by california, who else, and another states may follow suit, so, for the rv industry they

have to be in a pretty fluid situation to decide what they need to do next. having said that, not a big topic of conversation here. you can get anything from travel trailer here for less than 15,000 to this luxury beast behind me that actually goes for 1.8 million but is on sale today for 1.5 million. but i wanted to point out, stu, that during covid, rv sales absolutely skyrocketed. take a look at this chart from 2019 to 2023 you can see how it spiked but then of course it went down, so right now, the industry is coming back somewhat, if you compare sales through the end of last year, compared to the year before, they are up # .5% 6.5% so let'n board and see what you get for $1.5 million. it's very much a stu varney kind of vehicle. it is luxury beheld. i don't know how else to say it. you've got the leather hand stitched seats.

you have dining area here. don't try this salmon. i tried it, and it's fake. then you come through here back into the bedroom and you have the king size bed, which is absolutely, well, not bad at all is it? and i can jump here into the bathroom but the back here, beautiful sink, with a large shower, and tub, a half bath by the way, you have washer and dryer, right here, there's even a fireplace in the bedroom. not too shabby. storage, another half bath and then you come to the kitchen area, and very luxurious. you have confection. so stu if you want it you can have it 1.5 million on sale today. what do you say? stuart: um, not sure about that. you just sprung that right at me. you caught me. you caught me. ashley: sorry. stuart: okay. i'll think about it when i retire, which won't be anytime soon. ashley thank you very much indeed we'll see you later in the show that's a fact. i want to thank you adam for sticking around you're a

good man. >> thanks and maybe i'll see you at the rv party over the weekend. let us know if you buy that thing. stuart: it's unlikely. a programming note this is important sports fans. tomorrow, we are celebrating the 15th anniversary of "varney" & company. we have a special show lined up, you don't want to miss including clips from our very first show, when i was younger and thinner. still ahead today, deroy murdock on biden's angry and dark farewell address to the nation. the house passed a bill to keep biological men out of girl's sports. will it get through the senate? riley gaines on that. brian brenberg on donald trump being the disruptor in chief and kennedy on trump being more popular than ever. the 10:00 hour is next. ♪

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