we hope you all have a wonderful saturday and we'll see you back here tomorrow. pete: will you're an old man now if you've got a teenager as a kid you're an old man and today is national buffet day so find a good buffet in atlanta, will that's your order for today. enjoy it and have a great saturday, everybody. david: well less than three days away and over 3 million early votes already cast, in georgia where the senate is at stake in key runoff elections. president trump and joe biden both headed to the peach state on monday, but is it what senate majority leader mitch mcconnell just did that may have voters running away from the polls? good morning, everyone, and a happy new year to you all. i'm david asman, in for neil cavuto, you're watching cavuto live. we begin in atlanta with charles watson for the latest. hi, charles. reporter: good morning, david. majority leader mcconnell again shooting down another attempt to give $2,000 stimulus checks to

the american people, essentially putting him at odds with georgia republican senators just three days out from election day. senators david perdue and kelly loeffler are among only a handful of republican senators who have publicly come out and supported president trump's demand for $2,000 stimulus checks. the pair have little room to break from the president as they look for his support to help them fend off tough competition from democrats jon ossoff and raphael warnock respectively and in a rare instance of agreement warnock and ossoff agree with both loeffler and perdue when it comes to upping payments, the two democrats have used the issue on the campaign trail as they try to pull off another blue win in georgia. >> i think it's shameful. we should have passed months ago , and this is what happens when the politics becomes about the politicians. as you look at it this is a lot

of maneuvering between politicians, and they live a kind of privilege that allows them to do that. reporter: and leader mcconnell has this message of $2,000 stimulus checks as "universal cash giveaways" and said it was not the right approach to provide targeted relief so it'll be interesting, david, to see if that hurts or helps republicans as election day approaches. back to you. david: it'll be critical very interesting charles, thank you very much so over 3 million early votes are already cast in georgia, but will senator mcconnell's move to block that vote on the $2,000 stimulus check have an effect on the 4 million registered voters in georgia who have yet to cast their ballots. with me now is georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger. good to see you thank you very much for coming in, mr. secretary. first of all let's talk about these checks. you are secretary of state. you're also a republican so you have an interest in the republican's running. will this move, by mcconnell to essentially squash that vote

hurt republican chances on tuesday? >> well right now, i'm focused on making sure that we have a uniform safe orderly process on tuesday. we already have over 3 million voters have voted georgians have voted in this election. we're expecting upwards of 1 million showing up on tuesday. that's our big focus right now, making sure we have a great election day to keep those lines short and everyone enjoys today. david: but you are republican. you've announced your support for the republican candidates in the past. are most georgians cognizant of this $2,000 squabble inside the beltway, that will affect the amount of money that americans get? >> i'm sure many are. it seems that that's what happens a lot these days up in the washington beltway i'm sure but back here in georgia we have plenty on our plate and that's what we're focused on. we want to make sure that everyone that wants to vote gets out to vote if they haven't voted already. we're expecting a big turn out and we obviously know there will be a big push on election day. david: we'll talk with some pol

itico's about how that might affect the vote coming up but i want to ask the a the voter roles in georgia. there was a decision by a judge who many people say not coincidentally is the sister of stacey abrams, the democrat operative in georgia, voting to deny certain counties who had rejected 4,000 votes from who they say are out of staters who were in eligible. the judge said they are eligible , those 4,000 votes will stick. what do you think of that decision? >> it's one we don't agree with but we've been fighting liberal activist judges for the last two years as soon as i took office. when i took office i had 14 lawsuits that came from stacey abrams and other liberal activist groups like that, and this judge, stacey abrams's sister, should should have recused herself but be that as it may, we'll fight that one, but it may be too little too late because election is on tuesday. david: well that's exactly the point. i'm just wondering was there any

attempt by you or anyone else to challenge that decision because clearly, there was a conflict of interest. >> definitely a conflict of interest. the problem that you have is sometimes you don't get the answer you need from the courts, and when the court makes a decision then that's what we have to go by and that's what the counties are going to have to go with because i don't believe that there's enough time to get that overturned and get it to the appeals court. david: finally you may have heard president trump is coming to georgia and the day before the election, he's going to be speaking to potential voters trying to rally the vote but at the same time, he has been so critical of the way things have been done in georgia. i'm wondering how he threads the needle of getting people out to vote when he has questioned whether their votes in november counted? >> well, let's see what president trump does say, but i do know that our office has been very busy with what i call the rumor wackamole, every day the rumor pops up and then we pop it down and we basically

wack it down with the truth and people can't handle the truth sometimes because they're very disappointed in the results and i get that. i voted for president trump also but at the end of the day, we did everything that we could. we did an audit of the race, president trump still lost. then we did a full recount, president trump still lost. then we audited the absentee ballot signatures, the envelopes in cobb county and we found only two votes of 15,000 we surveyed along with gbi, only two out of 15,000 that weren't done correctly and they were the spouses that filled out those applications for their spouses or signed the signature s so we have a safe , secure process and people have to realize that you need to get out and vote and that's how you win elections. david: now you have been on the receiving end of a lot of gr uf from the president. you can understand, as you said, why he was so upset at the results of the elections particularly when the overall numbers, i mean, you're deep in the weeds in georgia. you know what every county has done, what every challenge has

been about, how people have met those challenges, et cetera, but there are folks outside of georgia and outside of the highly-contested states saying look at these numbers. joe biden got 12 million more votes than barack obama on barack obama's best election? i mean how is that possible? he spent the whole campaign bunkered down in his basement, not saying much at all. the president has had enormous successes with the economy, with operation warp speed, et cetera. how could he have done 12 million more votes than barack obama? that's really the overall question in most people's minds again the people out of the weeds unlike yourself. you can understand those questions, right? >> oh, i do. in fact in biden's case perhaps maybe less is more. the better he didn't say things to get himself in hot water maybe that was the best thing to do was hide in this basement but here is the facts. 20,000 republican voters traditional republican voters just skip the presidential race. senator david perdue got 19,000

more votes in the metro region than president trump did, and in our republican congressional areas, they got 33,000 more votes than president trump did, and so that's really what happened is that republicans, probably many be the more moderate republicans, just stayed away from that race or voted for the other side, but i voted for president trump, so did my wife. we contributed to his campaigns and we just have to accept the facts of what happened in the november election. i'm not happy with it and many conservatives aren't either but at the end of the day we want to make sure that we have a fair, honest election coming up tuesday and that's what we'll fight for. david: you and 74 million other americans voted for president trump as well. senator, secretary raffensperger , thank you so much for coming. best of luck i hope it's a smooth election on tuesday. appreciate it. >> thank you, david. david: so, the senate is at stake. who has the edge, the gop pollster lee carter and former democrat congressman from tennessee, harold ford jr.. harold let me go to you first on

this question, this decision by the judge who is sister of stacey abrams is one of the most activist democrats in the state of georgia. shouldn't that judge have recus ed herself from this process? i mean, it's a clear conflict of interest, no? >> well first off, happy new year and what a big race coming up next tuesday. i don't know all of the facts surrounding that judge's decision. i would imagine there are clear rules for when you have to recuse yourself and i would assume that any judge would follow that. i was most intrigued by your recent interview with the secretary of state, who made it clear that in order to win an election you need more votes, and we'll see who has more votes come tuesday evening or wednesday morning, and i think one of the things that argues to remove from the politics of one moment is whether or not we look at federalizing our voting system. i think americans rightly ask why do some states get voting results or election results quicker than others?

that's because of federalism. we allow states to make those democrats like me argued and some republicans for a long time, maybe we should federalize voting and give everyone whose a registered voter a voting card so we could get beyond the identification issues and allow a single way to vote and single way to count votes. that could solve a lot of these problems and concerns and questions that many americans have. david: it certainly does raise those questions you're right on that, harold. lee, let me ask you about this $2,000 stimulus check decision or non-decision that was caused basically by heavy maneuvering of mitch mcconnell. do you think it is going to cost republicans votes in georgia because overwhelmingly, now you're the pollster but i heard there was one poll at 80% of americans favored the $2,000 check over the $600 check. >> yeah, i think there's no question about it that this is really baffling, right? because there is so much support americans want relief. republicans are really trying to run as the party, that was going

to take care of all americans and this is something that goes right in that but i think there was something strategic behind it and let me explain what i mean. on the one hand both candidates have said they support the $2,000 check, and they support president trump. the republican party though is divided. there is a huge number of people in the republican party who don't like the idea of excess spending, who want the conservative party back the way it was, who are never trumpers and who want to see conservatives be conservative again. for those folks, they are going to be energized by what mitch mcconnell did and see that maybe this party is going back to what they want it to be. for both sides of this , those are both republicans. both sides of this could then still be energized to go out and vote, because that trump supporters who are going to be excited about the $2,000 stimulus and having these kinds of republicans in senate, and you've got others saying do you know what? it's so important i'll go out and vote even though i don't

like these kinds of republicans because i want to see that kind of balance. david: that's a very positive outlook on the whole thing. i think it's going to be a pretty hard thing to make all those details work, but president trump is going to do that on monday. harold let me just ask you about january 6. i know everybody is focused on what happens on tuesday, but on january 6, that's when the electoral college is decided in joint session of congress, between senators and house members. now, over 100 republican house members have said they're going to challenge that vote. at least one senator has said that as well. some people have called them, some democrats have called these people traders for challenging the reading of the electoral college among the joint session but remember back in 2001 when we heard the following from maxine waters, roll tape. >> mr. vice president, i rise to object to the fraudulent 25

florida electoral votes. >> is the objection in writing and signed by a member of the house and a senator? >> the objection is in writing and i don't care that it is not signed by a member of the senate >> [applause] >> the chair will advise that the rules do care. >> [laughter] >> and the signature [applause] of the senator, the segovia senator is required. david: now of course the irony here, there were many ironies to that, harold but the main irony was that the vice president who made that decision was actually the person in question. he was running for president but maxine waters was not called a trader back then for doing it but she did. many people disagreed with her, hasn't the rhetoric gone just too far with these challenges because we've seen democrats challenge these election results before. >> we have a history of that in the country, but i do think there's a big difference. you highlighted one of them.

al gore had already conceded and donald trump has not. it is clear, when i say conceded because donald trump is encouraging people to do this. i think to listen to a young josh hawley, i'm a democrat but i think his resume is as impressive as you have in the senate someone that clerked for one of the great minds in the supreme court whether you agreed with justice scalia or not he was one of the sharpest and greatest legal minds that served on the court, i wonder if he would agree with his former law clerk, senator hawley. even in that instance with congresswoman waters who i knolled hold in great and high regard she had to acknowledge the signature of the senator. david: well we have to run, i'm sorry to cut you off in mid- sentence but the bottom line is, i don't think you'd call her a trader and i don't think any republican who challenges this is a trader either, lee, harold, i'm sorry leader mcconnell i owe you one we've got to jump. more republican lawmakers calling for a special counsel,

into hunter biden but will a new administration allow that to happen? that's next. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ for every trip you've been dreaming of, expedia has millions of flexible booking options. because the best trip is wherever we go together.

david: more republican lawmakers calling for a special counsel into hunter biden but as his father is closing in on his attorney general pick, will that happen? should it happen? let's ask former acting attorney general matt whitaker. matt, great to see you. it certainly be a parting shot from donald trump into the biden administration if he appointed a special counsel before he leaves office. should he? >> good to be with you, david and happy new year. david: thank you. >> today, i think a lot of americans look back at what happened to donald trump with both the department of justice appointing a special counsel to look into the russian collusion allegations and the way that the

media covered it, breathless ly and the new york times and washington post won a pulitzer prize in their coverage of something that really was very different than what it actually was and what we were led to believe when it was reported, and so i think a special counsel is ultimately going to be necessary. you're going to see whoever the attorney general pick for joe biden is is going to get a lot of questions in confirmation hearing about the regulations at the department of justice, and whether it's necessary to appoint a special counsel. i think ultimately, they will conclude that it is necessary based on the regulations and we will see a special counsel and i think one of the benefits of the special counsel, david, and i wouldn't oftentimes wish that on anybody but in this case, there will be a report at the end of that special counsel investigation and i think the american people deserve to know what hunter biden was doing while his dad was vice president and also what happened after his dad was done being vice president -- david: forgive me for interrupting but since there was so many inconsistencies in terms of what joe biden was

saying about his son and what he knew about his business dealings , et cetera, can we rely on him to choose an attorney general who will have the independence to pick a special counsel and therefore, if we can't rely on that, shouldn't president trump, before he leaves office, choose a special counsel on his own? >> well, i'm sure that, you know, there's no doubt there is a criminal investigation into hunter biden. that's pretty much been -- david: hunter biden admitted it , yeah. >> so really the question is then, under the department of justice regulation, is there a conflict that requires the entire department of justice to be recused and to appoint a special counsel under that regulation. i'm not sure we're there yet. i think we would need joe biden to be sworn into create that conflict because the regulation doesn't provide, david, for a special counsel in the case of an incoming administration that's going to have a conflict but at the same time, they did appoint one to look into the origins of the russia investigation, so it seems to me that there is some precedent to

appoint a special counsel under special circumstances like we have in this. david: and the difference between the dossier, the dossier on trump that turned out to be a lot of garbage that wasn't verified by the fbi, compare that to the evidence that we have seen so far about hunter biden, what he has done. we have evidence in the form of a laptop that he had, we have evidence in the form of testimony from former business partners, there was also a federal appeals court in new york that just upheld a conviction against a guy working with a chinese company that hunter made deals with which was a very corrupt company, of course we know about burisma, and there's also questions about whether joe biden himself was involved in this. >> you're absolutely right and no doubt there's nor evidence against hunter biden and his business dealings in chinand the ukraine than there ever was against president trump but the problem with the mueller investigation is that andy

mccabe determined the president was the target of an investigation and by mechanically the deputy attorney general whose the acting attorney general for purposes of that investigation appointed a special counsel because he determined there's a conflict and that's just where we're not there yet, david, but i think we will, when joe biden gets sworn in. david: you know what we didn't have a chance to talk to at all is eric swalwell and the chinese connection but we'll have to deal with that another time. >> i always enjoy being with us david: matt whitaker thank you so much, well 1,200 nashville workers facing uncertainty as investigators search for a motive in the christmas day bombing. meet one business owner who says the once-lively downtown area now feels like a war zone, which is next.

>> if we would have had probable

cause to get inside the home with a search warrant, we would have. the officers did everything they could legally maybe we could have followed up more, hindsight is 20/20. david: metro nashville police chief john drake admitting the department could have followed up more on a warning about the crist may day bomber although they did heroic actions that day saving lives. i'm sure my next guest would have liked to have seen a little more action before the bombing, ashley berguron is the owner of studio 208 an art gallery that was destroyed by the blast and she joins me now. ashley i'm so sorry. is it completely gone? are you going to have to start from scratch? was there anything left? >> hi, david, thank you so much for having me on. david: sure. >> no actually i'm in the middle part of it right now, there is art all around me and we had the front room and the back room sustain the damage , so the force of the blast came in and glass was everywhere, the back walls kind of caved in in the center, so

but we were really really fortunate, so i'm actually in a space right now, it's cold because the windows are boarded up, but we were really lucky. david: how did you first hear about the blast? >> well actually, i was supposed to be asleep in my bed. i actually live in the back of my gallery, and the day before, i canceled my flight, for no reason. i just decided i didn't need to come home, so i woke up not in my bed, and i had about 50 text messages, phone calls, and my eyesight in the morning isn't that clear, and so i didn't know i thought they were just wishing me merry christmas, so i was waking up expecting to hear all of this love from my friends and family, and instead i heard "are you okay"? what's going on? are you home? are you okay? i mean, it was like just question after question after question, text after text after text, so of course, i had to get up and i made a phone call and i said what happened? you know, i called the closest

person who lives nearest to my house and they told me what they knew, which wasn't enough. we didn't know enough, yeah. david: it's just, you know, everything, we talked about this last week when we talked to some other business owners in nashville, you started with horrible weather that was a challenge to a lot of businesses , and then you had the pandemic lockdowns and then riots and then you had, i mean, you have literally been hit with , i don't want to jinx it but it seems like you've been hit with just about everything and everything that's possible to be hit with. how do you go on? how do you keep your spirits up? >> oh, my gosh, that's such a great point in question because when the march tornadoes hit i got the same amount of phone calls and texts because it was half a mile from my building so i didn't know when i woke up then what i was going to see so i just ran outside of my front door to see if my neighborhood was destroyed then, but ironically, when i woke up in

march, i thought, oh, my gosh, somebody bombed our city. i'm not kidding like i actually saw that so when i got to the message in december, on christmas morning, it was almost like it was shock and then fear and then sadness, but then like an immediate sense of peace because i knew i had no control and i couldn't worry that wasn't going to help me. david: but your determination to go on. a lot of people outside of the situation like this would say how did they get that determination? you are convinced you're going to go on and rebuild, right? >> i am, and so is our community. i'm resilient, our community is resilient. we are the strongest, we're called volunteers for a reason. we've had the flood, the tornadoes, the pandemic, the riots and now we've had this horrible horrible situation downtown that has decimated an entire block of historic buildings that were built in the

1800s. david: unbelievable. >> and it is unbelievable, and it is so unbelievable that i keep saying that we're in the t ruman show abdomen somebody will wake us up and say "just kidding." david: we have to go but final quick question what about the artists and their work? was it damaged and if so how do you pay them back was it insured >> yeah, luckily i am insured. we did have one main pace sustained damage and the piece behind me on my shoulder survived the tornado and i've been housing it here and it survived the bombing, so this is a pretty big miracle and the america piece, and i really want to reemphasize that we're going to rebuild. i work with a non-profit as a volunteer and it's called the district nashville, and we're going to rebuild with an amazing and do a big concert and a telethon and funds matching. david: we wish you the very best. >> thank you. david: anybody interested in art you can do yourself a favor and of course ashley in nashville a favor by looking

into studio 208. ashley, rebuild well. i'm sure you're going to make it with that attitude you're not going to lose. you're not a loser you're a winner. >> thank you so much i appreciate it. david: thank you. well a new massive stimulus package providing many americans with more relief but could joe biden's tax hike plan stop the benefits of the relief? that's next. stock slices. for as little as $5, now anyone can own companies in the s&p 500, even if their shares cost more. at $5 a slice, you could own ten companies for $50 instead of paying thousands. all commission free online. schwab stock slices: an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. schwab. own your tomorrow.

david: joe biden is at home this weekend focusing on his agenda and the critical senate runoff in georgia that could impact the outlook for his presidency and what he gets done and not done. hillary vaughn with the very latest from rehobeth beach, delaware. reporter: hi, david well president-elect joe biden is facing his first big test of the new year right in georgia and how things shake out in the sun at runoff there could shape his entire presidency, so, vice president-elect kamala harris is headed to campaign in savannah, georgia tomorrow, where democratic senate candidates raphael warnock and jon ossoff and president-elect biden will be there monday but the stakes are very high for him there. a former top aid to former democratic senate leader harry reid puts it like this. it's not that you can't get anything done in the minority or get everything done in the majority, but having the gavel, having that leadership control, can be the difference in successor failure, for an administration. battles are already brewing

between democrats and republican s in congress over spending, forecasting what the next four years could be like under president biden with the divided congress and his expensive agenda. senate majority leader mcconnell is unlikely to bring to the floor big ticket items that biden wants like a public option for the aca or billions in tax hikes on some americans, but another round of covid relief could be on the table. >> vice president biden said he expects to send us an additional request for help once he assumes office. once the legislation we have passed has a chance to benefit the american people, we'll see if more relief is needed and then, if it is needed, we should absolutely do more. reporter: biden and his wife jill rang in the new year at home and biden's message to americans going into 2021 is take the vaccine. >> oh, you have to take it and it doesn't hurt, i promise, and

so as long as everybody -- >> she hates needles so that says something. we've now found vaccines that are available and they're going to work and we just have to get a better way of getting more out there, quicker. reporter: and that's one thing biden says he will work on right away, david, is getting the vaccine rollout accelerated. he wants more money for states to do that, and a national strategy and also will have mobile units deployed to rural areas to get the vaccine out there, to those communities. david? david: the vaccine we should mention wouldn't be available were it not for warp speed is is that made it available. everybody said it couldn't be done but it is. well joe biden is promising more federal covid relief in the new year but could that relief be wiped out by tax increases that he's also promised? joining me now is fox news contributor adam lashinsky, out west, well management's rebecca walzer and cpa and market analyst dan geltrude. dan first to you, i've spoken to

a lot of companies, large and small, who say they'd give up another round of relief if they could get a promise that they could believe in that their taxes wouldn't go up. have you heard the same thing? >> yeah, i have, david. everybody is really afraid of what a biden presidency is going to look like if he has both houses of congress and he's able to get through significant tax hikes. the thing about these tax increases that biden is proposing, it's in the name of tax fairness, but that's really not true, when 1%, the top 1%, pays 40% of the income tax, and you have nearly half the people in the country paying no income tax at all, so it is already completely skewed, and it's skewed against the people who create jobs and business owners, so it's absolutely the wrong direction to go in. david: and again, rebecca, the business people who are being killed right now, because

of all of the lockdowns, are primarily small businesses, many of whom might see their taxes go up, even though they're not necessarily the richest of the rich. they are just people who take their income as personal income rather than because they're not incorporated, but they could get hurt by tax increases, couldn't they? >> you know, david, this is happy new year. david: happy new year. >> on a positive note for 2021 but certainly talking about biden's tax plan is not positive i completely agree with dan and i'll just say if you look at the metrics that we have on the closures, david, we've had almost 200,000 small businesses closed, 100,000 of them, almost over half are permanent closures, so we need a plan going forward, now that we have vaccines, we need a plan going forward, to reopen this country, and biden's tax plan, now he proposed this while he was running for an election. if he does, in fact, get both houses of congress, you're going

to see something there that on his tax plan that we just can't afford to do in the middle of still being shutdown. half of our states are still shut down and they're going more in that direction because of no new variant strain, david so this is a disaster, and the senate election cannot be more important on monday. i just cannot stress or tuesday , how important this election is, because you know, we don't know what kind of tax number we're going to see if we have an all blue government at the federal level. david: adam, joe biden doesn't listen to me. maybe he'll listen to you. you're out in silicon valley or your wife, if i'm not mistaking your wife works in silicon valley. >> yes. david: a lot of those companies have done extremely well. there was a tax winfall, billion s of dollars that california got because of the success of silicon valley over the pandemic here. isn't there a way that you could advise joe biden to sort of carve out the small guy, not the big companies, because they,

as i say have done extremely well, carve out the smaller companies, maybe they look rich on paper, but they're not because they pour their money back into their business, carve them out of any tax increase. >> david, i also want to wish you and evils a very happy new year. david: thank you, my friend. >> great to be here. i think we should caution not to hyper vent it late here about high taxes. we should say attention to the sequence of events that's going to happen. the first thing that's going to happen and everybody knows this is more stimulus, more relief for the people who need it including the people you're talking about. you make a great point, david, that a lot of these people are small business owners you're referring to are taxed at personal income taxes. if their businesses are shutdown and by the way, david, not because of lockdowns but because of the pandemic, if their businesses are shutdown, their income has gone down dramatically, regretably, that means they're not going to be paying higher taxes. no matter the tax rate, and what they will be counting on is this

stimulus relief, which they're going to get and by the way they're going to get that no matter what the make up of the senate is after next week's election in georgia. david: but again, of course, dan you do have these record highs in the stock market, the stock market continues to do well hoping that once the pandemic is over, that all the lockdowns go away, that the vaccine gets around and everybody will be flying and going to hotels again and things will be hunky dory, but i remember a lot of optimism after the last recession when 2008 and 2009 finished up and instead of seeing lower taxes and lower regulations which administration s used to do to get out of a recession with had higher taxes with obama-biden and more regulations and that led to one of the slowest recoveries on record, right, dan >> yes it did and that's why when you're talking about increasing taxes its been said over and over you can't tax your way to prosperity. as far as the market goes the

markets a funny thing, because it is forward-looking, but not too forward-looking, meaning that the furthest the market likes to go out is about a quarter related to what the earnings reports are going to look like, and if we're going to see higher taxes related to corporations and that's exactly what joe biden wants to do, that is not going to fare well in the stock market and i anticipate not just a slowing down in the economy, but also a slowing down in the growth of the market and that hurts everyone. david: well i think joe biden is going to listen to adam lashinsky and he maybe able to carve out small businesses. that's my hope, anyway. i'm praying for that. we're going to see more of the panel coming up later in the show, thank you folks. well the new covid-19 strain spreading to more states, more on that coming next. want to sell the best burger in every zip code? add an emploanye eloyee.

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david: well that quicker- spreading mutated version of covid virus popping up in at least three states as vaccinations continue nationwide, so, will we see it spread here as quickly as it has in the uk? joining me now, university of washington chief strata chief strategy office, of population health, dr. ali mukted. doctor, good to see you. can we get the vaccines out before this thing begins to spread like it did in the uk? >> good morning. this has been spreading here for a while, so unfortunately, it's against time and then this version has been here for a while, since the people who caught it and we know they're having trouble, so circulating here and unfortunately, it's too late for us for this round and for this type, but yes, we can control other circulation if we rollout the vaccine as soon as possible. david: how much more infectious is this mutation than the first variety that we encountered?

>> not enough data us to tell how much it is but what we have heard from our colleagues in the uk about 70% more and we know right now that that's what's going on. david: wow, that's a lot more infectious, so, so far, as i understand it, and you hinted at this , there haven't been tracing back to the uk by these cases that we've seen. does that mean that the kind of mutations we've seen here were not imported but they developed organically in the united states >> it's hard to tell, but it could have been imported and circulating here and this person got it from somebody who has been to the uk or somebody who was in contact with somebody who has been in the uk. viruses, as i said, they do mutation, and in the united states, we need to do getter genomics to know what kind of viruses are circulating here, at home. david: now very quickly i want to talk about the vaccines, because we have an embarrassment of riches right now.

they're not getting out as they should and we'll talk about that later in the show, but the fact that we have four or five vaccines that look good that are getting ready to be put out is very encouraging but they're different and this new variety, the pfizer variety and i think moderna is the same, has this m rna factor in it that's causing allergic reactions. the old style vaccines, johnson & johnson has one that seemed to have less bad reactions so should we look if we have a choice, look for johnson & johnson instead of pfizer vaccines? >> no, we should take whatever is available for us, and again right now, we have a protocol when people are getting a vaccine they will wait and we're ready for any reaction, so we're taking all of the measures to make sure we deliver the vaccine safely, and i advise everybody to take the vaccine that's available as long as it is fda- approved. david: whatever you can get , dr. mokdad, good to see you, appreciate it. >> thank you.

david: well a pop star is fed up and speaking out against cancel culture and what she's saying, coming up, next. >> ♪ ♪

david: pop star alipa is fed up with cancel culture calling it toxic and dangerous and actor brian cranston following her lead saying it breathes less forgiveness in our world so are these celebrities right is it time to cancel cancel culture joining me is fox nation host cat timpf. i couldn't wait for this segment because i think this is all too little too late from these folks what do you think? >> i agree, look i agree with them, but yet, they're saying this after lots of people have already been canceled, and the

ironic thing is, people who do this sort of canceling or the people who are the social justice warriors they claim that what they want is tolerance, they want people to understand what oppressed groups are going through, but ironically, as mentioned it can make you very afraid and and should you'll say something the wrong way and so it actually prevents people from having real conversation about these issues, about trying to learn things from other groups, because people are so afraid if they accidentally ask a question the wrong way, or say something the wrong way, it's not going to be a discussion, they are just going to find themselves canceled. david: it's ironic that a lot of this is coming out of hollywood. they did film after film about the mccarthy era where there were black lists where if anybody said anything that appeared to be soft on communism , they be black listed they couldn't get a job et cetera. that's exactly what's going on now, right? >> it's exactly what's going on

and brian cranston is right that ironically it making it a less tolerant culture, if you want people to be educated and learn a how that not to happen. we're all humans and we can make mistakes and we can all accidentally offend someone without meaning to and if you are somebody who gets joy out of canceling someone and destroying their life over a mistake, as a human, you yourself have made mistakes and that's not tolerance. that's not kind. that is absolutely cruel. david: another thing, maybe it's not as important alabama this but as a word smith it bothers me to hear these people call themselves progressives, the cancel culture specialists. this is the most regressive movement, i mean, it goes back thousands of years, destroying statues, burning books, et cetera. that's what cancel culture is all about, and the worst elements in our society have been doing this for thousands of years. it is retrograde. it is absolutely regressive, not progressive.

>> yes and it's also, it's also a bit arrogant, right? ironically, because you're saying okay, the whole world needs to operate under what my feelings are. that's not altruistic, that's narcississtic and even when people do make mistakes mistakes are mistakes and the way social media is things can easily get twisted. i myself have been in situations where i've said something that has been twisted another way and then i have people tweeting me telling me to kill myself even though that's not what happened and you guys are the nice, sweet tolerant people, enough. david: enough is enough. there was a point, during the mccarthy era, where a couple people said that very publicly enough is enough, its got to stop now and we still haven't arrived at that moment but we're going to get there pretty soon, i hope, cat, we'll see more of cat coming up in the next hour, thank you for being here. well los angeles deputy district attorneys taking the new city'sd a to court and want to block what some are calling a very dangerous change to sentencing rules for violent

criminals and the person who is leading that legal fight against the da is coming up, you don't want to miss her. with oscar mayer deli fresh it's not just a sandwich, far from it. it's a reason to come together. it's a taste of something good. a taste we all could use right now. so let's make the most of it. and make every sandwich count. with oscar mayer deli fresh ...

>> well, the rush is on to close the deal in georgia as the nation waits to see which party is going to hold the majority in the united states senate. democratic candidate jon ossoff making his closing arguments this morning in athens, georgia. that's where we find our own superstar peter doocy. come on, man, what are you doing out there? by the way, that's now the standard response to a question from peter doocy. come on, man! right? >> i'll take it. i'm getting used to it, david. there was a direct question now to the democratic candidate raphael warnock about why it is that somebody who attended a camp he used to run in maryland

is coming forward to allege abuse by the counselors there, which included, this counselor says -- or rather, this camper says that this counselor threw urine at him. >> again, i think, here again it's quite obvious that kelly loeffler doesn't have a case to make why she should be sitting in that seat so she continues with the politics of distraction and division and she can't explain why she profited off of the pandemic, while denying the people of georgia the kind of support that they need. >> david perdue, the republican incumbent, is still quarantining after a close contact with a covid infected staffer as kelly loeffler is hitting the trail with ted cruz. she's been pushing back on warnock's claims trying to use his biography against him.

>> we're going to tell lies about my campaign, let's tell the truth who he's campaigning with. this is the truth, radical liberal raphael warnock has been involved in child abuse, domestic abuse, he's someone who has praised fidel castro, louis farrakhan, karl marx, these are radicals. >> and any minute we expect an appearance from jon ossoff here in athens, just a few steps away from the university of georgia campus. he's going to come with his staff to explain to volunteers how to canvass in a socially distanced way and they're going to try to talk to voters outside of their homes and we heard one of the preliminary speakers saying they're going to try to knock on 5,000 doors in this area, just today as they try to get out the vote on tuesday, since early voting is all wrapped up. david. david: by the way, i should mention for all the common, man's in answers to your question, i don't hear any answers to your questions. i just hear the come on, man.

and peter doocy one of our own. see you soon. at the white house, where the president is calling out the senate for in the voting on a bill for more for americans and vetoing his bill. >> the president has been badgering republicans to pass a number of his priorities, instead the senate delivered the president the first veto override for his administration and sidelined a number of his demands. the president's response, he tweeted, our republican senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of section 230 which gives unlimited power to big tech companies, pathetic. now they want to give people ravaged by the china virus, 600, rather than $2,000, which they so desperately need. not fair or smart.

with an 81-13 they overrode the vetoed bill. and for scrubbing names from military installations and tech companies, in so-called section 230. and the president wants to more than triple the covid relief checks. the republicans say the nearly half a trillion dollar cost is too expensive. >> every fine point of that negotiated, signed into law to provide targeted fiscally responsible assistance to the people in the country who need it the most. this proposal is a shotgun approach. >> socialism for the rich is not in the midst of this terrible pandemic putting a $2,000 check into the hands of working families. >> now, remember, david, this

measure passed the house, it's not that congress can't revisit this, but the house would have to pass those $2,000 checks again. that's because, well, this current congress runs out soon and the new congress takes over tomorrow. david. david: but they won't have a chance to vote on it again until after the georgia election. that's a key point. rich, thanks so much. let's take a live look at capitol hill where a new congress is going to be sworn in for a rare sunday session. that's tomorrow as lawmakers call for even more stimulus. my next guest is a newly elected congressman, will he support it? august p lchl -- pfluger. good to see you. are you for that $2,000 check? >> as has been mentioned

something taken up in this current congress, any new provisions for bills i want to see the details and understand what it is that's going to be helping the working class americans of no-fault of their open. small businesses have been shut down and they're on lockdown. i'm proud of the judges and those in my district to keep americans safe and to fight to keep our businesses open. the larger question, we need to get back to work and the economy to get back. david: we sure do, the point is that a lot of people are suffering terribly. according to one poll about 80% of americans favor that $2,000 over the $600 check and there's a further question about how mcconnell's maneuverings to not vote on it before the georgia election will affect the georgia election, are you concerned about that? >> well, we're concerned about the georgia election for sure, yes, you're right. there are many americans suffering that need help that

targeted help, and they need programs like ppp to help their businesses get back to normal. so, yeah, we'll have to see how it unfolds and obviously, has been stated on your show already, the turnout in georgia is going to be key. we need folks to get out and to vote for mr. purdue, ms. loeffler to keep the senate and keep it red. david: as i mentioned, you are a proud veteran of the wars in the middle east. you flew-- you were active for 20 years in the air force. you're actually, i believe, still a lt. colonel in the reserves, am i right on that? >> i'm a colonel in the reserves, that's right. david: and you were on president trump's security counsel. security council. what do you think is the greatest threat? >> no doubt it's china and the president rightfully three years ago pivoted our focus to china, this existential threat, this great power administration, i'm worried about the incoming

administration and their lack of focus and we'll be watching closely their cabinet picks to make sure they're focused on china because it's certainly a focus of mine and my colleagues in the military and the people who have been in the national security business and we're going to be watching closely to see what their actions are. david: and i would imagine that you were quite concerned that a member of the house intel committee, who had no experience to be on that committee when he was appointed, by the way, was compromised by a chinese communist spy? >> well, that's just absolutely disgusting to think that somebody could be compromised and be on the house intel committee. hunter biden's dealings with chinese businesses. all of these things lead us to believe there is a lack of focus, that there is a real lack of concern about china as a threat, which is why this incoming class of 43 freshmen, the most diverse class in the history with more women, more minorities, more veterans, very proud of this class. they have the focus. we're going to be fighting for our districts, fighting for our

country, for our security. david: very quickly. are you going to try to get on that house intel committee? you certainly have the credentials for it, unlike mr. swalwell. will you get on it and do you recommend that he resign from that committee? >> well, for sure i recommend that he resign and we'll see whether or not i get on that committee. but my focus will be first and foremost, my district for the national security items, that we represent, which include oil and gas, agriculture and the military so anybody that doesn't have those agenda items that's on that committee, including mr. swalwell, needs to resign for something that is clearly a compromise and a contradiction of holding our constitution. david: congressman-elect august pfluger. we're glad to have you as a member of the congress. >> thank you. david: as the federal government distributes the

vraci vaccine, the it's up to them to get this. and as the contagious strain is in the u.k. and how will they stop the spread. governor polis, thank you for being here, happy new year. we're all concerned about this fast-spreading. faster-spreading version of covid. what's the latest on your ability or inability to trace where it came from? >> so, you know, at this point we were the first to find the variety moo here in the united states. and it doesn't mean it's the only state. there are a number of strains and sadly 2 or 3,000 a day here in colorado coming down with coronavirus. it's still a minority of cases. we've found two tentative identifications and we identified one and expect

another one soon. it spreads quickly and quickly became the dominant strain and crowding out other strains because it was more contagious. david: have you been able to find out whether it was something that mutated here in the united states, that grew organically in the u.s. or was imported from the u.k.? >> most likely the latter. i don't think scientists will know definitively for some time, but it's unlikely, i'm told that an identical strain would mutate twice the same way. so there's a lot of commerce and travel between the united states and the united kingdom. people go back and forth between new york, london, san francisco, texas, london almost every day and it's not surprised it wasn't successfully kept there. >> well, thank god there are vaccines available. there are problems with doses, but of the 12 million doses i'm told only about 2.8 million have been administered. where are the log jams? >> so the vaccines are a

godsend and we're prioritizing 70 and up receiving the vaccine as we speak. it will take about four to five weeks in current supply levels for everybody 70 and up to receive the vaccine. i'd put a couple of points into that. here in colorado what we did, we said anybody that we partner with to distribute vaccines, that means hospitals, community health clinics, others, need to use every dose we give them within 72 hours or we will reassign it to somebody else who will so we had to use that kind of firm hand to make sure the doses are getting out as quickly as possible. the other issue is somewhat erratic weekly supply from the federal government. it's hard to book patients and know how many we're giving when the quantities change, they're not doubling or going in half, but when we go, oh, it's 30% less, we have to cancel the appointments and roll them into next week and the following week so we're hopeful there's more reliable from the federal government. david: thank god we have them as you first noted. there's some irony, some

governors, not you, but governors like governor cuomo objected to directives coming from washington, even formed his own little f.d.a., a state run f.d.a. to approve of the vaccine, not trusting the one in the federal government. but when it comes to complaints about distribution of the virus, he's all for directives from washington. there's a contradiction there, isn't there? >> well, i haven't been listening to what every governor has been saying, but i, for one, is grateful we're able to prioritize age 70 and up. the c.d.c. put out recommendations 75 and up. but we found in colorado is that 78% of our fatalities from coronavirus are age 70 and up. david: wow. >> once we get through the group we can reduce fatalities by three quarters. that's why we're focused on 70 and up and then go to 60-69 after that. david: good for you. i think most americans agree that's the way it has to be prioritize. . we wish you the best not only

for tracing the new mutant, but happy new year to you. >> happy new year. david: 2021 is shaping up to be good for criminals, the bad guys are benefitting and good guys are trying to fight back that's next.

>> taking a live look at los angeles, california where a new year means new sentencing rules for criminals, thanks to the newly elected district attorney george gas cone. his new guidelines to lower sentences for violent crimes is not sitting there well. the families and members of law enforcement in particular, in fact. the deputy d.a.'s union is now suing to block the changes. michelle hennessey is the president of associate deputy district attorneys for los angeles. thanks for being here.

what are your major complaints about the new d.a.? >> the primary complaint, the elected district attorney has wide discretion how to implement laws and charges in individual cases, but that discretion doesn't authorize him or her to violate the law in a blanket manner or direct the attorneys within his office to violate the law and that's what mr. gascone has done. he's directing the attorneys in his office not to follow the law when it's them to have to face the consequences. david: in many cases, i've heard from my friends in l.a., it benefits criminals at the detriment of law abiding citizens. i'm wondering what the results have been in terms of the crime stats. have violent crimes gone up as a result of his policies? >> he's only been in office three weeks, remember. but crime rates are up in los angeles. we talk a lot about mass incarceration and so we should, but what about mass victimization. the murder rate in los angeles is up 30% and it's at a 10-year

high right now. david: it's extraordinary. it's one of the least favorable times to lighten the sentences when violent crime is going up, but i'm also-- i've heard that he has some bizarre things, rules, like, for example, prohibiting prosecutors to be there for parole hearings, is that right? >> that's correct. there's an absolute ban on attending parole hearings which is unfortunate because the prosecutor-- >> forgive me for interrupting, but why would he suggest this be done? >> he has said we cannot go to parole hearings unless we have something nice to say about the offender and to support their parole, to let them get out. he sees no other alternative for us. he sees no role in representing victims. david: something nice to say? i mean, the point is that you have a hearing in order to prevent violent criminals from going back in the street. if there's something negative to say about those violent criminals not having been reformed, you've got to hear about it at a parole hearing,

right? >> well, what he's done, he's turned our office into a second public defenders office. he wants us to represent the defendants as well. and now represented by the defense bar and the prosecution and no one left to represent the victims and the public. david: a lot of people are wondering what's mow evaluating him. he was a cop, by the way, he was in the military service as well. he came here from cuba when he was 16 so presumably his family told him about the dangers of wrong policing. he also worked with the police commissioner bratton who was broken windows theory kind of guys for strong policing. so what motivates-- what's his rationale for the lenient decisions? >> i couldn't begin to tell you what his rationale is, the problem is it's affecting the employees in my office. ins this is a separation of

powers issue. the judiciary is entitled to rule on legality of the laws and not the district attorney. the district attorney as an elected official is bound to follow the law. if mr. gascone doesn't like the law, he has two legitimate avenues, he can petition the legislative branch to change the law or take up appeal in court to rule these laws unconstitutional. he's putting his personally held views above the legislature and the judiciary, forcing those opinions on his employees, who have to make the choice between do i follow the law and get fired by my boss or do i disobey the law, do i violate the law and get disbarred by the state bar and lose my law license. >> an incredible circumstance and i know a lot of angelinos are not okay with what he's doing there. thank you for joining usments thank you so much, i appreciate it. david: forget a regular passport. you could need a covid passport

to travel this new year. what's that about in 1984 or what? we'll take that coming on next. for every trip you've been dreaming of, expedia has millions of flexible booking options. because the best trip is wherever we go together.

>> got plans to travel in 2021? a lot of people do. well, soon you could actually need a covid vaccine passport in the new year. my next guest and his company are teaming up with a world economic forum to help make that happen. paul meyer is the co-founder and ceo. how would you verify that people have been vaccinated? >> well, the same way we're doing it right now with people who are getting tested. a number of countries have imposed requirements to get tested for covid before travel and the u.s. just has required all of the travelers from the

u.k. get tested before they fly and so, people are able to download their attached results or their vaccination records from a trusted health care organization, directly. david: so it's your idea that these would be used for work-related folks as well as for travel because there are a lot of people, for example, in the hotel industry that are concerned that the people working for them are vaccinated. >> well, right now we have been focusing on international travel, working with many large airlines and a number of countries. i think there are probably other institutions that will also have requirements, but ultimately, we're providing a platform that let people document their lab results or status securely and for those organizations and destinations that require them would be able to enable that, but in a way that protects individual privacy. david: and you say securely, but you must know very well,

that a lot of people are concerned that this may be-- if you give people access to this information they may be able to find some back door to get access to other health information that an individual has. how do you secure that information? >> well, first, you do it by not creating any centralized data base. you let the individuals get their individual information on their phone and doesn't go anywhere other than their phone and keep them in control of their information and don't pass it on to lots of other places. you shouldn't have to actually hand over your records to an airline, to a hotel, to another government just because you want to travel. you should be able to document that you actually have been tested or vaccinated without having to hand over your underlying health records. david: i'm sure you're aware of this, but just want to hear your comment on it, there have been data breaches in the past and there have been concerned about back door entry for hackers when you allow at least

one piece of your private life into the hands of multiple parties. are you well -- are you ready to secure people who feel insecure about this? >> yeah, very much so. but again, if you look at a lot of those breaches, generally, there are large data bases, targets for hackers when ultimately the data, one person's data sits by itself on one's phone, it's not a very attractive target for hackers and those breaches happen when you have huge data bases of centralized information. again, that's not the model here. that's to let them collect their information and store it on their control in their phone. david: very quickly, paul, is this a for-profit venture? >> no, it's not. it's a non-profit. established to build and operate digital services for the common good and we believe that this is something that shouldn't be operated for profit. it should be as a shared utility that could provide service to people and even

trying to monetize data or serving any other commercial interest. david: paul meyer, we wish you luck, paul. thank you very much, appreciate it. >> thank you, happy new year. david: happy new year. well, this is this big question hanging out there, when it comes to a vaccine passport. is it a party of safety or could it be your privacy. we debate that, you decide, coming up next.

>> so you just heard about a vaccine passport and how one company says it's about keeping people safe. but what about people's privacy? back to discuss it, rebecca, adam and we've added kat, because i suspect you don't like this idea? >> look, no. okay, look, if a private company wants to do it they can basically do whatever they want. in terms of the government, i still don't think driver's licenses are really necessary, or appropriate. david: whoa. >> so i'm definitely going to go with no on that. look, i have a driver's license, does that mean i can drive? no. i'm sure there are a lot of 14 year olds better hyped behind the wheel and i am. david: i'll put you down as a maybe. what's your response to kat? >> i completely, completely disagree with her. in the states where i live, the government has gone through some processes to make sure i

have some basic driving skills. in this case, this is a clear safety measure. you know, i've been carrying around my yellow card, my immunization card for years and the way our last guest described this, it's no different. i'm going to have on my phone, proof i've been vaccinated by the coronavirus the same i have a typhoid or a tetanus shot. if the government wants to do it, it's their job to keep us safe and this is one way to do it. >> i haven't held up an immunization card to anybody, i'm impressed that adam has his. the only time i had to pay a bribe, i hope i'm not in trouble with this, i was in bolivia. i used to cover latin america. they said i needed a yellow fever shot. a woman came in with a rusty syringe, okay, senor, are you

ready? how much is it going to take not to have that shot. i think that things are happening in a third world country of course, i haven't lived through a pandemic before. what do you think, rebecca? >> this pandemic is like the energizer bunny for all things government control, 1984. i completely agree with kat and not with adam. and we don't want it for the free america, we want our freedom. we are no longer in 2020. we no longer have to accept on their face these crazy arguments that they're just correct, let's look at this. this is a vaccine for the people-- excuse me, this is a virus for people that are not older, that people survive 99.9 the percent of. and it's a vaccine developed in months time and some people say i'm going to survive this even if i get it. i'm not going to take a vaccine

that's going to give me who knows. there have been things already with people that took it. now you cannot fly? you cannot fly because you do not want to take a vaccine you're in your 20's or 30's? this makes no sense. >> i will be getting the vaccine. >> dan, jump in quickly. go ahead, adam. >> this is the same kind of thinking that prevented so many people over the past nine months from wearing masks when there's clear scientific evidence showing the efficacy of it. freedom, we all love freedom, but it only goes so far. sometimes science trumps the freedom. david: a lot of the lockdowns have not been based with science, we've proved that with outdoor dining in l.a. go ahead, dan. >> i'm not for having to carry, even on your phone this, i'll call identification. i disagree with that. although i'm impressed that he's carrying his vaccine history with him. i don't know anybody who does

that. but you know what, where does it-- where does it end, david? do we have to start doing this for the flu? and then how long do we have to keep having this i.d. with us? when is the virus officially over? i think it's a-- >> actually, kat, that does bear in a lot of people's thinking right now is that a lot of these governors and mayors who are getting used to issuing these edicts are getting accustomed to it and maybe americans, some americans, not the pushback americans but some americans are getting accustomed to that being the way that government operates. are you concerned that this thing won't go away, these pa passports and to expand to other areas. >> to be clear i plan on getting the vaccine as soon as i'm able, and older population will be in it. and what's in it, i probably

put worse things in my body anyway. i'm concerned especially people say follow the science, follow the science and someone like andrew cuomo, the state's own contact tracing says that indoor dining is responsible for 1.4% of infections and he closes it anyway. i'm for following the science, but let's actually follow the science. david: rebecca, let me switch over from adam to rebecca. my passion is with you, rebecca, however, i think if it's necessary to get this world back to working, to get rid of the lockdowns, if you have to do this in order to jump start the world economy once again, isn't it a trade-off worth it? >> well, i worry that we haven't had enough time. i am not i'm not aposed to a good vaccine. there's nothing to tell the what it does to fertility. these are things that we need

to figure out and forcing people to take something this fast before they can fly, i fly internationally all the time. i'm certainly concerned that i might be forced to take a vaccine when i wouldn't otherwise take something if i have a 99.95% survivability developed this fast with this many questions. just common sense. david: i've talked to doctors who have legitimate questions about the new nnmra, and pfizer. some like the johnson and johnson and astrazeneca. should people be allowed to wait for that? >> there's a preponderance of evidence around the world it's a good idea. the reason i have this card is certain governments require you to present it that you've been vaccinated for the diseases that are still prevalent in their countries in order to enter their countries. david: as i said i used to travel all the time for about

12 years and the only time that happened was in that one instance in bolivia. i don't want to go back to that again. all right, gang, thank you very much. happy new year to all of you. the new year ringing in with the same old covid restrictions. meet one restaurant owner staying open despite lockdown orders. that's next. 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. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. learn more at cosentyx.com.

>> restaurant owners calling out new york's democrat governor andrew cuomo's decision to let fans into buffalo bill stadium next weekend. cuomo says more than 6700 can attend the bills playoff game, but he's still banning indoor dining in new york city, some calling the move a double standard. my next guest has a beef with the state next door, saying that pennsylvania's governor isn't following the science and that's why he's defining that. and he owns pizza yolo.

hopefully i pronounced that right. and with the mayors with lockdowns, when it's something they want to do eating in a restaurant that hasn't locked down, or a buffalo bills game, they're all for opening up. what do you make of that hypocrisy? >> i agree with you. i think that there's no consistency to anything that they've done and for, you know, locally in pittsburgh for these big box stores to all be open, filled to capacity with people during the holiday season, and to shut down restaurants, restaurant indoor dining at the time where most restaurants were looking forward to the three weeks to get, you know, a little shot in the arm revenue-wise to carry on through the winter because they're already struggling. and then to shut it down right before the holidays.

and force people, force restaurants to lay people off. not only have you had to deal with the lockdowns, the summer and fall, you've had to spend a lot of money in making your restaurants more inaccessible to the virus. that is putting up the plexiglas and doing all sorts of things here in new york for those folks outside, they have to use the space heaters and everything. so you're spending money that you don't have to try to make it covid proof and then you get locked down anyway. >> this is true and the places affected the most by that type of spending are really california and new york because they've really been force today jump through hoops to get things operational and once they've done it then there was another restriction that followed and it hurts them even more. >> now, you got a citation for letting people eat inside. and they also claimed that you're waiting staff and you

yourself weren't wearing masks. you threw that citation in the trash, why? >> i truly believe that the governor has no authority to enforce any of these issues. you know, none of it has become law and until it does become law, i believe that it's not enforceable. we've received several citations. generally, our staff has been very diligent about masks and i work in front of a 1,000 degree brick oven. i have allergies to flour and i can barely breathe as it is. and the staff has been very, very good about it and we have followed-- we have followed the rules and we still receive citations, citations and you know, sort of a nonstop attack from all directions, whether it be the public, the health department, the plcd.

it's been a never-ending series of fear, fear and intimidation. david: i find it extraordinary that a pizza guy is allergic to flour. we'll let at that pass. i want to ask whether your fellow restauranteurs are doing the same thing, defying the orders? >> in the state of pennsylvania there have been a tremendous amount of restaurants in the state open. there's a list-- a website that has a list of them. not all of them, but a lot of them and in central pa and in the, you know, the non-urban areas, a lot of people have defied the order, but they don't really, they're not getting a lot of recognition or notice. we have gotten a little more notice because we're in a fairly large metropolitan area from the state of pennsylvania anyways. so, in allegheny county where we are located there are probably, you know, hundreds of restaurants and some bars that defied the order. >> wow. >> the more high profile ones

have come under attack not significant. david: it makes you wonder what's going to happen with the rule of law. when bad rules are put out there or rules that people can't afford to accommodate and defy them, it really does undergird the whole rule of law, the concept of rule of law in our country and it's gone through the wringer in 2020. we'll see how we do in 2021. best of luck to you, ron. best of luck for being here, we appreciate it. >> we'll see you, take care. have a good year. david: you, too. a year ago, the military took out iran's top general. and they say that president trump and others are not safe, and will not be safe again. how they're responding to those threats. - [narrator] this is joe.

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>> a top iranian official says president trump will, quote, not be safe on earth. one day before the one-year anniversary of the u.s. taking out iran's top general, qasem soleimani in baghdad. this after the u.s. sent two b-52's over the persian gulf not to mess with the united states. and good to see, general. happy new year. >> happy new year to you, dave. david: should president trump take this threat seriously? >> well, first, i think it's important to remember, david, that iran is still the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and therefore, it's absolutely imperative that they not be allowed to create nuclear weapons. bottom line is, yes, the president should take it seriously, but the threat needs to be put in context remembering that iran is going to act in iran's best

interests. we, and the president, simply need to be prepared, as he's already stated, to be able to respond to any sort of aggression that iran commits against either the united states or its partners in the region. david: and we should emphasize that soleimani was a terrorist butcher. he was in another country planning another terrorist attack, we know that from the intel we had. isn't the world a safer place without him? >> absolutely. unquestionably. and if you take a look at the events over the last year, iran has been relatively, and i say that relatively, put in its place as a result of the actions that president trump has taken. david: it's also put in its place by the fact it doesn't have as much money as it did under the previous administration because trump got rid of the iranian deal.

the iranian deal sort of provided iran with some direct payments, by the way that were outrageous, cash payments that went in airplanes full of cash, billions of dollars, i think it was or at least more than a billion. but when they got rid of the iran deal and the trump administration, that deprived the iranian regime of a lot of the fuel, the cash fuel that it had to spread its terrorism all over the world. >> that's absolutely right, david. and then you put on top of that the removal of some of the top leaders of iran's nuclear development program, the covid situation that complicated that. and then as you mentioned, the economic pressures that were a result of the sanctions that had been imposed on iran. david: well, we've got a new administration coming in that we know is sympathetic to the iran dial. john kerry's not going to be dealing specifically with that,

he's in the administration, but of course, biden was the vp under obama when that deal was made. so are the iranians thinking, oh, boy, here we go again. maybe they can get the money they did with the last administration and the race to the nuclear bomb? >> i think that iran probably doesn't want to provoke an assured response while president trump is still in office and most likely holding fire in anticipation that when president-elect biden's inaugurated they will have a better chance of securing their objectives of sanctions relief. but i would also state that the nominees of the biden defense and the state leadership teams are very aware of iranian expectations and if they're smart, they'll avoid the missteps that president obama and his team took with the

original joint comprehensive plan of action or jcpoa nuclear deal. david: quickly, i'm wondering, will the iranians test the biden administration? they usually do test a new administration or since they know how he thinks because he was part of the previous administration, will they try to sweet talk him into another iranian deal, very quickly? >> short-term answer, quick answer, yes, obviously they'll try, but what the biden team needs to do is be very forceful about public declaration, policy declaration to stop any iranian aggression on what they'd do and maintain a strong military president and coordinate with the outgoing trump administration on contingency response action. david: we've got to leave it at that. and back to the georgia runoff.

ossoff just wrapping up an event in athens, georgia. we'll have a special your world live from georgia. martha mccallum will be in for neil, georgia's lt. governor, and secretary of state will join her. a taste we all could use right now. so let's make the most of it. and make every sandwich count. with oscar mayer deli fresh

>> duelling campaign events in georgia with kelly loeffler and jon ossoff, as we speak. welcome to washington, i'm griff jenkins. >> it's great to have you for the first time on the show. we decided to make it easy and you didn't have to get in at 3 a.m. >> thank you, filling in for leland and it's a new year 2021. >> it is a new year. >> and happy new year to everyone at home, i'm gillian turner. and finally before the runoff, peter doocy is at a jon ossoff event in