tonight. i'm excited about your new role as our swap investigator. it's going to be great. you will be very busy thank you all for joining us. see you next sunday on "the next revolution" will be televised. ♪ ♪ ♪ people are fired up down here, they know that we're the red wall that stops socialism. we've got to save the country. todd: it is monday, january 4th, 2021. we are one day away from the pivotal georgia senate runoff, the results determining the fate of america for the next would years and potentially beyond. we're live in the peach state where president trump and joe biden will be today. jillian: a growing number of republicans pledging to object to joe biden's win in the presidential election. a massive divide in congress as a new class is sworn in. todd: and i always tell you this, you're never too old to crack open a cold one. jillian: i don't think you've ever told me that. todd: i am now.

the massive celebration for a man turning 101 years old, god bless him, "fox & friends first" the first show of the new year starts right now. ♪ r, o, c, k in the usa. ♪ rocking in the usa. jillian: the song could be bumped up a little bit. todd: way to kick off 2021,. jillian: a little shoulder shimmy. good morning, you're watching "fox & friends first" on this monday morning. i'm jillian mele. todd: i'm todd piro. we start with the senate showdown, the president and president-elect traveling to georgia today, rallying support ahead of tomorrow of's race as the senate majority is on the line. jillian: griff jenkins is live in dalton, georgia where the president is expected to rally support tonight. good morning, griff. >> reporter: good morning. it is a cold north georgia morning here in dalton. take a look. you've already got people, more than 12 hours away from the

rally and folks are turning out to hear president trump. he's coming here obviously to rally the supporters because early voting shows republicans need a strong turnout here but he's coming off of the heels of a fire storm, followed by the leaks of audio of the president pressuring the secretary of state to secure enough votes to overturn the presidential elections. listen to this. >> the people of georgia are angry. the people of the country are angry and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. >> well, mr. president the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong. >> all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state. >> reporter: raffensperger confirmed the call to fox news.

it's causing division. georgia's gop chairman took to twitter and said this, it's mind boggling that they would secretly record this with the president, this after the president spent the weeking calling for georgia's governor to resign. kemp is trying to toe the party line and support loeffler and perdue. >> they know we're the red wall to stop socialism and hand the keys to bernie and pelosi and aoc and schumer. we can't do that. we've got to save the country. >> reporter: the candidates have been navigating the division, trying to rally support and put the focus back on the democrats and what's at stake tomorrow. >> it's not just radical ideas that would transform our country. it's radical candidates like raphael warnock. look, he'd be a rubber stamp for

chuck schumer. >> reporter: this as vice president-elect kamala harris came down to southeast georgia to savannah and went on the a attack. >> it is certainly the voice of desperation, most certainly that, and it was a fall, bold-faced abuse of power by the president of the united states. >> reporter: so far, the white house hasn't commented officially about the call. so it's anybody's guess what the president will have on his mind when he comes here at 9:00 tonight and it's also a big question, todd and jillian as to how much of an i'm act it will have considering more than 3 million georgians have already cast their ballots. jillian: griff jenkins live for us in georgia. thanks, griff. todd: whoever wins in georgia will not be part of the vote to

certify the electoral college results. jillian: as the vote is two days away, a growing number of republicans say they will object to of joe biden's win. jackie ibanez joins us live with a look at washington's very busy week. >> good morning. busy week indeed. there's so much to talk about. let's start with the electoral vote count, the last official step to certifying the next president of the united states. but as of this morning, there are 13 gop senators who say they will object to the results on wednesday, the effort led by senators josh holly of missouri and ted cruz of texas. cruz speaking out on sunday morning futures. >> dismissing these claims i think does real violence to our democratic system. we have an obligation to the voters and we have an obligation to the constitution to ensure that this election was lawful. >> and a memo to colleagues, congresswoman liz cheney warns the move sets a dangerous precedent that threatens to

steal state responsibility for choosing the president and bestowing it on congress. this comes as congress convened yesterday for the start of a new session, nancy pelosi squeezing out enough votes to win re-election as speaker, not without on of significance from her own party. five democrats on o opposed pel, and voted for another member as speaker or voted present. in the end h pelosi. before handing the gavel to pelosi, mccarthy telling democrats, this is a wake-up call. >> even though we were out-spent district by district, no republican incumbent was defeated. none. voters endorsed common sense, not conflict. it was a referendum against a radical agenda to defund the police and punish hard work. it was a wake-up call. the question i ask of this congress, were we listening?

>> reporter: as for democrats, pelosi says they will continue to do what they have always done. >> the house will continue our work to save lives and livelihood, to build back better, in a way that advances justice in america. we must pursue justice, economic justice, justice in health, racial justice, environmental and climate justice, the list goes on. >> reporter: dozens of house republicans have said they will object to the election results. alabama congressman mo brooks was among the first to speak up. he will join us a little later in the show. jillian: looking forward to talking to him. thank you. todd: another republican lawmaker planning to object to the election results is congressman matt gates. he says the republican party has changed and it's imperative it moves forward as is. >> we are going back to the old of republican party, we're not going back to losing politely with mitt romney. we're not going back to the

bushes and cheneys. this is donald trump's party. i'm a donald trump republican. that's where the energy in our party is. we have serious concerns. tens of millions of americans have serious concerns. congress is the place people come to debate important matters of the day and that is exactly what we are going to ripeen with our objections. jillian: host of life, liberty and levin, mark levin, said democrats violated the constitution in the presidential election but said it's sin spacl georgia not be dissuaded from voting in the runoff. >> they violated the constitution. people are violating in an unconstitutional process as a result of what the democrats pushed, whether it's legislation, whether it's lobbying or whether it's rhinos. it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. right now, the baseline is for our next election, all this lawlessness. i want to talk specifically to the people of georgia. you are our last line of defense when it comes to the united states senate. you're it.

if you had any inclination to sit at home, you better stand the hell up. we're not asking you to go to war. we are not asking you to put your lives on the line. we're asking you to vote, not just for georgia, but for the rest of us. jillian: bret baier and martha mccallum will have special coverage. it starts tomorrow night at 6:00 a.m. on the fox news channel. todd: overnight, 12 people hurt, two separate shootings in south florida. two gunmen opened fire at a family at a part. eight people hurt there, six in critical condition. hours later, four people are hurt in another shooting not far from that park. investigators working to see if the shootings were connected. jillian: a man is charged with capital murder for shooting and killing a pastor inside a texas church. he was wanted for pointing a gun out of the sunroof of his car. officials say he broke into the church to hide from police.

police say the man grabbed the pastor's gun and opened fire. another person was shot inside the church and has been treated at the hospital. the bond is set at $3.5 million. todd: overnight, an 82-year-old british man becomes the first person in the world to be vaccinated with the astrazeneca vaccine. dr. anthony fauci is hinting at a possible lockdown under the biden administration. >> we hope we don't have to do it country-wide because we feel that if you adhere to the public health measures, you can turn things around short of a uniform lockdown. todd: the u.s. setting a new record sunday with more than 125,000 covid hospitalizations. the covid tracking project noting that number is likely to increase. jillian: overnight, new york jets fired the head coach hours after losing to the patriots.

gates hosted the jets for two seasons. he leaves the team with a 9-23 record. the giants get a needed win against the cowboys. >> here it is, they got it done. wall is down, however. jillian: the fumble would have given dallas the last minute chance to win, the giants running back helped save the day. washington takes the nfc title with a win over the eagles. todd: thanks for nothing, mealy. jillian: the browns headed to the playoffs after stopping a late steelers comeback. drew brees is expected to retire after this season. he plans to take a broadcasting role at nbc sports later this year. todd: you owe me breakfast because your eagles laid down. jillian: i think i paid for breakfast last week. todd: we'll figure it out. ahead, republicans trying to

calm voters' fears ahead of tomorrow's georgia's runoffs. >> we've doubled the number of poll workers, we've got cameras and people watching all the drop boxes. we're doing everything we can on the absentee ballots and election day counting to make sure what happened in november doesn't happen. jillian: the races may even be more important than the presidential election, we are joined to discuss, next.

>> we're working hard to make sure that this is a fair, trusted election. we have 8,000 poll watchers, georgians are fired up to vote. >> doing everything we can on the absentee ballots and election day counting to make sure that what happened in november didn't happen. jillian: the two incumbent senators ensuring the integrity

of the georgia senate election. todd: this as president trump and president-elect biden both rally in the peach state today ahead of tomorrow's historic runoff. jillian: here to discuss, kristikristin kaye. good morning. >> good morning. jillian: let's pull up the numbers for early voting, this is as of january 3rd. total mail-in votes nearing a million, total in-person votes, more than 2 million, total votes as of yesterday, more than 3 million. as we know, early voting favored democrats in the general election in november. what does that say to you about what we're going to see in georgia? >> well, huge enthusiasm on both sides. the early voting trends definitely do favor the democrats but heavy voting on election day by gop voters could act as a counterweight to that. republican, republicans, they are very enthusiastic about voting in this race because they know what's at stake here. i mean, these georgia runoffs are arguably just as important as the presidential race and a

voter doesn't need to love david perdue oraclely loeffler to -- or kelly loeffler to understand the alternative. this is about making sure there is a check on the radical left that wants to vastly expand the federal government and its control over of citizens. i mean, if they get unified control they could pack the senate by giving statehood to puerto rico and d.c., could pass a multi trillion dollar green new deal, give the federal government increased controls on healthcare. i could go on and on. and the only thing standing as a check to that is these elections in georgia. so voters in georgia need to understand what they would be unleashing if they give unified control to the democrats and they need to get out and vote if they care about freedom and liberty. todd: kristin, the president had interesting things to say about tomorrow. take a listen. >> i hate to imagine what's

going to happen on monday or tuesday but it's very scary to people. a lot of people aren't going out to vote. and a lot of republicans are going to vote negative because they hate what you did to the president. todd: that of course being the phone call with the georgia secretary of state, brad raffensperger. you hear what the president said. do you agree with him? do you think some republicans might not show up in light of the fear their vote won't be counted or may vote for the other party? >> it could happen. that's a huge risk. but these voters need to wake up because there is so much at stake here and these claims by the president about voter fraud or telling voters that the process can't be trusted i think really obscures the stakes. we want a check on the radical left. this is so important. i'm not sure why any voters who are republicans would want to reward the democrats and the radical left by giving them unified control over both

chambers as the presidency. i mean, i think a lot of voters don't even realize how fundamentally they could transform our institutions with that kind of power. jillian: nancy pelosi was reelected speaker of the house by a narrow margin, five democrats. we can pull them up for you here, they broke rank by voting for someone else or voting present. what does that say to you about what's going on in the democratic party. we've been talking about the divide there for a long time now, especially since the rise of the squad, if you will, alexandria ocasio-cortez, the far left message. but it hasn't really stopped. it's continuing. so where do you see the democratic party going? >> that's right, yeah, the democratic party is deeply divided and now pelosi is going to have to try to bring this divided party, now that biden has been elected, you don't have trump there as the boogieman to

unite the moderates and the progressives. the moderates need to bring the party back to the middle. if they don't, the progressives will hijack the party. i think that could do damage to the democrats and the nation as a whole. pelosi has a hard job ahead of her. jillian: kristin, thank you for joining us. thank you very much as always. have a good day. todd: portland's mayor finally calling out antifa after new year's violence in the city. >> my good faith efforts at deescalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical antifa and anarchists. jillian: what took the mayor so long to denounce the group? a portland resident reacts next. ♪it's been a long time coming, coming

♪seeming like we all been running, running♪ ♪feeling like the wild west, gunning, gunning♪ ♪listen to our elders shunning, shunning♪ ♪all we see is faces, color, color♪ ♪all the other races, other, other♪ ♪why can't you just be my brother, brother?♪ ♪we don't have to kill one another, kill one another♪ ♪all around the world, we are one, we are one♪ ♪all around the world, we are one♪ ♪so where did we all go wrong?♪

♪woo ♪where did we all, where did we all go wrong?♪ ♪love, love, love, love ♪love, love, love ♪(love is our only hope) ♪love, love, love ♪where did we all?

jillian: good morning, welcome back. portland starting the new year reeling from a violent protest. merited wheeler finally saying enough is enough. >> it's time the to push back harder against those who are set on destroying our community and to take more risks in fighting lawlessness. jillian: but is it too little to late for the mayor to get tough on antifa. joining me to discuss, attorney james. thanks for being here. there were 221 days of protests in portland in 2020. i guess i question and maybe you do too, why the timing of this and why did it take so long for him to come out with this message? >> well, i think he said things like this before. he's vacillated horribly. two weeks ago he was you

apologizing for drawing attention to the autonomous zone that seized three blocks of portland, saying sorry, we didn't mean to draw attention to it. now two weeks later he's flipping around. he's been totally feckless on this issue. jillian: do residents there believe something will be done? >> i don't think so. jillian: let's take a listen to what he had to say in july. >> so do us a favor. keep your troops in your own buildings or have them leave our city. jillian: what do you think about the flip-flopping in messages? >> well, i think he's trying to get elected in portland so it's always good for him to attack president trump, who is not very well-liked in portland. but the residents there, they don't want this kind of lawlessness and disorder. and he's just been pandering to it as i said as recently as two weeks ago and so i don't think people have a lot of faith he's going to solve the problem.

it's not just what happened on new year's eve, right after thanksgiving there was an attack of similar scale on the east side that didn't draw as much attention because it was downtown and he said nothing. jillian: are you still seeing businesses being broken into? because i know for a while it was devastating of out there, the number of people who had to close their businesses or pretty much were on the brink of losing them when the pandemic first started. then you had months later all of the riots and protests going on and businesses were getting broken into left and right. are you still seeing that type of activity? >> sure. and they're escalating now to specifically attack businesses who are regarded as politically unattractive, some restaurants who criticize them, burned down or they tried to burn it down. some company that specializes in clean up messes that home ofless people make, that was -- homeless people make, that was attacked. the attacks are getting worse and worse and the mayor and his people have essentially done

nothing and it's not just the mayor of course, it's the district attorney with this policy of not prosecuting them and it's the state legislature with laws that have made it harder to prosecute them. fundamentally, it's a lack of courage and will in confronting evil. jillian: all right. james feikle. thank you for joining us with that update. have a good day. todd: still ahead, nbc's chuck todd cris criticizing a u.s. ser >> you're h demanding an investigation. you're the arsonist. todd: patrice o on.todd: we d.

todd: the pentagon saying an aircraft carrier will stay in the middle east amid rising

tensions with iran. jillian: trey yingst joins us live from the middle east with more on the decision. good morning, trey. >> reporter: todd, jillian, good morning. that's right, new overnight, acting u.s. defense secretary christopher miller ordered the uss nimits to remain in the middle east. the aircraft carrier was scheduled to return home but miller released a statement overnight saying the uss nimits will remain on station in the u.s. central command area of operations, no one should doubt the resolve of the united states of america. this comes as iranian officials threatened the united states while marking the one year anniversary of iranian general qassem soleimani being killed in a u.s. drone strike in iraq. thousands gathered to protest sunday. many of the people there were members of iranian dabbin backed militias. they burned flags and held signs. in iran, his replacement spoke

at a ceremony, saying american actions in the region won't deter their plan, threatening retaliation for the drone strike. there are ongoing discussions about who would benefit from possible military action. any single event do spark a larger -- could spark a larger conflict. todd: wisconsin senator ron johnson defending his plans to challenge the presidential election after clashing with nbc host chuck todd. >> you and your colleagues have created this controversy. you failed to offer specific evidence of the widespread fraud but you're demanding an investigation. you're the arsonist here. >> this fire was started when you completely ignored for example our investigation of hunter biden. you have destroyed the credibility of the news media by your bias. we are dismissing the concerns of tens of millions of americans. jillian: here to react, independent women's forum, patrice onwuka.

patrice, good morning. thanks for being here. >> good morning. jillian: so you know, i mean it's fair to ask where's the evidence to ask questions like that but is it fair to flat-out say you're the arsonist here? >> no. i think chuck todd went way overboard and he is -- he is em belihe isemblem attic of many ie media, going off on a tangent for what turned out to be a conspiracy theory, now they're trying to turn it around, no, this is a conspiracy theory, the fact that our election cycle had instances of fraud. whether it was widespread. that is another issue. that could be investigated. i think that's what republicans want to see happen. boy oh, boy do they have egg on their faces and now they're trying to turn it around and save face for themselves. todd: here's a list of republicans challenging the

certification. we'll put them on the screen right now. are they making a point that could lead to real reforms down the road? >> we're hopeful of that. i mean, i think what they want to see is some sort of investigation. they believe that even though there have been legal challenges launched, a lot of those -- the courts that decided in those cases, did not decide on the merits. they simply looked at whether there was standing on the part of the scam.or the president to -- on the -- the testimony, the witnesses, that has not been heard. i think they want to see that evidence brought forward and put in front of the public to really allay the fears that many americans, millions of americans, probably tens of millions of americans have about whether this election cycle really was secure. whether the instances of fraud or potential ballot tampering really did happen and whether it was widespread. and i think we are at a point in

our country where there's so many people who don't believe in the results of 2020, there has to be a way forwardment and i fk these runs are trying to do that. there's also political calculus. some of the folks will be up for re-election. president trump has warned he is going to primary those who have not stood by him. i think there's both of those factors going on. jillian: real quick, if the situation were reversed and it was joe biden questioning election security, granted i'm giving you a hypothetical here, but i think we can come to a conclusion as to what the messaging you think might be then. >> well, from the media's side it would be absolutely we need to investigate. you should not concede. hillary clinton told him that earlier in the election cycle. i think republicans would say wait a minute, is it really widespread. honestly, a lot of this is politics and this is washington. at the end of the day, we want to ensure that our political -- our electoral cycle and system is as bulletproof as possible

and to reduce the amount of fraud and reduce the amount of shenanigans that can happen on a state and local level and do that without undermining our entire trust in the system. todd: meantime, patrice, nancy pelosi's proposed house rule changes would strip any gendered language including the words father and mother. do we have the full screen showing the changes? because i found this absolutely fascinating. it basically means -- there it is right there. mother and father would become parent. aunt and uncle, parents siblings. aren't we headed down a slippery slope when we eliminate words like mother and father? >> we are. but this is the woke 2021 and this is what happens when nancy pelosi, now speaker pelosi is going all-in on wokeness and all-in on a far left radical agenda. i mean, at this point she feels like i'm just going to throw caution to the wind, i'm going to give into the whims and

demands of the blm, the social justice warriors, even in this instance the lgbt community and change some of the fundamental things about our society and how we look at ourselves and really unnecessary means. i mean, there is no reason why this is needed at this time other than to maybe appease some folks to make it seem like you're going to be the most inclusive term or house in history. that's not inclusiveity. it's ensuring everyone has a right and ability to speak, that includes conservatives. and unfortunately i think that part, inclues at this of -- inclusiveity of diversity of thought is not included there. i think there are a lot of americans say there are far more important things to be worried about than pronouns. todd: lawmakers worried about pronouns, meantime china is

taking over the world. patrice onwuka, we appreciate your time. thank you so much. jillian: thanks. overnight, police calling in the bomb squad after an explosive device is thrown from a moving car. police say the device detonated and damaged a parked car. no one was hurt. police are searching for a white pickup truck in connection to the blast. they are investigating reports of an explosion in another neighborhood. todd: people could soon be detained in new york if they are suspected of having covid-19. a state democrat is proposing a new law that would allow governor cuomo to detain people at medical facilities if they're considered a danger to public health. many say the measure targets the sick and infringes on constitutional freedoms. jillian: the california business owner makes a plea to the governor to reopen. >> they keep telling us the data and the science, look to the science and the data. we adhered to every guideline that was set forth back in may and we continuously set those guidelines and stayed safe.

our customers stayed say. our staff has been safe. we haven't had one outbreak for the last six months and you look at -- >> so frustrating. >> it's so frustrating. it's just so tiresome, you know. the saying that people are saying, only the strong will survive this. it's offensive. because so many businesses to no fault of their own have lost everything. jillian: in los angeles county a judge's ruling would have required health officials to conduct a risk benefit analysis to keep the outdoor dining ban in effect but an appeals court allowed the ban to remain in place until at least february. todd: check this guy out. pennsylvania man celebrating his 101st birthday with one special request, an ice cold beer. francis warner known as uncle bunny getting his birthday wish at the maple winds healthcare rehab center in pennsylvania. the room was decorated and he was served a cake. he didn't care about the cake.

he wanted the booze. jillian: he earned it. happy birthday. it is about 20 minutes until the top of the hour. a record number of republican women sworn into the 117th congress. a florida congresswoman joins us live in the next hour. todd: "fox & friends weekend," will cain alive for us in georgia ahead of the senate runoff elections, good morning to you sir. >> reporter: i'm down here in georgia with some of the early trends, seem to reflect what we saw in november. more coming up in just a moment on "fox & friends first."

♪ if i could be you and you could be me ♪ ♪ for just one hour ♪ if we could find a way to get inside each other's mind ♪ ♪ if you could see you through my eyes instead of your ego ♪ ♪ i believe you'd be surprised to see that you've been blind ♪ ♪ walk a mile in my shoes ♪ walk a mile in my shoes ♪ yeah before you abuse, criticize and accuse ♪ ♪ walk a mile in my shoes

♪ walk a mile in my shoes ♪ ♪ well before you abuse, criticize and accuse ♪ ♪ walk a mile in my shoes

todd: welcome back. early voting in georgia, the senate runoffs there breaking records as more than 3 million votes, that is more than a third of all voters. jillian: and more than 115,000

of them did not even vote in the general election on november 3rd. "fox & friends weekend" co-host will cain is live in atlanta. good morning, will. >> reporter: good morning, jillian. so those are some interesting numbers. what can we glean in them? i'm here in georgia, w where covering the senate runoff race for the next couple days. of those 3 million votes, 1 million of them, almost 1 million coming through mail-in balloting. i would suggest there's several indicators that should give democrats some hope. there's trends here, that seem to reflect what we saw back in november in the presidential election. we know mail-in balloting has been conducted at a historic level and that favored democrats in november. here we see once again mail-in balloting playing a large role. now, if you dive inside the numbers, there's two others i would say to pay attention to. 55% of votes are coming from women right now, that generally favors democrats and that reflects what we saw in november.

30% of those votes are coming from african-american voters, that outpaces early voting in november and once again favors democrats. these numbers should be a little concerning to republicans. the good news is, the president's going to show up in georgia tonight. rally the base and hopefully get enthusiasm for a senate runoff race that is going to control the legislative agenda for the country for the next four years. todd: the thing i keep coming back to is the 115,000 that didn't vote in the presidential election but are voting in this election. i don't know why that number shocks me as much as it does. my initial instinct is to say that that's going to favor republicans because you won't have the anti-trump factor in it. but what do you think? >> reporter: that's really hard to aske ascertain what's that a. we know there's been a strong push to get people out to vote on both sides of the aisle. we've seen democrats suggest hey, move in from out-of-of

state. when you turn 18, register to vote right away. maybe those are indicators of people that didn't vote in the november election. if we're to assume it's republicans, i just can't imagine that republicans in this state who are more enthusiastic for voting in january than they were in the presidential a election where we had president trump on the ballot. jillian: there are a lot of questions with the mixed messaging coming from the republican party. you're talking about the president and a lot of his supporters still saying that they want to get recounts and figure out what's going on with the election in their mind, making sure it was accurate and then you have them saying but you need to come out and vote. so i think a lot of republicans in georgia are kind of on the fence of what to do it it's going to be interesting to see how the turnout is at the end of the day. will cain, we'll check in all morning long. thank you. we're heading into the georgia senate runoff as the washington post releases an audiotape of president trump urging the secretary of state to overturn the election, despite the tape, senator david perdue said it

won't impact his election tomorrow. >> i don't think it's really going to affect our election. i'm still shocked that a member of the republican party would tape a sitting president and leak that. it's disgusting in my view. what the president said is exactly what he's been saying the last few months, the last two months, anyways, we've had irregularities in the election in november and he wants answers. he has not gotten them from our secretary of state. that's one reason why i asked for him to resign. todd: as speak georgia inc. co-founder janel king point out, the democratic challengers have an uphill battle getting georgians to back their policies. >> we have two candidates who are extreme socialists, we know that to be the truth. i don't know anyone in the state of georgia who is ready for socialists to run our part of our senate and to be making decisions for us. so that's a very clear line drawn in the sand. todd: john ossoff facing questions about his business ties to the chinese communist party as raphael warnock faces

repeated criticism for once saying in a sermon that people cannot serve god and serve in the military. jillian: jeopardy set to air alex trebek's last five episodes this week. the episodes were supposed to air the week of christmas. producers worried viewers would miss them because of the holidays. todd: trebek passed away in november from pancreatic cancer. he was 80 years old. jillian: the show will air new episodes on the 11th with ken jennings as the first guest host. todd: a yoga studio keeping their doors open of, claiming religious exemptions to avoid coronavirus restrictions. jillian: the owner joins us to make her case, next. businesses today are looking to tomorrow. adapting. innovating.

setting the course. but new ways of working demand a new type of network. one that's more than just fast. you need flexibility- to work from anywhere and manage from everywhere. advanced technology. with serious security. and reliable coverage, nationwide. forward-thinking enterprises deserve forward-thinking solutions. and that's what we deliver. so bounce forward, with comcast business. see every yikes......

and even every awwwwwwww... wait, where was i? introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notifications and a week of uninterrupted recording. all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determination. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month.

the. todd: one washington yoga studio blurring the lines between religion and recreation, hope yoga claiming their business can operate despite covid restrictions using the religion exemption. joining us to yo now is hope yos founder. thank you for being here. how much did you decide on the classification. >> i want to be clear. i have not proclaimed myself a church or religious organization. i haven't filed any papers with the irs that say so. what i -- the pandemic has really made me rethink so many aspects of my business and really yoga is a spiritual practice. it is more than a physical fitness. and so when the governor closed down all the fitness centers and gyms, i had a really hard time

with the fact that i was put under the umbrella of being a gym because i believe i'm much more than that. yoga is a spiritual experience. every single class that i teach has a message of inspiration, of truth, of spirit. and we even call in our own intentions. you can call them prayers if you will. and even the state of washington and many other states recognize that yoga studios are different even for the classifications of sales tax. we are not charged sales tax while gyms are because they have recognized that we are more than justifiejust physical fitness. we are about mind, body and spirit and so for me that was one of the biggest reasons why i opted to say that i'm not a gym and i'm a spiritual practice.

todd: lee, can you practice yoga safely in covid times? >> 100%. we are following the protocols to a t. i have six people in my classes. all social distanced. we don't share any equipment. we don't touch anything really. and we have really good ventilation. we follow the mask protocols that were under the mandates prior to the most recent lockdown. i feel it's more safe than going to the grocery store. todd: what has this entire lockdown experience taught you about the role of government? >> well, it's unprecedented history where the government has been able to rule whether or not your business has been open and kind of gets to pick and choose what industries get to stay open and what not, and what's

essential and what's not. and so that for me has been really eye-opening in the way of are we really living true in a free government, in a free country. todd: lee, keep us posted as to how this all shakes out for you. we appreciate your time this morning. thank you very much. >> thanks so much. jillian: coming up in the next hour of "fox & friends first," 13 senators and dozens of members of congress will say they will formally challenge the election results. congressmanmo brooks is leading the fight in the house, he will join us live to lay out the next steps. alveda king and dr. marty makary all join us live. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

without the commission fees. so, you can start investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. type 2but how canan have a big imit be prevented?e.

well, the first step is knowing if you something called prediabetes. take the 1-minute risk test today at doihaveprediabetes.org >> people are fired up down here. they know that we're the red wall to stop socialism. we've got to save the country. jillian: it is monday, january 4th. we are one day away from the pivotal georgia senate runoff. the results determining the fate of america for the next two years and potentially beyond. we are live in the peach state where president trump and joe biden will be today, campaigning for control of the senate. todd: a growing number of republicans pledging to object to joe biden's win in the presidential election.

a massive divide in congress as a new class is sworn in. jillian: detroit lions fans didn't have much to celebrate this season but thanks to that kick they can drink their sorrows away with free beer. "fox & friends first" continues right now. ♪ it's the final countdown. ♪ ♪ the final count down. todd: speaking of beer, in order to be all philly centric, i had ying ling yesterday to root the eagles on to victory to help the giants. it didn't work. thanks for that. appreciate that. jillian: i was asleep for that. did not see it. read about it. i thought todd is going