>> well, sad news. we're about out of show. according to reports everyone has to go run to the radio to watch it on fox nation. >> sandra: this is a fox news alert. all eyes on an fda hearing underway moments from now. it is the public portion of the vaccine approval process. if given the green light, the first doses of the vaccine could ship as soon as tomorrow. we'll have much more on that throughout the hour. another fox news alert. democrats doing damage control as hunter biden reveals he is under investigation for possible tax fraud. meanwhile congressmaner i can swalwell distancing himself from a chinese spy who targeted california politicians. both stories making the cover of today's "new york post." good morning, i'm sandra smith.

it is thursday, hello, trace. >> trace: good morning everyone. i'm trace gallagher. u.s. attorney's office in delaware is looking at hunter biden's taxes, the probe began in 2018 and involves money from foreign countries including china. complete coverage on all of this over the next three hours. republican house intel member chris stewart will be here in minutes. we'll also talk to senators josh hawley and tom cotton and later in the show house intel member brad wenstrup will join us as well. >> sandra: we begin to fox team coverage. dan henninger with analysis. gillian turner on the swalwell story. peter doocy is covering the biden story. will we hear from joe biden today? >> not likely. no public events on the schedule. we don't know when the next chance is we'll have to shout a question about this at him. so instead while we wait we're

revisiting all the times hunter biden has spoken about his business in china. >> we saw you in those photos getting off air force ii with your daughter and father. >> i travel everywhere with my dad. my daughter was on the trip, too. >> did you talk about your deal with china? >> of course not. >> that never came up? >> no. >> it is discuss mary for new presidents to replace u.s. attorneys in every state. it is not clear if joe biden will replace the one investigating his son in delaware. his attorney general will be named this week and we know about his philosophy there. >> i would not direct my justice department like this president does. i would let them make their independent judgment. not dictate who should be prosecuted or who should be exonerated. that's not the role of the president of the united states. it's the attorney general of

the united states, not the president's attorney, private attorney. >> joe biden is not presently a subject or target of this grand jury investigation. just hunter who came onto their radar in part in a suspicious activity report regarding his foreign transactions and joe biden has long passionately insisted he doesn't know what his son is up to when he is overseas. >> how many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings? >> i have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings. >> biden continued in that clip to tell me to ask the right questions but now we know that when we had that exchange, the feds had been probing his son's tax affairs for at least nine months, sandra. >> sandra: more on that coming up. peter doocy, thank you. trace.

>> trace: now on to another top story. congressman eric swalwell is facing backlash to a chinese spy and he claims he cut off all ties with her six years ago. his father and brother were still facebook friends with her yesterday morning. and have since unfriended her on the site. gillian turner live in washington good morning to you. what are republicans saying about all of this? >> first off, trace, this is really becoming a tale of two tales. we have swalwell insisting he did nothing improper and says the f.b.i. actually ended up thanking him for his role helping with their investigation. take a listen. >> this is a country where people who criticize the president are going to have law enforcement information weaponized against them.

>> axios broke the story that fang fang targeted swalwell when he was a city councilman back in california and interacted with him directly for several years at events. raised money for his 2014 reelection and helped place at least one intern in his office. how republican leader kevin mccarthy tweeted for years he peddled russia disinformation and now we find out he -- he is a national security liability. other republicans are using this episode as an opportunity to make their case that democrats are naive about the danger that china poses to the united states. >> time and time again you have speaker pelosi and too many of the democrats refusing to acknowledge that the chinese communist party is an adversary and we're under threat. >> a former u.s. official tells fox news the details of fang's time in the united states are consistent with other known chinese ministry of state security operations.

now as you mentioned off the top, swalwell has insisted he long ago cut off all communications with fang fang but fox news confirmed that as of yesterday his family members were friends with her on facebook. they have since unfriended one another. we don't know who unfriended who. no way to prove that yet. if we can we'll let you know. >> trace: it will all come up. gillian turner in d.c. >> sandra: let's bring in dan henninger, deputy editor for the "wall street journal" and fox news contributor. dan, this story is continuing this morning. we're learning a lot more. the house minority leader kevin mccarthy was just on fox news a short time ago and teed off on this story. listen. >> this man should not be in the intel committee. he is jeopardizing national security. what is being said in those meetings inside the scif that we don't want other people to hear or listen? you cannot take in your watch, you cannot take in your phone. but here we have an individual

who nancy pelosi, this is the real question. when did nancy pelosi know of this? and why did she maintain him on the committee? >> sandra: she will be holding a news conference 10:45 eastern time in less than two hours from now. will she give us any answers? >> typically if it's nancy pelosi, no, she won't give us any answers at all other than to hunker down and probably defend her decision or non-decision really about eric swalwell. it does call into question speaker pelosi's judgment in this area. they knew that he had had this involvement with this chinese woman back then. he denies that it led anywhere. but, you know, as the f.b.i. director christopher wray said in his interview in june with bret baier, they're opening investigations into chinese targeting in the united states every 10 hours.

so it is obviously a very serious issue. and for nancy pelosi to simply have waived onto the intelligence committee a sophomore member of congress who had had an involvement like this does really raise serious questions about her judgment going forward. >> sandra: and republicans are speaking out this morning talking about the hypocrisy, the double standard they're seeing in the way this story has been treated thus far. here is matt gaetz earlier as well. >> if i was dating a waitress at a chinese restaurant, they would be burning a hole through my front door with the mainstream media's lights and cameras and it really shows, i think, a desire to go after republicans at every cause and then to protect democrats and sadly often you get the same double standard from the media reflected in the activities of the f.b.i. and the department of justice. >> sandra: swalwell still

refusing answers. he is refusing to explain the relationship with this suspected chinese spy. dan, take the big picture for us as we learn bits and pieces of this story. new details are emerging. what should the average american think of this particularly when it comes to the threat this poses as kevin mccarthy put it to our national security? >> yeah. the big picture here is exactly what liz cheney just raised, the threat from the communist party in china. this is something the trump administration has been focusing on for the last several years. secretary of state mike pompeo gave four major speeches on the subject and the question is does all this now put a cloud over joe biden's policy towards china? because it is something that the democrats clearly have not taken seriously and the reason the american people now are so cynical about these issues is that we watch the russian

collusion narrative run against president trump for two years ending nowhere. and so even you could ask why was the american press spending all of its time chasing the russian collusion narrative that was a bridge to nowhere, while siem untainously we know the threat from the chinese comeist government was up and running and the american people read very little about that. you arrive at a situation like this eric swalwell story and half of the american people completely distrust the institutions, the security institutions of the united states and the press to get to the bottom of something like this. that's the price we're paying for what happened the first two years of the trump presidency. a loss of credibility in our institutions. >> sandra: now we have hunter biden acknowledging, he is under investigation for alleged tax fraud. where does this story go next, dan? >> well, it goes straight, i

think, to joe biden. the question is going to be asked mr. biden kept denying his knowledge of what his son was doing over there and yet obviously his son was under investigation by the prosecutors in delaware going back to 2018. it's very difficult to imagine that mr. biden, joe biden himself didn't know that and they are going to ask him why didn't he clean up this mess with his son before it got to this point? >> sandra: dan henninger from the "wall street journal." appreciate your time this morning. thank you. >> trace: breaking news, the fda holding its advisory hearing. it's remote. a public advisory hearing on whether to issue emergency access, which means approval to pfizer, biontech's vaccine. if it gets approval it means americans could be rolling up their sleeves and getting this vaccine within days. we'll keep you up to date on

the news coming out of that hearing. meantime we'll have more reaction to congressman swalwell's reported ties to a chinese spy when house intelligence committee member chris stewart joins us in moments. a fox news alert. federal authorities are now actively investigating hunter biden's foreign business dealings. could his father's presidency impact that probe? senator josh hawley will weigh in straight ahead. >> it's about time we get into this biden controversy here and what i think is going to be a deep body of impropriety. rance so you only pay for what you need. wow. that will save me lots of money. this game's boring. only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

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>> trace: house minority leader kevin mccarthy asking for eric swalwell to be removed from the house intelligence committee with his ties to a suspected chinese spy and demanding to know how much pelosi knew about that spy when she appointed him to the panel. chris stewart is a member of the house intelligence committee. thank you for joining us. eric swalwell said this quoting here, as the story referenced this goes back to the beginning of the last decade and it's something that congressional leadership knew about, which begs the question, if nancy

pelosi and intel chair adam schiff knew about this, you would think there would be an investigation before allowing congressman swalwell to, you know, be on the intelligence committee. your thoughts. >> you would think so. if you knew the incredibly sensitive nature of the information we get on intelligence you would know this is a big deal. look at the things that we know. she had a close relationship with him. not just with mr. swalwell, but with his family and with members of his staff. by the way, this wasn't some nice girl that he grew up with next door. this is a chinese citizen who was a hyper aggressive in developing relationships with politicians. we know she helped him get reelected and raise money and by the way, again, if i was a student and i held fundraisers for politicians i would raise $20. how does she have the financial resources and relationships to be effective at that? she helped place an intern in his office. for what purpose? and this continued even after

he was on the intelligence committee. there are all sorts of questions that beg to be answered. >> trace: we don't know if eric swalwell had a romantic relationship with christine fang, fang fang as she was known because his office says there might be classified information involved in that. does it matter at all, congressman? >> it matters a lot. by the way, if someone had accusations about me that said that and it wasn't true i would absolutely immediately release a statement saying that's not true. i didn't have a romantic relationship with her. and i think mr. swalwell should do the same thing if that's the case. but once again i think the more important thing here look, we need to deal with and understand, as i said a list of questions. but i think the broader issue that's at least as important is once again our democratic colleagues have not been willing to confront the threat of the chinese communist party. i was a member of the chinese

task fork. democratic colleagues wouldn't participate. it was a sincere and extensive effort to outline policy regarding china. as you know they fought president trump on his wanting to confront them on trade. they've ignored hunter biden. there is a long list of examples where our democratic friends haven't been serious about what the threat of china really is. >> trace: then the hypocrisy of it. tucker carlson said this last night. watch. >> spending personal time with chinese spies has never been than issue for him or anyone else. but come within six feet of a russian spy that's what eric swalwell draws the line. >> trace: brings up a great point. he says he wants anybody who leaked this information to be investigated and yet, you know, a few years back when we found out that carter page was being surveilled by the f.b.i. swalwell said this, that way that carter page has behaved from his interviews is also an indicator of somebody who wants

to cover up prior ties. what is good for the goose. >> oh my gosh, talk about karma. if this doesn't show god doesn't have a sense of humor what else does? he made accusations against people with zero evidence. for years they came out day after day after day from the intel committee hearings and leaked information about these individuals. and which we now know and which we would say none of this stuff they're saying is true. and while he has this background and this history, like i said, the karma on this is as thick as mud. it is ironic he would find himself in this position after their behavior for the last four years. it shows the judgment of a 12-year-old that he would have involved himself in this relationship and then acted the way he did for the last as i said four years throughout the russia investigation and impeachment. >> trace: we're still digging. good of you to join us, sir,

thank you. >> sandra: the eric swalwell and hunter biden scan dals raising new questions about china's efforts to influence u.s. policy and what the incoming administration is prepared to do about it. we'll speak to maria bartiromo about just that and a critical moment in president trump's election challenge as more than a dozen states join a lawsuit against four battlegrounds, one by joe biden. -- won by joe biden. >> they signed on because they see how strong the case is. this case goes state by state and shows how what happened -- what if i sleep hot? ...or cold?

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usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa >> sandra: the bottom of the hour. time for top headlines. federal investigation underway into hunter biden's overseas dealing and whether he committed tax fraud or other crimes involving foreign funds. >> trace: fda meeting to potentially clear pfizer's covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. if approved the vaccine could be distributed as early as friday. the u.s. recorded more than 3,000 deaths from covid-19 for the first time yesterday. >> sandra: in minneapolis the city council approved slashing the police budget there by $8 million. the city's 2021 budget proposal passed unanimously by the council despite homicides being up by more than 60% in 2020.

>> trace: trump campaign's legal fight taking a churn. 17 states along with texas filed a lawsuit in the supreme court to reverse election results in four states. the four states have until 3:00 p.m. to file a response to the high court. chief white house correspondent john roberts live from the white house with more. john, good morning to you. >> good morning to you. president trump enthusiastic about this case and why he asked the supreme court yesterday to intervene in the case as a private citizen and as president of the united states. the president's campaign putting out a statement yesterday saying the president intervend because his rights as a candidate are affected by the defendant states failure to follow and enforce state election laws during the 2020 election. a case the nation will watch closely. thought it may have the best chance of anything so far of getting into the supreme court. that is because it is texas seeking relief from other

states and as such it goes right to the supreme court, does not go through the lower courts first. texas attorney general ken paxton is asking the court to throw out the vote in four states pennsylvania, georgia, michigan, and wisconsin. paxton insisting those states adopting mass mail-in voting broke the law and therefore had a negative effect on texas voters. listen to what he said this morning. >> my voters are now disenfranchised in a national election where other states didn't follow state law. these states had different rules in different counties favoring one candidate over another and we don't know now how credible those mail-in ballots were. >> so in the case paxton is asking the supreme court to turn the choice of elect tors who will be voting on monday over to the legislatures in those four states. just so happens that republicans control both houses of the legislatures in georgia,

mitch, pennsylvania and wisconsin. the other states have got until 3:00 to file their briefs with supreme court. the president will have lunch with ken paxton and the attorneys general of 11 other states who have signed onto the case. this was a pre-planned meeting because they will all be in town, trace. you can bet that a lot of the conversation today will center around this texas case. >> trace: i would imagine. john roberts live at the white house. thank you. >> sandra: house minority leader kevin mccarthy questioning swalwell's reported ties to a chinese spy in a new interview this morning. along with the hunter biden tax investigation putting a renewed focus on beijing's attempts to both infiltrate the u.s. and influence foreign policy from within. here to talk about it is maria bartiromo host of sunday morning futures on fox business

and author of the book "the cost: trump, china and american revival." this is something you have written and talked a lot about. i want your takeaways from these two big stories particularly when it comes to the eric swalwell chinese spy story. in that new interview kevin mccarthy this morning says he is now going to ask the f.b.i. director to brief me, he said, his own words. he wants to be briefed directly from the f.b.i. about what it knows happened here. what do you want to know, maria? >> china has become much more aggressive over the last several years in terms of getting on the inside of american institutions. they have been stealing intellectual property from american companies for decades. in last several years they have gotten inside of our most trusted institutions. case in point, the indictments, the string of indictments we saw this summer including the

chairman of the chemistry department at harvard where he was being paid by the ccp to send proprietary information and research from harvard to the ccp. also the embassies over the summer that were closed in houston. they call them a spy center. secretary of state called them a spy center and also spy centers in new york as well. bottom line here is the chinese communist party has made no secret of the fact they want to be the number one super power in the world. militarily, technologically and economically. they're doing so in whatever way it takes. they aren't doing it the way america does it through innovation and hard work. they simply steal innovation, steal data, and they call it their own. that is how they are hoping to overtake the united states as the number one super power. the u.s. has gotten smart about this and has started to push back recognizing that the last 40 years of engagement with the ccp has not yielded what the

expectations were. in fact, the ccp has become more inward. they have elevated xi to dictator for life. we know they're trying to influence, bribe, blackmail members of congress. that brings me to eric swalwell. for three years eric swalwell was on the air in various interviews along with adam schiff saying that donald trump colluded with russia. we have so many sound bites of him saying that. while he was in fact literally sleeping with the chinese communist party. this is outrageous and the fact is americans need to understand what the ccp is doing and how they are trying to implicate members of congress and leaders of the country. they've gotten in academia, they've gotten in wall street, they've gotten in hollywood. remember the stories where if you make a movie about the ccp they will dictate certain

things and certain moviemakers have actually changed films. ted cruz came out with a bill to say you can't use the military shots or go to any of our forts and use our equipment if you are going to be cow to youed by the ccp. they released the pandemic around the world. they say it was an accident that they hurled it and allowed it to escape its borders. what did it do? it sewed chaos in americas and caused governors and states to change the way we operate. change the way we vote. 90 days before an election. change the way we send our kids to school. the schools are closed right now and make no mistake, chinese students are at an advantage to american students. they are in school longer, they have a different learning curriculum. america does need to get smart to recognize the threats that exist.

i talk about one story, a woman from motor ola stopped at the airport and working with them for 30 years. she booked a one way ticket back to china. stopped at the airport when going through security. they found usb ports, all these proprietary information from motor ola she was taking back to china and 13 other employees sending priority data directly to the chairman of huawei. >> you are talking and writing a lot about this and doing interviews on fox business and fox news channel. when it comes to eric swalwell we hope we get more answers. republican members of congress are demanding more answers. he is not denying that relationship and also not shedding any light on it in this moment, either. we'll expect to hear from nancy pelosi around the top of the next hour. we'll see if she adds any clarity to the situation as we

learn more. maria, great to have you this morning. >> i just want to say one more thing. while they were focused on these investigations into trump, they completely missed china. china was eating our lunch. stealing intellectual property. they wasted a lot of time, energy and money on the wrong enemy. >> sandra: maria bartiromo, we'll see you again soon. thank you. >> trace: federal investigation is now underway into hunter biden's overseas business dealings. how long will the probe survive in joe biden's administration? senator josh hawley will join us when we come back. plus a michigan lawmaker making threats to trump supporters. we'll have a report at the top of the hour on what consequences she is facing. >> so this is just a warning to you trumpers. be careful.

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>> sandra: hunter biden revealing that he is being investigated for possible tax fraud as part of a federal probe focusing on his foreign business dealings. republican senator ron johnson, who has been looking into hunter since 2019, now says he will be watching the investigation very carefully. let's bring in josh hawley, a member of the judiciary committee and he joins us now. good morning. what questions do you have and what do you want to know ?oo >> we need to get to the bottom of what has gone on with hunter biden. i hope an apology will be forthcoming from the biden campaign and from facebook and twitter and all the people who sensored the "new york post." he is under investigation for money laundering and tax fraud that involves his chinese business dealings. i want to know is joe biden involved? what did the vice president know? we know hunter was traveling to china on a government plane in order to try to seek out business. now he is under investigation

for federal crimes for this. what did joe biden know and when did he know it? he needs to answer questions. >> sandra: we know joe biden has gone on the record with one of our own reporters saying he did not talk to his son about his overseas business dealings. we'll see if that changes. meanwhile here is more from senator ron johnson on hoping they won't need a special counsel on all this, senator. basically say i will give whoever is investigating this the benefit of the doubt but i will be suspicious of an investigation similar to mid year exams. that was meant to cover up the truth and exonerate as oppose to uncover and prosecute. i will cross my fingers and hope that's not what this is about and does not turn into under a biden administration. obviously noting there is a transition in process. what happens with this investigation, senator? >> well, i tell you what is certain. if joe biden is sworn in as president at the end of january, the united states attorneys who are spearheading

these investigations must remain in office. there is no doubt there cannot be a transition of anybody who is working on this case. it is too high profile and too important and involves federal crimes and involves the vice president indirectly. and if he is going to become the president, if that happens at the end of january, this investigation must go forward and everyone involved with it must remain in place and the details of all of it must be made public. i say again the idea that joe biden has nothing to do with this and we should just take his word that he never talked to hunter about his business dealings? we know that's not true. the laptop emails make clear that's not true. there will be a lot of questions that need to be answered here. >> sandra: what will your and your republican colleagues do to insure it happens in the transition? >> the homeland security committee where i sit and senator johnson we issued a report about hunter biden's business dealings. the mainstream media dismissed it. they were wrong, we were right. we make sure these questions get answered and the investigation goes forward.

>> sandra: i want to get this in tony bobulinski, his former business partner. listen. >> it would be different if this was my word against jim biden, hunter biden, and joe biden. that would be a slippery slope. i have provided more documents and facts that validate times, meetings, who participated, not me generating the text messages. it is them speaking. >> sandra: quick reaction to that, senator. >> he is exactly right and said that in the context of the laptop and the "new york post" story about the laptop. we've had the director of national intelligence say that that laptop is not foreign disinformation. the contents appear to be genuine and know it is central to this federal investigation. these questions need to be answered. joe biden is part of the story. >> sandra: got it. so we'll continue to watch developments on that. senator, meanwhile stimulus for the american people amid this

pandemic. we know cases continue to grow. we know there are millions still unemployed having a hard time feeding their own families. what are we doing to get help out to them? >> the most important thing that congress can do is to send direct assistance checks to every working family who needs them. $1200 for individuals. $2400 for couples and $500 for every kid. that's what we did in march. every senator voted for it. the president is the one who led the charge for it. he supports that again. that's what we should do. here is what i'm going to do. we cannot agree in the next couple days. i'm introducing a bill for direct payments to working families. i will go to the floor and ask for an up or down vote on direct assistance to families. >> sandra: senator, we appreciate your time this morning and we ask you that. by the way in the context of that breaking news this morning on jobless claims they did rise by more than expected in the latest week. topping a big number 853,000. we know people need help.

thank you for being here. we'll follow it. >> thank you. >> trace: critical meeting underway right now that could clear the way for the first covid vaccine in the u.s. but how many people might be willing to take it? dr. nicole saphier will join us on that. mainstream media under fire for how it handled hunter biden's business dealings ahead of the election. did the lack of coverage have an effect on the results? >> you have cnn jeff zucker said i don't think we should be repeating the smears. they're not smears. there are actual emails and interactions with government officials and meetings with perhaps maybe the future president of the united states. i felt gross. it was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. four years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis.

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>> trace: fda advisory committee is meeting now to review the safety and effectiveness of the covid vaccine by pfizer. if approved the first shots could be rolled out within days. dr. saphier is a new york physician and fox news contributor waiting for her to join us on that. keep in mind if this advisery panel gives us the thumbs-up today this is a big deal. it means we could be rolling up american sleeves as early as tomorrow or monday. your thoughts. >> well, you're right. they started the meeting at 9:00 a.m. this morning. the vaccine advisory committee. they're fielding some questions from the committee members. after lunch they'll dive into the data that has been presented before them and they'll debate it and say does

this really warrant, has this proven safe and effective that we can now be giving it? the fda earlier this week has given us some insight that their initial view says this vaccine is good to go. we anticipate hopefully at the end of today they'll hope to get the pfizer and cdc and fda will give their final recommendations on who should get this sometime maybe tomorrow. by the weekend. as we know operation warp speed has said within 24 hours of that eua they're ready to ship millions of doses. i expect americans to start being vaccinated early next week monday or late weekend. >> trace: a lot looking at the u.k. that two people suffered severe allege i can reactions. isn't it normal regardless for what it's for? >> well, so we have to remember

there are a lot of questions that came up with the whole allergic reactions being reported out of the u.k. they're anaphylactic. life threatening. they were in a hospital setting. these were two people who had documented known severe allergy histories. they carried epipens with them. they knew that. allergic reactions to vaccines and medicines happen all the time. so people with known severe allergies know they have to really scrutinize the ingredients with their physician before they take anything. the pfizer vaccine in a clinical trial excluded people with known severe allergies. i would say just like we don't have the data yet on pregnant patients or don't have a data on the severely immunocompromised or people under 16. those with documented severe allergies probably shouldn't be first in line the get the vaccine. we don't have that safety information yet. >> trace: i want to put it on the screen. would you take the vaccine?

47% said yes, 26 no, 27 not sure. so maybe it's not a question of who gets it first but who wants it first. your final thoughts, doctor. >> what we really need to make sure we get rid of some of this vaccine hesitancy especially in the black and lat-in communities more vulnerable and wary. we need to be transparent and show the safety data and encourage people this vaccine is demonstrating to be very safe and effective and we need a large amount of the population to get us to that magic herd immunity number. if we don't reach that it will be for naught. if we don't reach the herd immunity we'll never get back to normal. become educated so you aren't afraid of this vaccine. >> trace: always good information. thank you. >> sandra: the hunter biden/eric swalwell scandals raising questions about chinese efforts to infiltrate the u.s. what it could mean for our

national security. with coronavirus cases on the rise and a new stimulus nowhere in sight lockdowns are crushing businesses that are bracing now for a brutal winter. we will hear from one restaurant owner who says the american dream has been ripped away. i'm erin. -and i'm margo.

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big onion tavern group in chicago. erik baylis. thank you for coming on today. we talked to a woman yesterday in chicago. she was part of the ppp program and she got $73. you got about $150,000 for your group and you say even that is just a band-aid. talk about that. >> correct, yeah. we're very grateful for the amount of money and help that we were able to receive, the funds. it was ridiculous to think it would make it through. the biggest issue really right now is that there is we had everything stripped from us. small band-aid was put on and now we're left to the wolves, really. >> trace: you poured a lot of money into your outdoor dining. what do you make of the debate going on across the country? politicians shutting down outdoor dining and yet you have the national health officials who told us this week there is no risk for people in outdoor dining that we know of. your thoughts. >> to say i'm frustrated is the

biggest understatement in the history of american television. the politicians are making decisions, one, that almost all of them are not following themselves which is absolutely ridiculous that you've seen here in illinois from the governor, the mayor, and other politicians. then two, i'm spending all this money on outdoors to really build an indoor/outdoor. it is one of the most ridiculous things ever. politicians need to do something. they are trying to do something and rather than actually look into it and do the hard work of figuring it out is what it comes down to in my opinion. >> trace: the national restaurant association says that if no relief is on the way 50 to 55% of restaurants in illinois will shut down. is that hype or is that real? >> that's underestimated. it is completely real. right now you have to realize the numbers are based on people

that have turned in their licenses. i have a place that is closed. i have not turned in my license yet. holding on hoping something can happen. there are so many people that are on the last limb, the last thread and we need help now. those numbers will be way more than that. we're also not thinking of all the businesses that open every year. people haven't thought about it. so much more goes into it. >> trace: people need help all the time. thank you so much. best of luck to you. >> sandra: it is 10:00 a.m. on the east coast as we learn the u.s. justice department is investigating president-elect joe biden's son hunter. the federal criminal investigation focusing on his overseas business dealings and possible tax fraud. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. >> trace: i'm trace gallagher. federal prosecutors along with the f.b.i. and i.r.s. have been

investigating hunter biden since 2018 looking into suspicious financial transactions linked to countries including china. new reaction from senator josh hawley earlier on "america's newsroom." watch. >> biden is under investigation for money laundering and tax fraud that involves his chinese business dealings. is joe biden involved? what did the vice president know? we know hunter was traveling to china on a government plane in order to try to seek out business. now he is under investigation for federal crimes for this. what did joe biden know and when did he know it? he needs to answer questions. >> sandra: joining us now arkansas senator tom cotton. republican on senate intelligence committee joins us now. welcome. what do you want to know? and what should be done as we now learn of this investigation into hunter's overseas business dealings? >> this investigation appears to be pretty far reaching. i know the biden campaign released details of a tax fraud

investigation in wilmington. that was just to show the least damaging part of the investigation. allegations of securities fraud, money laundering related to hunter biden's chinese businesses, crooked hospital deal with jim biden, joe biden's brother in western pennsylvania. these investigations span multiple jurisdictions. if joe biden becomes president and all those prosecutors are in line to be fired next month. if there were ever circumstances that create a conflict of interest and call for a special counsel that's here. >> sandra: interesting to hear you say that. miranda devine is writing about this this morning. the biden family put national security at risk saying barring a miracle biden will be sworn in as president next month and all the skeletons in his closet have grave implications for america's national security. when it comes to the biden family's business associations

with communist party entities in china it doesn't get any more serious. how do you respond to that? that's a pretty dire warning. >> i think it's very serious. the biden family has been trading on joe biden's public office for 50 years. valerie biden, sister, his brother and his son, do we really think that will change if joe biden becomes president, the highest office in the land? if they did it when he was vice president and senator, of course it will happen when he has even more power. look, we know joe biden has misrepresented his family's business dealings notice past. hunter biden flew all over the world with him. emails from laptops showed they talked bit. on two 14 hour flights two and from china do we really think joe biden said to hunter, what are you doing in china, son? to borrow of one of his favorite phrases, come on, man. >> sandra: i want to move on now to what we're learning

about eric swalwell, the democrat in the house of representatives. chris stewart was on with us earlier and he was saying about that suspected spy this wasn't the girl next door. listen. >> this wasn't some nice girl he grew up with next door. this is a chinese citizen who was a hyper aggressive in developing relationships with politicians. we know that she helped him get reelected. there are all sorts of questions that beg to be answered. >> sandra: on this story, senator, your thoughts. >> eric swalwell and nancy pelosi do need to answer these questions. i know that eric swalwell is hiding behind the cloak of classified information, sandra. i'm on the intelligence committee and i've been around the block. there is nothing classified about eric swalwell's fundraising practices or his social life. until he comes forward and has a thorough and complete explanation for what happened then he should not sit on the house intelligence committee and have access to classified

information. nancy pelosi needs to answer what she knew and when she knew it. if eric swalwell is briefed about this woman in 2015, surely nancy pelosi, the house leader, a member of the gang of eight which has access to the most classified secrets of our nation's government knew it was well. she kept him on the house intelligence committee for five years. they both have a lot of questions to answer and they need to do so in public today. >> sandra: we'll have a member of the house intelligence committee brad wen trupp will join us on top of the next hour and key to hear from him on that. kevin mccarthy the house minority leader was on fox news earlier this morning and echoed your sentiments this is a man based on what we know today should not be sitting on the house intelligence committee. listen. >> this man should not be in the intel committee. he is jeopardizing national security. what is being said in those meetings inside the scif that we don't want other people to

hear or listen? you cannot take in your watch or your phone. but here we have an individual who nancy pelosi -- this is the real question, when did nancy pelosi know of this and why did she maintain him on the committee? >> sandra: she will be holding a news conference in this hour. we'll see what she says on that. but senator mccarthy went on to say that he is going to ask the f.b.i. to brief him as the leader of the gang of eight. he wants to know more. he has questions and he is concerned about swalwell now jeopardizing things that he is hearing on that committee at this point in time. i hear you saying he shouldn't be sitting on that committee. what threat does that pose? >> again, this is why he needs to answer these questions. he said in the last day or two he doesn't know what happened to this woman or have any ties with them. apparently his brother and father were social media friends with her until yesterday. so he needs to come forward and give a full explanation of what

his relationship with her was, when the f.b.i. alerted him that she was a literal chinese spy. >> sandra: why hasn't he done that yet? >> i don't know but i can tell you it is not because he might reveal classified information. there is nothing classified about eric swalwell's social life or fundraising practices. >> appreciate you coming on with us, thank you. >> thank you. >> trace: democrat senate candidate warnock's campaign facing questions over police records that claim he was, quote, extremely uncooperative during a 2002 child abuse investigation. jonathan serrie is live in atlanta. those police records also show he tried to obstruct that investigation. >> that's what police initially wrote in that report. senator kelly loeffler brought up her opponent's arrest in

their recent debate together as she tries to portray reverend warnock as a radical who disrespects law enforcement. his arrest came while maryland state police were investigating a non-sexual child abuse allegation at a church camp. warnock was not the target of the investigation. but he and another minister were arrested for hindering and obstructing officers. according to police reports obtained by the washington free beacon the state trooper conducting the investigation explained that the two ministers were being extremely uncooperative and disruptive but a prosecutor later dropped the charges telling the baltimore sun there had been some miscommunication. >> i was working and trying to make sure that young people who were being questioned by law enforcement had the benefit of counsel, a lawyer, or a parent. and the law enforcement

officers actually later thanked me for my cooperation and for helping them. >> warnock is accusing loeffler benefiting from stock trades after receiving a briefing on the coronavirus and attempting to downplay the threat to the public. loeffler said third party advisors handle her investment. the senate ethics committee found no evidence of wrongdoing. >> i've been completely exonerated. those are lies perpetrated by the left wing media and democrats to distract from their radical agenda. >> these types of attacks don't necessarily change the minds of a polarized electorate but do rally each party's base and turnout will be the name of the game in determining which party wins this very close runoff election. trace. >> trace: it is all about turnout. jonathan serrie. thank you. >> sandra: michigan state lawmakers have stripped a democratic representative of her committee seats after she

said she had gotten racist threats and then posted this video on social media. >> so this is just a warning to you trumpers. be careful, walk lightly. we ain't playing with you. enough of the shenanigans. >> sandra: laura ingle on that. seems the situation is escalating. >> it really has, sandra. good morning to you. the war of words between the democratic state lawmaker and those who have threatened her has turned finger pointing into disciplinary action and a police investigation. now this all started after detroit representative cynthia johnson took part in the house oversight committee last week looking into president trump's claims of election fraud in michigan led by the president's attorney rudy giuliani. now some who were fired up after that heated hearing left johnson angry voice mails and

one person threatening to lynch her which she reported to law enforcement. johnson released her own message on social media to trump supporters pushing back with her own threats. >> and for those of you who are soldiers, you know how to do it. do it right. be in order, make them pay. i love you all. >> now, in another part of her facebook livestream johnson addressed the lynching threats and hundreds of other calls she says she has received saying there is a good way to do it and an expletive way to do it adding you don't have to curse anybody out. you don't have to call people names. hit their blank in the pocketbook. it led to the house stripping her of her committee duties. michigan's attorney general, a democrats, condemned her comments while calling the threats against her appalling,

ugly and deeply disturbing adding her response to those messages is also unacceptable and strongly condemns both. now johnson has posted another video to her facebook page calling on soldiers of christ to rise up against racism, misogyny and domestic terrorism. we'll continue to follow it. >> sandra: we know you will. thank you. >> trace: police in portland, oregon say they're greatly concerned about the so-called red house on mississippi avenue. protestors are occupying the property trying to block the eviction of a family. the police chief says the protestors have armed guards and a stockpile of weapons and have spray painted threats to kill police officers. >> this occupation can be solved easily. put down your weapons and allow the neighborhood to return to peace and order. >> police made several arrests in the area tuesday and say neighbors are now boarding up their homes. >> sandra: a potential piece of

tee evidence the feds appear to have found in the federal investigation of hunter biden's taxes. >> it's not surprising but it is frankly very disturbing. president trump spent days and weeks and months talking about trying to get the liberal media to cover this. to new all time . veterans can refinance their loans with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. one call to newday usa can save you $3,000 every year. you could start saving, beginning with your next mortgage payment. refi now at these historic low rates. ( ♪ )

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>> trace: we're learning new details about the federal investigation into hunter biden's taxes, two sources familiar with the probe say the feds are examining a laptop that supposedly belongs to the president elect's son. ian prior is director of public affairs. it all circles back to the laptop which the media largely ignored last time around. might be a bit harder to ignore this time. what in particular do you think they're looking for? >> well, you know, i've seen several reports. the tax issues but i think more crucially important is potential money laundering issues coming out of hunter's business dealings with china. let's set the framework here. china has come out and said we're happy to biden is elected and he will reset relationships with america which i guess means going back to them walking all over us. now we have the person who was

presumably elected president's son under investigation for dealings with china. now joe biden came out in the debate and said you know, the 50 intelligence officials said this was russian disinformation. he knew, the guy has been under investigation since 2018. joe biden got on the debate stage and lied about america. let's not forget at the same time this story comes out we learn that a chinese spy has infiltrated the affections of democrat intelligence committee member eric swalwell. so what we have here is a dangerous situation where china has the goods on potentially goods on hunter biden and joe biden is out there lying to the american people about it. >> trace: important to note that hunter biden tried to get in front of the issue. he wrote i learned yesterday for first time the u.s. attorney's office in delaware advised my legal counsel that they're investigating my tax affairs. in that statement there was no mention of the money laundering or the foreign ties.

this isn't just about by the way, you owe $3,000 in back taxes. it goes a lot deeper. >> it does go a lot deeper. what's really concerning to me as you mentioned before, this information was covered by fox, it was covered by the "new york post" and covered by james rosin but largely the mainstream media punted on it. big tech, twitter, facebook, they censored it. that should frighten everybody. we have what amounts to a ministry of information formerly known as the mainstream media doing nothing about the son of a potential president's dealings with one of our adversaries and big tech censoring it. i personally wonder what -- how have they infiltrated big tech and news media? what's going on here we have a serious situation that anybody would look at this with an objective view and say this is a big problem but the media and big tech collaborated to do nothing about it before the election.

>> trace: i want to play the sound bite from former wisconsin congressman sean duffy. >> was he tied into his dad's role of the vice president of the united states? joe biden, did he get any money from hunter biden and the work he was doing overseas? this is embarrassing for the bidens as it is exposed. >> trace: would the department of justice be in contact and advise a joe biden white house or would that be off limits? >> wow, i guess that depends on who he staffs the department of justice with. for years when i was at the department of justice we heard all about, you know, norms and how would the president handle this investigation and was he going to fire special counsel robert mueller. now we'll see when the democrats get their turn in the barrel what it will be like when president or joe biden has to answer questions about whether he has any dealings with his son's business

dealings. i would also add one other thing that was reported is that joe biden's brother, jim, is also part of an organization in western pennsylvania that is under federal investigation. both hunter and jim came up in those tucker carlson interviews and joe biden denies it. >> trace: hunter's business partner was convicted by the southern district of new york. always good to have you on. >> sandra: key vaccine hearing is happening at this hour. you are going to see a live look at the fda's hearing from experts as part of the approval process for the pfizer vaccine. this could be the last step before the vaccine is green lighted for a roll-out in a matter of days. plus new alarms over chinese influence as federal investigators investigate hunter biden's business dealings. >> it is obvious now, folks,

the chinese own the democrat party. the chinese own much of american pop culture. we know the story of hunter biden and joe biden.

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>> sandra: bottom of the hour. time for top stories. the death toll for covid hit a

new record of 3,000 deaths. >> trace: pennsylvania governor now in quaranty after testing positive for coronavirus. he says he is feeling fine and showing no symptoms. >> sandra: police records are raising questions about raphael warnock as democratic challenger in one of the two georgia runoff races that will decide which party controls the u.s. senate. those records show maryland state police said he, quote, was extremely uncooperative during a 2002 child abuse investigation. >> trace: breaking news on the coronavirus vaccine. fda panel meeting is in a break right now. they have been discussing emergency use approval for the pfizer vaccine. david spunt live at fda headquarters in silver springs, maryland. david, good morning to you. >> good morning to you. if this gets approved and fingers crossed it does at some point over the next few hours today this will be written in the history books. we're talking about a vaccine

in record speed done in one year. the same year the pandemic hit the united states. the fda is known to follow the strictest safety guidelines. as you mentioned that advisory panel is meeting until 5:00. this is the first step in the process. after the advisory panel meets they will vote yes or no, they will then pass on their recommendations to the fda career employees, the people that will actually make the final decision. then they'll go ahead and give a thumbs-up or thumbs down if it is approved. now, when the fda, if and when the fda grants that authorization we'll begin to see vaccines shipped to hospitals and nursing homes. those are the first that will get the vaccine. we may see sleeves rolled up and injections just hour after it is approved possibly tomorrow morning. the same vaccine u.k. official efs approved and distributing. officials in the united states including the secretary of selt and human services it will likely be approved and could see the vaccinations begin as

soon as tomorrow. important point to point out. these vaccines, pfizer biontech vaccine and the moderna vaccine will take two doses to make sure it's effective. >> david, thank you. >> hunter biden went all over the world with him and joe biden said they never talked about their business. hunter biden said they did. the laptop show they did as well. on two 14 hour flights two and from china do we really think joe biden never said to hunter biden, what are you doing in china, son? to borrow from one of joe biden's favorite phrases, come on, man. >> sandra: senator tom cotton as we learn more about the criminal investigation into hunter biden's financial activities involving foreign nations that include china. chris bedford, senior editor at the federalist and he has a lot to say about this. good morning. what are your thoughts as we learn now about the timing of the reports on this hunter

biden investigation? >> some of my first thoughts were exactly what we've heard. one story published in the "new york times" until this recent bombshell that even mentioned hunter biden's name since the election. one complaining about the amount of ink that conservative news outlets were giving to this story and these investigations. years of reporting at the federalist by fox news and daily caller news foundation, "new york post" trying to dig into this story. obviously suspicious foreign activities both china, an adversary and ukraine, which is not exactly an ally. these should have caused concern for reporters and politicians but buried for political reasons until now. >> sandra: now the acknowledgement of this investigation does it change? i think it will begin to change. the "new york post" deserves an apology above all. even before they were pushing back and calling this stuff

russian disinformation, the media, despite the f.b.i. and department of state saying otherwise, the dni saying otherwise. the evidence is beginning to wrack up and there are open investigations into potential tax fraud involving money from china and other foreign nations. how difficult will that be to ignore? >> sandra: that being said, we seem to learn something new on this by the minute. right now i've got something coming in to me on the news is that joe biden has now tapped susan rice as his domestic advisor. first you react to that as i get the news. >> looks like joe biden is trying to put together a lot of the old barack obama team. there has been a whole idea that this culture war and that the domestic policies of the barack obama administration and biden administration would be different and things calmer now

and things would go back to some kind of normal and moderate. barack obama ran a liberal organization, extremely liberal administration for eight years. joe biden is bringing on a lot of the exact same taenlt he had. that's a sign for conservatives and moderates in the democratic party they might not be part of this party. >> sandra: president-elect joe biden naming susan rice as head of the white house domestic policy counsel. broad sway over his administration's approach to immigration as we learn more on that. healthcare, racial inequality. elevating the prominence of the position in the west wing. dennis mcdonagh has been nominated. he was obama's white house chief of staff for the department of veterans affairs. i want to transition to the eric swalwell story. you are noting the double standard how both of those stories have been treated.

matt gaetz on that earlier with his take on the difference republican versus democrats and the treatment. listen. >> if i was dating a waitress at a chinese restaurant, they would be burning a hole through my front door with the mainstream media's lights and cameras. when democrats are targeted by foreign intelligence they get a defensive briefing. when republicans are targeted they get impeachments, investigations. exactly, threats of jail time. it really is a double standard. >> sandra: this news is a big deal being treated a bit differently and being pointed out by many republicans. we have had republicans on this program throughout the morning, chris, who have suggested he should not be sitting on that intelligence committee as we learn more details of this. >> great vision into the double standard with one of the other networks had him on for an interview. they didn't ask him once about the allegations of an affair. whether or not at least he

denied it. the anchor interviewing him happened to work for the barack obama administration for the ambassador to china. none of that was disclosed during the interview. the kind of double standard and protection you have to deal with going forward on this. if you are potentially compromised. it looks like swalwell potentially was. that's a reason to step down from any kind of intelligence committee you might be sitting on. >> sandra: we'll learn a lot more as the day goes on, chris. thank you. as i mentioned we'll hear more about this. a half hour from now we speak to congressman brad wenstrup and sits on the house intelligence committee with eric swalwell. he will be here with brand-new reaction at the top of the 11:00 hour. we look forward to that. >> trace: two big stories and hunter biden and eric swalwell. how did the mainstream media cover the news and did it get enough attention? ♪

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>> sandra: fox news alert as we learn more details about the biden transition and the naming of key members of his team. he has now announced he is tapping susan rice as the domestic policy advisor. former national security advisor and u.s. ambassador to the u.n. in the announcement dennis mcdonagh will be named to the v.a. secretary position. a continued sign that he is turning to prominent members of the obama administration to fill the names on his team. so that we just got in.

susan rice to lead the white house domestic policy council. we'll have more on that coming up. >> trace: two democrats making big news. hunter biden revealing he is under federal investigation for possible tax fraud and bombshell report saying a suspected chinese spy targeted california congressman eric swalwell as other politicians. both stories making the cover of today's "new york post." joe concha is a contributor for the hill. let's begin with swalwell's media coverage. the media coverage of the chinese spy and eric swalwell on msnbc got zero minutes. abc, nbc, cbc zero minutes. you know, chinese spy involved with an american congressman is not really intriguing, right? >> not at all. imagine in eric swalwell was say, i don't know, you had matt gaetz on before and he was talking about if he ate at a

chinese restaurants or dated a chinese waitress it would get wall-to-wall coverage. cnn three minutes 16 seconds that was an eric swalwell interview with jim shoot owe. he worked in the obama administration before and state department in china. just saying if you're eric swalwell probably the guy i'm going to as far as doing a softball interview. if you're the "new york post" right now as far as the hunter biden story you are pretty angry. let me get back to eric swalwell for a second. he actually is leading us to believe, trace, that the only reason why this story saw the light of day in axios, which isn't exactly a conservative newspaper is because trump and axios colluded to get the information out to because eric swalwell who ran for president for five minutes was a threat to trump. if you believe that i believe there is a saying around a bridge that i could use here but i think we know how to fill in the bank on that one.

>> the media coverage for hunter biden, cn11 minutes, cbc news coverage on the evening news channel, 30 seconds, nbc nightly news 26 seconds, "abc world news tonight" gave it the highest number on the networks, 1 minute 12 seconds. may be hard this time around for the networks to totally ignore the hunter biden story. >> there aren't too many consequences as it applies to joe biden because now we're post election at this point. and he got across the finish line as far as november 3 barring any legal challenges from the president still ongoing. let me read to you how the hunter biden story was covered back in october. the "new york post" rightly angry right now. they were accused of peddling

russia misinformation and their twitter account blocked out. dorsey said until you delete the tweet we won't restore your account. listen to the headlines. at the time october, cnn, anatomy of "new york post" dubious hunter biden story. "washington post". the truth behind the hunter biden non-scandal. "new york times." the last ditch effort to change the narrative and election and the return of media gate keeper. this thing was not only dismissed it was actually suppressed in terms of getting to the public and only makes you imagine, trace, as far as arizona and georgia and pennsylvania, those races that were so close, if there was the vigor around the reporting around hunter biden as there was around russian collusion, if the result could have been changed at some point. >> trace: i want to play this brian kilmeade. it was suppressed and incorrect when it was reported. >> what is amazing is you have

cnn jeff zucker said i don't think we should be repeating unsubstantiated smears. they aren't smears. there are actual emails and interactions with government officials and meetings with perhaps maybe the future president of the united states that has never been asked nor substantially denied. >> trace: makes a good point. 10 seconds. there was documents that nobody denied. emails that actually existed. >> this wasn't he said she said hearsay like we saw with russia and adam schiff when he said he had evidence of russian collusion and was never pressed to actually present it. so swalwell, hunter biden, we're seeing a post election media landscape that really is showing us a lot about the way we're doing our jobs right now in terms of consistency or the lack there of, trace. >> trace: good to see you as always. thank you, sir. >> sandra: the gym owner who fought lockdown orders is back with a way to help other small business owners trying to

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>> trace: cookie crisis may be coming this holiday seasonment pep ridge farms warns of a shortage of popular varieties because the pandemic has increased demand but also caused a labor shortage. i have to tell you, sandra,

look, it's a bummer that some won't be there. you don't go into panic mode until they cut back the hazelnut. >> sandra: i was shocked to learn there is a company that keep tracks of such data as cookie consumption. top data says during the pandemic we're eating 25% more cookies as americans. so it's tough demand. guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. >> trace: that's the way, very good. that's the way it goes in my house as well. >> sandra: breaking news from moments ago. joe biden has now named susan rice to lead the white house domestic policy council. peter doocy is on that story live from wilmington, delaware this morning. so peter, what are we learning now about what his team is going to look like? >> sandra, it has only been four months since susan rice

was considered a vp finalist for the now president-elect. when she was considered a serious contender for running mate it was because her expertise was foreign policy. at one point jim clyburn he said there was nobody with better foreign policy experience. she was out there pitching herself as a vp person saying that her experience had shown that she knew how to get stuff done. but now she is being brought in to head this white house domestic policy council. the way that is going to work is basically any of the big initiatives at the cabinet agencies, whether it's v.a., transportation, the big ticket biden items are going to run through this white house domestic policy council. the president-elect is telling us today that he doesn't see foreign policy or domestic

policy as completely separate things. however, he does want her to be part of the team. he wants her to be in the room. and we are hoping to get in the next couple of days more information about rice and what he saw in her. we don't expect to get that today because the transition team just announced that they've called a lid. no in-person events today. all these announcements about policy and about personnel are one way to get people talking about something other than the investigation into hunter biden. sandra. >> sandra: peter doocy on that story for us as we get a look into some of the names joe biden is picking to lead his team. peter, thank you. >> trace: new questions now about eric swalwell's future on the house intelligence committee after a report linking him to a suspected chinese spy. should he remain on that panel? congressman brad wenstrup, a member of the panel will join

us at the top of the hour. some hot cocoa?

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>> sandra: a new jersey gym owner who made headlines in the spring for defying lockdown orders is back and now ian smith has a directory for other defiant small business owners and americans who want to support them. ian smith the owner of atlas

gym. what is your plan to get back and start doing business again? >> we've been in business since may. we open every single day. governor murphy has thrown everything he possibly could to shut us down. he has arrested my partner and i, given us over 60 citations, some criminals. he fines us $15,000 per day for every day we're in operation. our fines are totaling over $1.2 million but we open our gym every day. no less than 500 people come and work out. we passed the 83,000 visit mark with not a single case of covid tracked back to the facility. >> sandra: why has it been so for for you to fight back? >> what's happening to the middle class and small businesses in america is nothing short of a complete tragedy. i would go so far as to call it criminal. you are putting people out of business for good. you are making them reliant on big government.

you are taking away their civil liberties under the guise of pretending like you care about public health. you are not providing any science and you are certainly not providing any data that would prove that your actions had any real basis in reality. on top of that you are not offering any help at all. so you are putting small business in a really bad position where we have to fight against a government entity. it is a very hard fight but one that is absolutely necessary at this point. >> sandra: we're still dealing with this pandemic and we're seeing spikes happening still across the nation as we await a vaccine. the hearing happening on that front right now to move forward with the approval process of that pfizer vaccine. we're looking at pictures inside your gym. i'm just curious. do you see your customers wanting to get back into the gym? it's hard wearing the mask, being indoors for so many of us that are being so careful. do your customers feel

comfortable returning? >> absolutely. we have on average anywhere from 5 to 700 members come in every day. we have no problem filling the gym. we're busy from the second we open to the second we close. our members have the option to wear a mask and less than 1% of them do. all of our other safety measures have kept our members safe and as you can tell with the 83,000 visits and no outbreaks linked to the facility. people are ready to get back to life and we can do so in a safe manner without shutting down businesses and closing them for good. and frank and i set out to prove that back in may with our safety protocol. it has been in place and shown to be effective. >> sandra: ian smith, our hearts go out to all the business owners struggling to survive this pandemic. it has not been easy. we followed your story. thanks for coming back on. our best to you. thank you. >> sandra: this is an alert as

we begin a brand-new hour here live from "america's newsroom." three breaking stories that we're following for you at this hour. the fda advisory panel as i mentioned is meeting right now to review pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. it is expected to approve it for emergency use any moment now meaning the first americans could be getting the first shots of that vaccine within just days. next the hunter biden scandal as we learn the president-elect's son has been under federal investigation for years now over his business dealings and possible tax fraud. plus the suspected spy who has taken d.c. that she tried to get close to sensitive government intelligence. congressman linked to that chinese agent, democrat eric swalwell now facing new calls for severe consequences. we'll have reaction from capitol hill in just moments. it's a busy morning from "america's newsroom." welcome, i'm sandra smith.

hi, trace. >> trace: good day today. the news is breaking. i'm trace gallagher. house speaker nancy pelosi now set to speak any minute after she expressed full congress in congressman swalwell and maybe the national security risk when he was linked to the chinese spy. senator tom cotton on america's newsroom earlier. >> until he comes forward and has a thorough and complete explanation for what happened, then he should not sit on the house intelligence committee and have access to classified information. nancy pelosi needs to answer what she knew and when she knew it. >> sandra: joining us now congressman brad wenstrup, a republican on the house intelligence committee. thank you for joining us. as far as i can tell the first we'll hear you from, a member of that committee, on reaction to this news and what should happen with your colleague. >> well you know, china is a serious concern and this whole

event is a serious concern. and i think that we need to learn more about what actually took place from mr. swalwell. this is a situation where i question where the speaker might be. did the speaker of the house know about this incident before she appointed mr. swalwell to the intelligence committee? did adam schiff know about it before eric swalwell got appointed to the intelligence committee? you know, one of the things that's very disturbing is the hypocrisy from mr. swalwell who vehemently and erroneously went after the president trump and his campaign team about russia. it was all russia, russia, russia. he showed no concern about china. if he went through an event of some type that he should be greatly concerned about china and we didn't hear from him on that. the other thing that really has me concerned and why he needs to at least address the intelligence committee is he has been out there saying i can't talk about this because of classified information. so the question becomes what

classified information did he actually potentially share with this chinese agent? these are all things that we should be aware of and actually all members of congress should be briefed on the types of things china is doing so that they can be alerted and that's not happening and the speaker is just trying to bury this. i don't think it should be buried. it is of great national significance for our national security. >> sandra: we'll see what shae has to say. the microphone and shot is up. she isn't speaking yet. when she does we'll take that. congressman, were you or any members of the intelligence committee on which you and eric swalwell sit briefed on the fact that he was targeted by a chinese spy? >> i was not informed of any of this. i'm hearing about it for the first time through the media this week. and that is even more concerning. because if this is happening to members as far as i can tell he was not a member of the

intelligence committee at that time. but he is now and this -- this is the type of information if you care about the security of the country and you've done nothing wrong, you would want to be able to share what took place with him. if he is innocent of everything. but instead we don't want to talk about it. sounds like the speaker will try to sweep it under the rug. so these are problems and i think we can at least get in a secure facility and hear from mr. swalwell himself to explain what exactly happened and like i said, he said he can't talk because of classified information. he can talk about classified information with the other members of the intelligence committee and he should. >> sandra: kevin mccarthy was on fox news earlier and fired up on all cylinders on this and he believes that he should be removed from the committee. he poses a threat to our national security. listen. >> this man should not be in the intel committee. he is jeopardizing national security. what is being said in those

meetings inis side the scif that we don't other people to hear or listen? >> sandra: should he be removed from the committee? >> well, i think we need to have a conversation with him to really discuss what took place and let the decisions be made from there. it is of great concern. you know, i served in the military. we get read in on things and we get learned on how to detect people that are trying to come after us in some way, shape or form. we get some of that with the intelligence committee and with members of congress to beware. if this is the type of person that could be vulnerable to being invaded and to become a tool for the chinese, then we need to know that. if there is any type of a pattern here. but again, we need to have this conversation. a frank conversation within the committee because it makes it difficult for us to trust our colleagues on the committee if these questions are hanging out there. so that is one good reason why he shouldn't be there unless

everything is answered and we can restore some confidence in him and his character. >> sandra: do you have any other concerns it wasn't him being vulnerable to being a target of a chinese spy that he could have been acting with them? that was suggested by kevin mccarthy that that could be a case. do you share that? >> it does strike me as curious as to why if this happened before you were on the intelligence committee you aren't telling everyone about it now especially on the intelligence committee to let us know what actually took place. if you are innocent you would share information and come forward and say hey, i want everyone to know this is the type of thing the chinese are doing. he didn't want to talk about the chinese. he has been all russia and wrong on russia. >> sandra: why do you think that is? >> that's the question that needs to be answered. i think a lot of those questions need to be answered including by the speaker of the house. >> sandra: that sounds -- as far as national security is concerned what you are saying that's a big statement. kevin mccarthy said he says he

wants the f.b.i. director to brief him on what went down. are you asking for the same? >> oh, i would love to hear from the f.b.i. director to know exactly what they found and what happened and why didn't they brief us on it before? why didn't -- why wasn't it brought to our attention on the intelligence committee? that should be something that would be brought forward to us. whether mr. swalwell was on the committee or not, if that type of thing happened. that's the type of things that we should know about as we have oversight and especially as we are there representing the members of congress to make them aware that these actors are out there and they are doing things you don't want to be engaged with. so why this has been swept under the carpet and he didn't want to talk about it now, really is challenging and so listen, four years of listening to mr. swalwell talk about russian collusion that didn't happen and act like it did and now you add this to it, the

trust is just not there and it makes it difficult for us as a committee that when i first got on it, -- it makes it difficult to trust one of our colleagues as we sit there and deal with high-level intelligence. >> sandra: you said the trust is just not there but he is still on the intelligence committee of the house of representatives. is he still receiving classified information? >> as far as i know he is. that is a grave concern. maybe it should be suspended for now until we get answers. i will suggest that. i don't know if we'll get anywhere. i will certainly be concerned with what the speaker is about to say. >> sandra: we'll listen for that as well. mark stein was on tucker last night and he makes the suggestion that the f.b.i. is responsible for mishandling the situation with eric swalwell. >> there is something serious going on. the f.b.i., when they find out,

they go to swalwell and tip swalwell off that he is -- it has come to their attention. he tells her and she leaves the country. that's actually an f.b.i. scandal and a swalwell scandal. >> sandra: do you share that concern? >> well, i do have a concern. i have a concern about different levels of the f.b.i. i tell my agents in my district i have full faith and confidence in you and the agents that are out there each and every day. what we saw in the last four years we had a component of the f.b.i. that was willing to go after people politically. so maybe in the same vein they aren't willing to go after people because of politics. the american people should know about that. if we have people in the f.b.i. turning their head on someone because of their political party, that we need to know about as well.

>> sandra: that is a good suggestion on your part. have you called your colleague in the committee, eric swalwell and spoken with him about this? >> no. i don't speak to him very often one-on-one. i used to. >> sandra: do you intend to? >> i think we should do it as a group. i don't need to have a one-on-one conversation with him. we should be in a secure facility and get answers in a formal way from him. >> sandra: that's not already in the works and that's not already happening? >> nope. >> sandra: shouldn't it be? >> i think so. but there again where is adam chiffon this? you have pelosi, schiff and swalwell. where was schiff on this? i have a good idea that he knew about it as eric swalwell got on the committee and didn't say anything to any of us. >> sandra: that's another point kevin mccarthy brought up. part of his questions and concerns is how eric swalwell at the level he was at the time

even made it onto this committee considering the requirements and the experience that it takes for both parties to agree to put someone on that committee. is that something you think about, too? >> absolutely. you know, i didn't just walk into that committee. i had to make my case at the time to speaker boehner and paul ryan and kevin mccarthy and i cited the responsibilities i had when i deployed to iraq, the level of confidence people had in me to trust me with high-level information. and to carry out our mission. those were some of my experiences. and i don't know what they do on the democrat side because again it's supported by the speaker or leader. i'm not sure what criteria they're looking for that would make someone have some type of qualifications to get onto this committee. and especially if you knew -- i don't know if she knew -- that he had a problem of engaging with the chinese. and again, we'll wait and see

what she has to say today. i certainly would like to hear some people under oath. >> sandra: you'll tell us if that will happen and if that's what your committee is planning on. congressman, when you talk about the threat china poses here is mike pompeo on that and i'll ask you a question on the other side. we don't have it. he says we cannot -- he is talking about the regime as a whole stealing information. he says they are stealing our stuff. they built their military might, brainwash our people, help cover up these activities. big statement and i'll tie in what we're talking about with eric swalwell into the hunter biden story. all the questions you and your colleagues have on that. so tie this all together and talk about national security, sir, and what all of this means for america >> so what that means is if you engage this story and that story is there a possibility

that someone is compromised? is there a possibility that someone is working with a foreign entity? this is not new in america. we've had these incidents throughout our time. today, though, the main threat in this arena is china. they aren't the only one, don't get me wrong. they're not, russia is still a concern. but why were so many -- especially on the intelligence committee on the other side of the aisle -- ignoring china basically? we really have elevated this. you heard the director of national intelligence john ratcliffe talk about it recently driving home the point we want americans to know this is what is taking place. it is taking place in our universities. we're seeing arrests take place of researchers, of doctors, of engineers that have been engaging with the chinese to steal some of our technology and to steal our secrets. we now have at our universities administrative people with the universities getting clearances so that we can inform our

universities of what is taking place on their campus. that they may not be aware of. so this is a big, big deal on a large scale and we have to address it. china is not our friend. let's just be clear. they are not our friend right now. i would love it if we all got along and we could trust them but we can't. you are seeing more and more of that and it is probably just the tip of the iceberg in so many ways. i can tell you there is a lot of members that have stories of chinese circulating in their neighborhoods and you also are hearing about it going down to the level of mayors. they are trying to engage with mayors. they look at it like a farm team. they start to build relationships with people that may someday be here at the national level as well. this is the type of things that they do and we're starting to see that being reported. >> sandra: we're currently under a president who claims to be the toughest president that we've had on china. we're now going through a

presidential transition. what does that mean for investigations like hunter biden that we know has been investigated for his overseas business dealings for years and his alleged tax fraud. >> we have to decide if we're interested in truth and justice and things that take place within our country. i was in my teens when watergate took place. even at that time i knew as a republican i felt with richard nixon did something wrong we need to investigate it and find out. and as it turned out historically he left office. so this is the type of country that we need to be. on a bipartisan basis we will investigate and find out the truth of things so we can keep america safe and make sure that we aren't vulnerable to foreign entities that really want to take us over in many ways and in many arenas. >> sandra: we're told that nancy pelosi is about to take questions there in that room. we'll certainly be listening for that. meanwhile, as far as the threat

that china poses versus the threat that russia poses, john ratcliffe over the weekend was suggesting that china is a much bigger threat than russia. where do you stand on that, sir? >> i would agree with him based on the things that i've seen and am able to see. china is the greater threat and look, they are using every tool they possibly can. they are trying to diplomatically coerce people in their region to engage with them and they try to lock them into their sphere of influence, if you will. they are using their military, expanding their military and just look at south china sea and you can see the types of things they're doing. and they make it very clear that they want to be the economic super power in the world. well, i think it's very harmful for the world for a communist regime to be the number one super power in the world and america is who everyone is turning to to step up and be

the leader for all of free people throughout the world. we've got to do that and we've got to manage it within our own country as well as help out around the world. >> sandra: what does our toughness to china mean under a biden administration? >> we'll have to wait and see. i haven't seen anything very strong. previous comments by mr. biden have suggested that china is our friend and not to worry and i'm sure you can bring up some clips of him saying things like that. and so that is a concern that we have as members of congress especially sitting on intelligence committee. maybe he needs to be reread in on some things to understand that this is not a little game that's being played. and diplomacy is one way to try to manage things but we have to make sure that they aren't cheating on anything we might agree to with them. >> sandra: i know i've kept you for a lot of your time this morning and i appreciate that. if i could before i let you go

circle back to this eric swalwell story and the fact that he is still receiving some of our top information, classified information, important to the national security of this country. i just wonder, it surprises me that you tell me that there has not been communication within the committee to organize formally an information session, at a minimum, as to what went down. we know publicly that he hasn't denied this relationship, right? but we haven't gotten an explanation. why is the intelligence committee not demanding that and how can you waste anymore time? >> well first of all adam schiff is in charge of the intelligence committee. and he would have to call that. and then you have the speaker of the house and she is the one that appoints and she is the one that could remove him from that committee. even if she wanted to do it to suspend him for a while. but right now just like i can,

i can walk into that scif and meet with staff and get information and see what's going on in the intelligence community. as far as i know right now mr. swalwell can do the same thing and has been able to do that for going on i think it's four or six years he has been on the committee. and that's a concern i think for all of us. you raise that concern. i'm glad that you do because i think america wants to know well, exactly how much were you engaged and where are we going to go from there? we don't run the committee right now. as republicans, we are looking into it and getting as much information as we possibly can. we have to hear from the f.b.i. >> sandra: we're hearing nancy pelosi talking about china now. thank you for your time. nancy pelosi. >> obviously members serve on the intelligence committee and armed services committee have that. what are your concerns? >> what should be universal?

>> background checks across the board for all members, all staff and interns on capitol hill after the concerns about mr. swalwell. >> i don't have any concern about mr. swalwell. there are those in the congress who believe -- i'm among them -- we should be seeing what influence the chinese -- i've been fighting them for over 30 years. in terms of their undue influence at universities in our countries and overtures they try to make to members of congress. in terms of mr. swalwell, the -- in the spring of 2015, the leadership of the house and the committee were informed that overtours from a chinese person were being made to members of congress. when this was made known to the members of congress it was over. that was the end of any communication with those people.

so it isn't -- i think we should make sure that everybody knows what they are being subjected to but i don't know that it means that we have to do background checks for every intern who comes into the capitol. i do think it is unfortunate that mr. mccarthy is trying to make an issue of that what we all found out at the same time. the republican leadership that several members had been approached. >> were you briefed on this? >> we knew at the same moment, the house republican and democratic leaders and the leadership of the committee were briefed at the same moment. make sure you know that. he goes around saying we knew when they knew. at that time that was the end of it. but you know what he is trying to do. he is trying to deflect attention from the fact that he has qanon in his delegation

over there. that i think is a danger in terms of our debate here about what the possibilities are for undue influence to members of congress. >> so government funding is going to come up again next friday after cr. you know how these a packages work. when do they need to come to some sort of agreement on a rescue package. it is thursday today, there are eight days until this is reconsidered. >> you know, i'm not one to ever set a date for a bill on the floor. i never was. i will give you an example of why that was not a good idea. remember when the republicans said they were going to overturn the affordable care act on the day the anniversary of the day it was enacted? the minute they said that i knew they were doomed. because you have to bring a

bill to the floor when you have the votes. and they didn't and they had to withdraw their bill. the respect -- respectful of the fact that december 26th, the unemployment insurance benefits expire, so sometime before then hopefully that december 18th date we would like to have this done. for us it is several days before because it takes time for the senate to clear its vote, you know that. so it is -- so when we have the text and the agreement then we will make that public, go to the floor, pass the bill, and give the senate time to end before the expiration of this. now if we need more time we take more time but we have to

have a bill and we cannot go home without it. i believe the administration and republicans in the senate when they say they don't want to shut down government. that it is possible to do the omnibus and we'll close there. there are still some concerns but that's the way it always goes and then the covid added to that. in order to have the covid added to omnibus you have to have an omnibus so we're working on dual tracks on that. i would hope that it would honor the december 18th deadline. but we can't go before the package is ready and the votes are there, as well as the fact that people do want to get home for the holidays such as that is. but what's more important is that we get the job done for the american people before the holiday. but we've been here after christmas, you know. we were here five years ago on

the budget and i can tell you stories about that if you want. so again, it has to be done before year's end in order to keep government open. we want it before december 26th even though it could be retro active so that remove all doubt. my view as a negotiator myself, what's the difference? just make a decision. just make a decision so that we can move forward. >> on a related note, how worried should american renters be at this point that the eviction moratorium will be allowed to expire? >> i think we should extend the moratorium. there is funding for rent in this proposal, which is one of its appealing features that the mcconnell proposal does not

even reference. but the -- but it is one thing to have money to pay the rent and that's a big advance. it would be important to extend a moratorium, too. again that's part of their negotiation. thank you all very much. thank you. >> why is the mcconnell proposal unreasonable? >> sandra: notably nancy pelosi only taking one question on the eric swalwell controversy over being targeted he and others by a chinese spy. she took important questions on more help for the american people amid the pandemic and both sides trying to get together on a stimulus package. the update on swalwell and the answer to chad's question was she has no concerns about mr. swalwell. she went back to spring 2015. she said that they were made aware that this happened. that these politicians were targeted by a chinese spy and said they were notified, those relationships came to an end

and that was it. she went on, trace, to say that members of the house both republicans and democrats, were made aware of the situation. that they were briefed on it. and that is when they made the decision to move on. we just had brad wenstrup, member of the house intelligence committee who said he was never briefed on it. in fact, is only learning that this happened now amid the headlines and the reporting on it. >> trace: i would be fascinated to get kevin mccarthy's view. nancy pelosi said that he keeps saying on television on this network when did nancy pelosi learn about this and what did she learn? well, she says they learned at the same time. they were all brought together by federal agents and briefed about congressman swalwell potentially being breached by an alleged chinese spy. they all learned at the same time. so it would be fascinating to get the house minority leader's impression of when they learned and then what the next steps

were taken. that's a key part of all this that nobody has addressed. if they all learned at the same time in 2015, what were the next steps? what happened to eric swalwell? was he briefed again by federal agent? was he investigated what kind of contacts he had with this person? this christina fang, fang fang as she was known, went back to china. nobody knows why she went back to china. was she dismissed, sent back to china, informed that she had been uncovered? that's the question that everybody wants to know now is what happened going forward. probably a good time to bring in chad pergram the capitol hill correspondent. a couple of key questions you asked and give us more insight. one apparently interns are not on capitol hill undergo background checks. >> that's right. here is how it actually works. the sergeant-at-arms at the u.s. capitol give all members and their offices the option to have background checks across

the board. fox is told there is only a few offices of that. i asked the speaker that directly this morning. now of course there are background checks given to certain aides who have portfolios that deal with national defense and also the intelligence committees. i asked nancy pelosi this morning should they put that across the board and she said i don't think we have to have background checks for every intern who walks in here. i do know there are some security forces on capitol hill who would like the make that more formal. she defended eric swalwell again today in her press conference. she did say she has concerns about china and issues of infiltration on capitol hill and in my reporting over the past five or six years that has been a concern on capitol hill of foreign agents posing as lobbyists meeting with members, meet with staff. but she says that she thought it was unfortunate that kevin mccarthy, the republican leader

who asked that she remove eric swalwell from the intelligence committee. she thought it was unfortunate he was trying to make it an issue. the group of four, the top congressional leaders get regular intelligence briefings. she said they all found out about this at the same time, this concern regarding this chinese agent. and also mr. swalwell. she said i think it's unfortunate this is how she turned this around on mccarthy that he is making this an issue when he has problems with qanon. she views that as significant and an intelligence up here and national security threat as well. the other going on on capitol hill they're trying to get a final deal on coronavirus package and fund the government. the senate late tomorrow or tomorrow will do a short term spending bill. kevin mccarthy alluded to the fact he thought they were seeing some good signs getting

toward a covid package. the speaker invoked the week between christmas and new year's a few moments ago saying we have been here between christmas and new year's to get something done. they're looking closely at the date, the 26th of december when a lot of these extra unemployment benefits expire. so you really have a lot of things going on. they try to get the government funded and try to work out a coronavirus deal. don't forget they also have to pass the final defense bill. if you look at president trump's threatened veto on that he can basically under the constitution sit on that for 10 days and change under the constitution sundays excluded. if the senate doesn't pass that to align with the house of representative this week or next week you have this period where the veto override attempt and the house of representatives demonstrated earlier this week that they have the votes to override the president and the senate earlier this summer when they passed the original version of the bill they had the votes.

it could come close to christmas as well. >> trace: a couple of things i want to point out about the swalwell thing. one, nancy pelosi dismissed it easily there saying she tried to get into the swalwell campaign and other campaigns. the bigger question is, is this one of those things it's dismissed because maybe it's happening more often than we learned about? i also want to play this sound bite and get your take on the other side, chad, of what eric swalwell said yesterday about background checks. watch. >> in our congressional offices we don't have the technical capabilities to run background checks on people who are around us. my district has a third asian descent you don't want to stereotype people as spies. we need to invest more in our intelligence resources. >> trace: don't want to

stereotype, people. is this a more prevalent problem than maybe one is letting on? >> starting five years ago i started to get word talking to some members, talking to some staff that there were concerns about, as i say, foreign operatives or potential spice or influencers infiltrating capitol hill. they can meet with people or get on staff. there are general concerns about this. a reason why there are spy novels of things written about washington, d.c. these things do happen. i was told they didn't have a direct concern about undue influence being applied to mr. swalwell. there was an instance of a case some years ago which is kind of off the record and i can't really discuss it in this format they did have legitimate concerns about. it is something that alarm bells do sound off on capitol hill. i was told there wasn't any

sort of formal conversation about swalwell although nancy pelosi alluded to just a few minutes ago that those top congressional leaders who get the regular intelligence briefings. keep in mind before she was in the leadership she used to be the top democrat on the intelligence committee. she knows intelligence issues well. it was when all the leaders found out about the swalwell situation in that briefing whenever that may have been. >> trace: chad pergram back to you as the news breaks. thank you, keen stuff on capitol hill. we appreciate it, thank you, chad. >> sandra: and as the fda reviews whether to give emergency approval to pfizer's covid vaccine we're now learning about one that may have existed at the beginning of the pandemic, dr. hotez on the validity of that claim. >> fda has given us an insight their initial review says this vaccine is good to go.

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what are we supposed the make of that headline when we saw it? how could there possibly have been a vaccine for this that already existed? >> what happened in 2003 the first sars emerged. the other name for covid-19 is sars 2. the first sars emerged out of southern china in 2003 and spread to toronto and stood up a big u.s. program under the bush administration and through n.i.h. to support vaccines for coronavirus. we started making vaccines against the spike protein and that was really important. it showed that the spike protein is the weak link in this virus and how all the current covid-19 vaccines operate. so the important point here when many people think that this was a rushed program, it was not. it is actually a program 17 years in the making starting back in 2003. >> sandra: that's really good information to have, right? in massachusetts the "new york

magazine" reports the moderna vaccine design took all of one weekend. it was completed before china had even acknowledged that was transmitted from human-to-human. it was shipped to the national institutes of health for the beginning of its phase one clinical trial. why weren't we told this then? otherwise and part of the public worry about taking the vaccine is how fast this has gone compared to other vaccine approvals. so wouldn't this be good information to put out publicly that this was already in the works? >> i think the situation there was because the rna technology is a brand-new technology and never resulted in a licensed vaccine before people didn't want to overpromise or raise false expectations. we didn't know how well it would turn out into a vaccine. a lot of us were surprised. the whole purpose of operation

warp speed was to create and use cutting new technologies like rna vaccines and a protein vaccine. we're scaling up production in india. the other piece is we don't know how durable the protection will be for the rna vaccine. will it last three months, three years, 30 years? the wisdom of the operation warp speed program. create a portfolio and get as many shots on goal as we can. >> sandra: the public approval hearing is happening now weighing in on the pfizer vaccine. we hope the green light comes soon. dr. hotez, thank you. >> trace: fox news alert as we turn to the probe into the president-elect's son hunter biden confirming that federal authorities are looking into his tax filing. sources saying their probe into his foreign business dealings began in 2018. the feds were indeed looking into that infamous laptop

dismissed by democrats and many in the media. tucker last night claiming vindication. watch. >> how do we know for sure that hunter biden is under federal investigation? where did the news come from? it came directly from the biden transition team. now keep in mind in the weeks before the election you were not allowed to go on twitter and facebook and discuss those suspicious foreign transactions. most media outlets deemed it unworthy of mentioning at all. it turns out they were all lying. if you are looking for election rigging, look no further. that's what this is. they kept information from the public in order to influence the outcome of the election. >> trace: we're live with the news that can finally be reported and it is breaking next. i'd like to take a moment to address my fellow veterans, because i know so many of you have served our country honorably. one of the benefits that we as a country give you as a veteran is your eligibility for a va loan which lets you buy a home with no down payment.

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let's get to our chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel. what are we learning today? >> he is the target of a grand jury probe but his father is not part of that investigation. a source says the investigation was established regarding foreign transactions. his business dealings with some chinese business deals are outlined in a senate committee report. chairman of the senate finance committee said two senate committees were right to be investigating biden financial family dealings for more than a year. >> but the liberal media and members of the other political party chose to dismiss our work. even falsely claimed that our work was russian disinformation and i think they did this in order to protect leaders of the other party. >> the last time we saw hunter

was with family on stage after his father gave his victory speech november 7. a member of the senate intelligence panel says it could be broader than advertised. >> investigation appears to be pretty far reaching. i know biden campaign released details of a tax fraud investigation in wilmington. i think that was just to show maybe the least damaging part of the investigation. there are allegations of securities fraud, money laundering related to hunter biden's chinese businesses. >> trace: a statement from the transition team says president-elect biden is deeply proud of his son who fought through difficult challenges including the vicious personal attacks of recent months only to emerge stronger. republican congressman are calling for a special counsel to investigate hunter biden noting a pattern of corruption. >> trace: mike, back to you as the news breaks. for more let's bring in former assistant attorney general thomas dupree. you do the math with me here. now we know hunter biden has

been under investigation by federal agents since back in 2018. 2018 is also when his former business partner, devin archer, was convicted of fraud. are we making too much into this or are we finding links here? >> i think we're starting to see some links, trace. to me the big news here is that this has been an investigation that has been going on for two years. we understand it started fairly broadly. it encompassed investigations of possible money laundering. now according to what hunter biden is saying it's focusing on his tax affairs. it is a bit surprising that this investigation in some form or another has been ongoing for two years and yet this is the first that we're actually learning about it. >> this sound bite from josh hawley earlier and get your opinion on the other side. >> you had the director of national intelligence say the laptop is not foreign disinformation. they assessed the contents appear to be genuine and now we

know it is central to the federal investigation. these questions need to be answered. joe biden is part of the story. >> trace: now we know he says the laptop that everybody ignored, the media didn't want to run the story, is now pivotal to this investigation. the laptop now tom back front and center. >> absolutely. i think as the months unfold ahead of us i think we'll be learning a lot more both about the laptop and the underlying allegations here. i think it would also be potentially an early test of joe biden's pledge not to get involved or to tamper with any investigation of his family members including his son. because you could see if he takes office and this investigation is still ongoing, he will be very, very tempted to try to meddle with it in some way, shape or form. >> sandra: louisiana congressman steve scalise speaking out about politics

getting in the way of help to our small businesses. >> a mayor telling you can't do something and they're caught doing it. a mayor in cabo telling you not to hang out with your family when he is hanging out with his family. this is insanity not based on science. if it was based on science they wouldn't be doing it. they're doing it to control these small businesses, to crush these small businesses. we see what's going on. everybody says what's going on. the speaker acknowledged it the other day. she admits she is playing games with people because she wants to wait until a new president is there. she doesn't want trump to get credit this is about who we can save and help. who needs help. we are oef in agreement on parts of this. let's pass the bills that we have agreement on and there are good bills that we do. you could literally save every small business in this country that is struggling by bringing up a bill and it wouldn't add a

time to the deficit. the money is sitting in accounts frozen. this is a program that's been widely successful. local banks know who the small businesses are. they need the relief now. they can't wait until week. i've been telling the majority leader in our colloquy since september that this bill was out there and has wide bipartisan support. they don't deny it. they point to all the areas that we disagree. the game has to end. they need to bring this bill to the floor. we're calling on speaker pelosi to bring this bill to the floor to save all these small businesses who are dying on the vine and need this relief. they need the relief today, not next week, not next month, not whenever pelosi decides to stop playing game. bring up the shab yit bill and let's give the relief to small businesses who need it now and save those millions of jobs so they can have their christmas like we want everybody else to be able to celebrate this christmas season. with that i will bring up our

conference chair liz cheney. [applause] >> thanks very much, whip scalise. every one of us lined up on these steps, every single member on the other side of the aisle, we all represent thousands, thousands of people, thousands of small businesses who are hurting. and when i watch what speaker pelosi and the democrats are doing, there are many things. many times we've come up here and raised our issues, raised our disagreements with the speaker in particular. when i watch this, it is a level of cynicism, a level of willingness to completely ignore the people she represents, that i have not seen before. i think it makes absolutely clear speaker pelosi has been in congress and has been the speaker for far too long. [applause] the american people deserve a house of representatives that

is one that will do what is needed. we're in the middle of a pandemic. we have got small businesses across this nation. we have got ag producers and energy producers, we have restaurant owners, we have hospitals, we've got people who are suffering and the speaker of the house seems to think that this is all about sitting in back rooms negotiating deals, scoring political points, when she finally says the quiet part out loud, and admits she is actually doing that. she actually has delayed getting help to the american people because she was waiting to see if joe biden would get elected president. that's what she is doing. every single american, every single member of this house, particularly every single member of her party needs to answer the question -- and i hope you all will ask them -- do you agree that the speaker of the house is in the right to continue to play politics while

people's businesses are suffering, while people are dying, while our hospitals are suffering, while our agriculture industry is suffering? every member of her side of the aisle has got to stand up and explain why they think it's okay, why they think these games are all right. people are hurting. they need help as our leaders said and whip said we have the ability today, right now instead of voting on bills to legalize marijuana and protect exotic cats, put the bill on the floor that will help small businesses and do it now. it will pass. [applause] so we stand together calling on this body, calling on speaker nancy pelosi to stop sitting on her hands and stop sitting if front of her refrigerator with the expensive ice cream and help the american people today. with that i'm going to introduce the republican leader of our small business committee mr. shabbat. [applause]

>> thank you. i was the chair of the small business committee for two terms and this past term the ranking member. and i would like to start off by just saying half the people who work in america work for a small business. about 70% of the new jobs created in america are created by america's small businesses. they are critical to the american economy. when covid-19 hit earlier in the year, this institution, the house, the senate together we passed the cares act and the ppp program, the paycheck protection program. it saved over 50 million jobs all across the country including in my district in the greater cincinnati area. i visited over 70 of those businesses and talked to businesses who would have gone under, who would have had to get rid of all their employees. it is not just the small businesses again that you are trying to help and you are.

but it's those employees and those families that they support. unfortunately the paycheck protection program, the doors to that program were shut back in august. and all we need to do -- >> sandra: we'll continue to monitor these happenings on capitol hill as you heard from steve scalise a briefing on the situation with small businesses in this country he said they need help now. liz cheney the house gop conference chair echoing that sentiment, trace, making a big statement about nancy pelosi has served her time. she is ignoring the needs of the american people. she is just trying to score political points. what a few hours this has been as we watch that, as we watch developments on the front of eric swalwell, as well as hunter biden. a lot of news coming in on a lot of different fronts. brad wenstrup making a lot of news at the top of the hour saying he was never briefed on

eric swalwell's relationship with that suspected spy and then moments later nancy pelosi at her news conference saying they all were. so there will be a lot of questions in the coming hours and days. >> trace: there will be. it is important to point out that right now as we speak one of the biggest things going on is the fda is about to approve the pfizer biontech vaccine. if they approve it today it means that for all intents and purposes we could have vaccinations being given to americans by tomorrow, saturday, sunday, or monday. that is fascinating news. how many we still don't know but we could have millions of americans vaccinated maybe by the first of the year or just after the first of the year. there is a ton breaking. of course, the timelines on all these stories is what is so pivotal to all of them. >> sandra: the hearing is in a break right now. this is the moment where that's the public portion of this which dr. hahn from the fda said this is a very important part of the american process

for vaccine approval. we'll be watching all of that. big three hours, trace, great to be with you. >> you as well. >> sandra: "outnumbered" starts right now. >> harris: fox news alert, president trump this hour is set to meet with a dozen state attorney general's. the white house says they will be discussing issues important to the nation and that the lunch meeting was set weeks ago. however, several ag's attending have joined a texas lawsuit which challenges the election results in four key battleground states. those states are now facing a 3:00 p.m. eastern deadline today to respond. we will have much more on all of that in just a few minutes, all of this developing this hour. and this is developing as well, growing questions now about