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return for shoppers hitting the malls to bring back those unwanted gifts to millions of americans hitting the roads and skies to hit back home. but some severe weather's are already getting in the way. welcome everyone this is your world. we have team fox coverage and way new jersey where folks are making those returns and fox whether meteorologist ian oliver with the trouble spots for travelers trying to get home. we begin with ian with the forecast and impact on flights as delays and cancelations keep mounting. >> good afternoon. you and i spoke before christmas and at a scent of circumstances that looks an awful lot like what's happening right now. this has been a rough 1 as well, book ending the holiday but down in texas and look at the fox flight board here. george bush intercontinental airport. ground stop right now that runs for another 30 minutes. both airports in dallas, love field and dfw. look at the average delay there. almost 2 hours and that

represents an improvement over what we were watching back on christmas eve. this has been the trouble spot but today it's severe weather. it's a level 3 out of 5 threat and outward he had a handful of severe thunderstorm warnings and one tornado warning that was just off to the south and west of houston and now we have more of those storms moving through right now. they have now started to clear the metroplex in the dallas-fort worth area but these problems in the storms were throughout the day-to-day lifting than 600 canceled flights. just brutal. this is the tornado watch and a runs from i-35 mostly over to the sabine river. north of that a little bit less of a tornado threat but still a possibility of strong storms and gusty wind and large hail. here's the fox model. that's taking you through the latter portion of this evening. great coverage across louisiana and into arkansas. slowly finding its way to the lower mississippi valley to the early part of the day tomorrow

and even across the southeast to close out the holiday week a scattered coverage of storms. is in a storm impacting this region into the weekend. >> mike: thank you very much ian. after record holiday shopping season's returns that are set to reach records. fox business is jeff flock in new jersey and what he's seen there. hello jeff. >> always good to see you mike. that willowbrook mall and i'm walking them all with the mall manager. senior manager is ryan hidalgo. we got numbers from mastercard, spending between november first and december 24th up 3.8%. good news it also means more returns. take a look at these numbers. pretty amazing really. 890 billion before the end of the year. that's about 70% of everything we bought. not good news there but i guess in some ways it's another

opportunity. 20% apparently of people who return things actually spend more money. ryan you don't mind returns. >> returns are great. people have thanks they may not exactly like and they have gift cards that they want to spend so they come out into the mall with our great collection of retailers to get themselves some thing they want. >> and people want to come to a physical location to return and so that creates an opportunity for you and more trap for you. >> absolutely. it's a social experience and people want to feel the merchandise and have that immediacy of getting it right away. >> and one last item. i learned a new word today. it's called bracketed but it's where somebody orders three or s or colors and then sends the other stuff back. we are told by the experts those days may be over. >> you never find any fees to return stuff to them also we will take it. >> come out to the mall says the mall manager. that doesn't surprise me. mike back to you. >> mike: and q very much jeff.

inflation still a major topic at the holiday dinner table this year as food costs continue to hit wallets but many are looking forward to relief that president-elect donald trump is promising. and his plans to lower energy costs lower all costs? grady life at the white house. >> there is excess supply of oil globally right now in 2024 and the international energy agency says it expects a surplus in 2025 as well so it is possible that that combined with president-elect trump's promises to expand oil production here in the united states that could lower prices for everyday americans. >> we are going to have so much oil and gas and other things you won't know what to do with them. he will say please president trump stopped. we have too much and the prices are going to low. >> i will direct every cabinet secretary to cut regulations for every new regulation which i did

last time. >> despite president biden's green agenda the u.s. actually set another record for crude oil production in 2024. so how will president-elect trump set yet another one in 2025? like i'm sure he wants to. energy executives say he's got a lot of options may hope you'll ease drilling regulations and enact more tax incentives for oil production. allow interstate pipeline projects and reshape programs for drilling on federal land and offshore areas. alaska's governor one of the big oil-producing states sent to trump a day one wish list with several items on its and they were very similar to the ones i just outlined. and business owners and other industries are optimistic that trumps energy policies will bring down prices across the board. >> we're not going to have inflation. will have deflation. the price of gasoline will go down and the price of diesel

fuel will go down, causing the price of food to go down. >> trump is also expected to lift the paws on liquefied natural gas or lng exports that the biden administration put in place. by the way the trump administration can do a lot of this unilaterally without the help of congress and that is because they plan to use executive orders to set a lot of their energy policies, similar to what president biden did this at his green policies into motion. so too will president-elect trump when he takes office on january 20th. >> mike: great anticipation about those exec it of orders. grady trimble live on the north lawn. thanks a lot. and president-elect trump bring were early to american consumers? let's wring in former reagan top money men. and welcome to both of you. so art we are bringing down energy, lower all costs for american consumers?

>> it sure will. trump has promised he will, what's his phrase? drill baby drill. we start drilling and pump and oil prices should come down a great deal. and if he does some of the natural gas things we should become energy independent and not too long a time. and trump did it in his first term and he will match that if not more so in the second. >> mike: heath are you hearing from retailers that up problem has been getting goods transported? the energy costs? >> we heard from the autozone call. so recently we heard from the autozone ceo that said if they were increasing tariffs those prices are definitely going to increase their prices. so we see in terms of goods and services, right now we are seeing a stability route with the price of goods and when it comes to services that's where it gets a little unstable.

let's go back to the goods for a second. we start seeing products that are manufactured overseas for example like auto parts or toys. if there are tariffs imposed that's when things start to get a little unsettling and unsure when it comes to prices. it's not necessarily about what is determined on the federal level but ceos are determining what that price is going to be and more importantly how that's going to be passed on to the consumer. >> mike: we will watch that. holiday sale surging 3.8% this season despite inflation concerns and that tops last year's increase of 3.1% according to mastercard. online shopping leading the way. what is driving this? >> foam oh. i think people are really wanting to go out and spend the national pastime for americans to go out and want to shop especially during this holiday season. if you did a comparable, if you look at the median income i have said this before a couple months

ago but he look at the median income compared to those days people were fighting to get through the doors and it buying a lot of things in the stores and the items. people are caring less credit card debt than they are now. so people are definitely spending on their credit. the issue is if people and consumers are paying off that credit card debt and if inflation doesn't continue to come down, that's where it gets a little problematic for the consumer. you don't want the credit card debt to come out and ultimately cost the consumer. >> mike: toyota noticing a million dollars the trump inauguration fund joining a long list of companies that have already done so. what do you think they are hoping to achieve? good access to the new administration? [laughter] >> i don't think you should be too cynical on this. a million dollars is a million dollars. to you and me it's a lot but to the government it's not that big. at a thing they're trying to buy any favors. is just good civic behavior on their part and i think it's wonderful that they give to the inauguration and allow the u.s.

to have a terrific inauguration. it's got to be run by private donations and that's what they're doing and i've lauded them for doing it and i personally am delighted they're doing it. i think it's good civil behavior and it's a big change from what it was in trump's first term in first inauguration and i am really pleased that they are backing this administration fully. it is great. >> mike: a someone who has studied the impact city of the american economy i'm curious what you think of the 3.5% jump. does that show that consumers are looking ahead and think in better days are ahead? >> of course they are. it's exactly that. everybody is thinking better ahead. it's just a wonderful time to be around. christmas is always a great time in hanukkah is always a great time but when you combine it with the new administration and the policies that are being proposed and how much better the outlook for the world and the united states looks. less wars and more prosperity. good full-time good paying jobs,

all of that is really exhilarating and i think people are reflecting on that by going out and having a great christmas and planning on a great year ahead. last year wasn't so great at all but i think next year is going to be a phenomenal year. i used to call it mike, of the worst under ronald reagan was still a great day. and i think we are looking ahead to even better days than we had under ronald reagan. i think it's going to be a fantastic four year period for trump second term. >> mike: optimism looking ahead. okay so online sales are driving the holiday sales, what about the brick-and-mortar's? how are they doing and we saw jeff at the mall and looked like things are pretty busy there. >> devon leasing some increase in store traffic in the holiday stores and part of that has to do with stores reinventing themselves. it's not just about going to the stores and go into the stores and meeting celebrities to your favorite influencer or getting out a cooking lesson.

retailers are realizing is just not getting addressed to get to your party we want to go in and get address in your makeup done and maybe your husband is having a drink or having a coffee and watching the games. so retailers and i'm thinking of nordstrom right now, because i have that ability to do that. but here in new york, that is what's happening and it's really drawing the traffic in there. and you're talking about returns in the online returns averages about 40% of things that are bought online are returned to the stores. so i think in the next year we will start seeing retailers really look at why things are being returned at such high frequencies and drill down on that to figure out what the user experience and how to make that less frequent. >> mike: fascinating panel breaking down the state of the american economy. thank you so much and happy holidays and have a very healthy new year to both of you.

>> thank you very much. >> mike: president-elect trump is going to mean house republicans to the ground in the meantime. the reason why some of them are doing one thing right now to rest deadlock. find out what that is. but first president joe biden promising to serve more weapons to ukraine after russia's large-scale christmas day attacks. where is this conflict heading with trump heading in? plus the latest on the deadly plane crash and whether or not russian air defenses are behind it. my skin was no longer mine. my active psoriatic arthritis joint symptoms held me back. don't let symptoms define you... emerge as you, with clearer skin. with tremfya®, most people saw 100% clear skin... ...that stayed clear, even at 5 years. tremfya® is proven to significantly reduce joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb.

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>> mike: growing questions as our over deadly airline crash captured on video including speculations that russia could be to blame. fox news stephanie bennett has more from london. >> there were multiple theories over what caused this crash in the first place but now we might be a little bit closer to those answers. according to four sources and as you're by jean with knowledge of this investigation. they tell reuters that the flight was down by a russian air defense system. experts were seeing this damage in particular the holes of the tail section which could indicate they say that it came under fire from russia and funding off the ukrainian drone attack in the region.

u.k.-based security firm osprey flight solutions also said the same thing say ukrainian drone strikes have hit that part of russia this month alone. one source says the plains communications were also paralyzed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into the city but adds no one claims it was done on purpose. that source also expects russia to confess at some point. the aircraft took off on wednesday morning and was due to fly to the russian city but was diverted across the caspian sea to kazakhstan because of heavy fog the airline initially said. the plane hurtled toward the ground, landing just short of the runway by a couple of miles and burst into flames. 38 people were killed, 29 are injured. >> when the plane crashed my wife was sitting next to me and i haven't seen my wife since the crash and i don't know where she is.

>> today azerbaijan hold a national day of mourning for the victims. the flight data recorder has been covered in the president of azerbaijan and a kremlin spokesperson initially said was too soon to make any speculations or answers to this while russia's aviation watchdog said the plan was diverted initially because of a strike. nato said they have a full investigation into this. >> mike: stephanie bennett thanks a lot. meantime president biden urging to send more weapons to ukraine after russia's large-scale christmas day attacks, where is the conflict heading with president-elect at donald trump heading end? former cia station chief in moscow and fox news contributor dan hoffman joins me now. welcome. >> happy christmas everyone. >> mike: so what is your rate of the plane crash? does this have the fingerprints of moscow behind it? >> it looks like it does.

it's awfully hard to speculate. we need more facts but what we are seeing right now is the fog of war and tragically these are the sorts of shocking developments that happened and in his cent civilians become collateral damage. it is just so unbelievably sad and again we will have to wait for further information and the russians aren't very good at revealing details so i'm not so sure how much we will learn from them. >> who do you think that we will get answers? i assume the data recorder inside the plane may not tell us that weapon was fired at that plane. >> i'm sure that vladimir putin in a kgb operative in the kremlin will obfuscate whatever the truth is to serve his own regime security. so i don't expect a get a whole lot from him. we may receive intelligence from our allies and partners in the region though. >> mike: so we will follow this and see exactly where it goes. there are questions about the future of ukraine war as president-elect trump is

preparing to come in and take power. former secretary of state mike pompeo under president trump had this to say. >> what we saw yesterday, these christmas day attacks were serious. president trump understands this and he's been talking about a conversation with vladimir putin that will inevitably have to happen. you have to convince vladimir putin that the cost of continuing this conflict exceeds the benefit and when you don't do that you get in a sense killed all across ukraine for now over two years coming on three. >> mike: is a change in the administration an opportunity, what's your take on a potential trump putin conversation? >> first of all i agree with secretary pompeo. the business of failure of the biden administration is too little, too late as long as it takes strategy. ukraine didn't have as long as it takes an russia's attack on innocent civilians going back to the massacre of march of 2022,

remember hundreds of civilians were found without their hands tied behind their backs and shot at close range. russia has deliberately targeted ukrainians in their homes and neighborhoods and maternity wards. we never gave ukraine what they needed when they needed it and that makes it extremely difficult. there's also a moral and ethical component because ukraine wasn't able to defend themselves. the bite in the administration is talking about sending more defense to ukraine. where was that air defense six months or two years ago? really with the trumpet mr. needs to do is turbo boost our defense industrial base and we can give our allies around the world what they need to defend themselves. taiwanese a whole lot of air defense and some of the same components that ukraine needs. i agree with secretary pompeo though. need to demonstrate to vladimir putin that the cost of continuing the war outweigh the benefits. russia has paid dearly, hundreds of thousands of casualties, sweden and finland are now nato members. roughly a million russians fled

in a brain drain an russia's economy is extremely unbalanced wartime economy with high inflation as well as high interest rates. >> mike: great to have your analysis today. thank you so much. >> thanks mike. >> mike: what are some house republicans urging president-elect donald trump to do if he wants to have the ground running with his agenda on day one? find out. but first to new york city and the taxi cab crash on christmas day and what we are learning. >> officers say a cabdriver had a medical emergency, jumping this curb and striking six people. i will tell you how they are all doing after the break

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and when you become a monthly donor, your first gift will be tripled. thank you for giving. >> mike: back to those flight delays piling up as holiday travels on vacation we're back home on the family visit. more than 5000 accounting onembe this hour. we are back live in 60 seconds.

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>> mike: damon for holiday joy and turned to holiday horror as the taxi hops a curve slamming it is several pedestrians at herald square in midtown manhattan. what we are learning about the incident today. >> about 24 hours ago this was the scene as absolute chaos and there are still some signs of the crash here behind me. take a look at all this broken glass here on the street. it's unclear what speed the taxi driver was going and the posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour and that could have saved lives in this case. so police say the taxi driver had a medical emergency jumping this curb, striking six people. a good samaritan the wife was one of the victims. >> my wife got hit above her back shoulder. sent her spending and she did not hear the ground.

make sure she's okay and notice that a car came out. i think the building was hit. >> thank goodness his wife and at least two other women who wear hit on the scene where okay. they refuse medical treatment but three others were taken to the hospital in le condition including a taxi driver and a 9-year-old boy. the good samaritan says when he tore off the cabs fender to get to the child, he was shocked to discover the boy's mom. >> she was talking to her son and smiling and trying to help keep him calm. the little boy was amazing. unbelievably tough. he made a comment to me and said this is the worst holiday ever but no tears. >> so the good samaritan says the injured mother and son were visiting from australia and he called the 9-year-old the toughest boy he has ever met. as for the investigation it

remains ongoing but this crash happened at a time where police were on high alert following the christmas market attack in germany where officials there say a saudi arabia national drove into the crowded market, killing five people. back to you. >> mike: for folks across the country not familiar with that part of new york city, at christmas time that area is packed. this could have been substantially worse right? >> it could have been a lot worse. while a lot of stores close on christmas day here in new york city the city that never sleeps. several stores were open throughout the holiday and people were out with a lot of hustle and bustle going on. people were shopping with a lot of families and everyone is so thankful that like you said things didn't turn out much worse. >> mike: thank you very much. to capitol hill and new worries we could be looking at a major battle for the speaker's gavel in the new year. the reason why some house republicans are urging president-elect trump to do

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that is their question.

and nobody knows shoppers better than shopify. the undisputed, undefeated, checkout champion of the world. businesses that want to win, win with shopify. >> mike: looks like 2025 can start off with fireworks on capitol hill because house speaker mike johnson could be facing an uphill battle to retain his speaker's gavel. some of johnson's allies are urging president-elect trump to back him early and often. they warn his agenda could hit a speed bump if he doesn't. here with the very latest with chad. >> good afternoon. the first thing the house must do when the new congress meets next friday is elected speaker. no speaker nothing gets done until members choose somebody. some republicans suffer from parliamentary ptsd after the house took five days to elect a speaker two years ago.

>> i think we are all too familiar with what happened last year and former speaker mccarthy had a much bigger margin than. i think one person can control a day and you never know who that person is going to be. i do they this baker is worried about january third and january third will come and we will see what happens then. >> some republicans want president-elect trump to endorse johnson. the speaker needs an outright majority of the entire house. that's 218 both. republicans begin that congress with 219 members. any delay could hamstring the g.o.p. agenda. >> will need a speaker battle coming up which is a distraction. having a speakers battle, all that does is a distraction and delays getting the american first policy through. the promise made is that this should be the promised cap and the house has to do their parts. they cannot do their part without a speaker.

>> a week ago today president-elect trump told fox that house speaker mike johnson will remain on the job if he was decisive and to quote tough on the spending bill. some republicans want mr. trump to formerly endorse johnson. the head of the house freedom caucus has reservations about the speaker. >> i think the president again has not come out in support of mr. johnson's since then. i think the president realized that if he's going to get his agenda through a very narrow majority in the house he's going to need strong leadership at the top. there at the last couple of weeks i was in his corner but now we should consider what's the best path forward. >> the house must vote repeatedly until it elects the speaker. the house was stymied for 22 days last october after it stripped kevin mccarthy of his gavel and finally settled on johnson. >> mike: is it fair to say that the speaker of the house job is the toughest job in washington when you only have 219 members on your side?

>> absolutely. only rivaled by those who have to cover all of this like me. >> mike: chad breaking it down for us. thank you very much. so where is this heading? let's ask phil wegman from real clear politics. welcome. >> thank you mike. >> mike: associating the congressman from montana in chad's piece setting up this interview he talked about distraction and delaying the trump agenda. should i get the president-elect's attention in terms of a potential speaker fight? >> what we have seen from the president-elect is more speculation of the annexation of canada or greenland then about the fate of speaker mike johnson. that's not to say he isn't watching this intently. obviously he is but thus far from president trump he has taken a wait-and-see approach with congress. because i think he is dealing with the same reality that all of us are as we covered this

episode. which is there is grumbling but not outright rebellion. there's frustration with with johnson but not an alternative. i think with these members of congress that are urging trump to come to johnson's aid and endorse him again, they know that if he gives a thumbs up perhaps a lot of this drama fizzles but if donald trump voices his displeasure with the speaker weird back to square one and has mr. program reported a second ago that puts the house in chaos and that paralyzes the body of chaos, perhaps delaying the certification of the election. >> mike: part of what mix the job so top is if speaker johnson embraces his conservative wing than you've got all of these moderates from places like new york, new jersey, california who gave him the majority and so you risk them potentially losing into years if you go too far to the right with the conservative base. is that right? >> i think that analysis is spot on.

he said if you go to war with the army that you've got an speaker mike johnson has tried to govern with the republican conference under his control. certainly he is the most conservative speaker we had in some time but if you can only lose a handful of votes and you're negotiating with the senate that is under the control of democrats and president biden who didn't want to do them any favors this is the type of result you're going to get. as we look at this moving forward certainly i think johnson was frustrated with some of that topline spending numbers but what the hard reality is for some of these hard-line fiscal conservatives republicans like to talk about fiscal discipline but they have a hard time getting that to action and a majority of republicans supported the first cr that failed in the majority of republicans also supported a lot of the funding that went to ukraine early in the year. i think the differences you will have a unified republican control and have republicans

with the opportunity to negotiate amongst themselves other than have to rely on democrats. >> mike: sounds like democrats or not when to bail speaker mike johnson this time if, you know, it comes to that so he needs 218 ea's for him to be the neck speaker of the house and makes them who could get to 18 if not hymn? >> that's the million-dollar question here because there has been no alternative that has come forward. like you mentioned a second ago this is the most difficult job in all of washington, d.c.. my question is does that job get easier when republicans have a republican majority leader to deal with in the senate? what they've seen from johnson as someone was a solid relationship with donald trump. he endorsed him in november but he seems to make the speaker sweat a little bit but thus far, you know, johnson was there with the president-elect on election day and that president hasn't said one way or the other if you would like someone new in this position.

>> mike: phil wegman from real clear politics. many thanks. >> thank you sir. >> mike: doge 11 mosque is trying to trim the fat from government budgets but he's already trimming some of his own. literally. but are doctors liking the message? ♪ ♪

>> mike: quick stocks check in the dow ending hire for it's fifth straight daily gain in the s&p and nasdaq falling ever so slightly but all three averages are up vague on the year. while many americans are looking to shed some of those holiday pounds, a lund musket is hearing his new secret revealing in a festive capital expos that he's taking medicine. but did doctors remember these diabetes drugs for those simply looking to lose a few pounds? let's ask dr. debbie. welcome. >> it's good to see you. >> mike: for those of us in a few extra holiday pounds, should we be taking those drugs or should we be doing it the old-fashioned way by controlling portions and exercising?

>> it's a complicated question. first we have to follow the fda approval. it's for diabetes and as for weight loss, it raises a lot of questions. even the past week is that bound which is also the same medication that has approval for sleep apnea. in terms of the benefits i agree with elon musk that there are a lot of benefits maybe some that haven't been studied or realized yet but for a lot of these obesity-related conditions, this medication in this class medications could change things. if you think about it for example what is the purpose of health. what are we looking at. we're trying trying to increase life expectancy and increase quality of life to those years and if you think of things that really limit americans and bring people to their doctor it's heart disease which is the number 1 killer. you've got stroke which is obesity related, diabetes and in terms of disabling conditions, spinal disorders, osteoarthritis, all of these are

associated with obesity. we have medications that were studied for these things further and could improve obesity and weight loss pack that could change the entire landscape of medicine not only improving health but also saving us depending what the pharmaceutical companies charge. the other point you mention is the side that rfk jr. seems to be more on is the risks. which he brings a very valid points. that these medications, some of them been around for a while but only really being studied and looked at more recently. so we are finding out more about the risks every day there are new warnings being added and some of the risks seem to be much surprising related to division, related to the kidney. things that you wouldn't automatically think about with weight loss for example. but that needs to be studied a little bit more. and his other point which is, you know, we don't have any long-term safety studies really. i shouldn't say any but we don't have too many long-term safety

studies because they are being studied to this extent relatively recently. but diet and exercise is kind of, you know, you're gold standard and we don't want people to sacrifice things that work, looking for a quicker solution. but with diet and exercise of course those have problems as well. it's difficult to find healthy foods and difficult to afford them and in terms of exercise, even that requires money sometimes and requires time and energy which not a lot of us have. >> mike: so obesity in this country is obviously a tremendous problem and as a huge impact on her health care system. so for the most obese would you encourage using these drugs to kick-start them to a healthier lifestyle? >> in general yes. each person has to discuss it with their doctor, but, yes, i mean, i personally don't think people have to be at the most obese level because you could have several medical conditions put you in a dangerous path and

still have weight that's the median overwrite range and we are missing a measure that is effectively predicts how healthy a person is. most of the screening tests have to do with body mass index which is more related to height and weight. but that's not really a measure for fitness and doesn't predict your overall health or risk factors. i think what we need to do is also develop a measure that studies these drugs and study our fitness and that way we will have a better sense of it. and of course the elephant in the room, we are talking about fitness and health but so many people want these medications because of their cosmetic effects. to look better. it's tricky because they are not being studied for that but i think you would probably do need to do those studies as well because, you know, other beauty products and things, these are multibillion-dollar industries and so these are a value judgement that stopping people from looking at these medications or is it really a

health risk? it needs to be looked at so people can make these decisions with their doctors and figure out what's best for them. >> mike: no needles for me. amanda renner on the studio after the show dr. debbie. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> mike: who doesn't hate the hassle of returns but should you feel guilty about regifting? find out what kat tim for an ally breen are. they are next. ♪ ♪ e turbotax app... and filing your taxes yourself 100% free if you didn't file with us last year. (♪) now this is taxes. file free in the app by 2/18 when you switch to turbotax do-it-yourself mylowe's rewards is here. join for free today to unlock member perks from the palm of your hand. with every purchase, all members earn point toward mylowes's money. get free gifts to bring home, member deals to get more projects done and free standard shipping. start earning for free with mylowe's rewards today.

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♪ ♪ >> mike: feeling guilty if you want to regift something from that pile of presents you are looking at today? don't sweat it because apparently a lot of us are doing just that. how does our panel feel about it? fox news concerto kat timpf and comedian allie breen, welcome to both of you. so kat, what do you think? >> i can't imagine feeling guilty about that, as long as nobody is ever going to find out. i mean, i'm not really that big on regifting just because, first of all, i actually didn't receive, i don't think many think for myself this year, everyone bought me baby stuff. i'm having a baby in like a month, which is great, because i do need that, too. it's better than just throwing it away and filling landfills with it, i guess.

i'm not a big christmas gift person, in general. if i see some thing that reminds me of somebody, i'll buy it for them, regardless of kind of the time of year. i think it is so stressful that we do this to ourselves. anyway you can get through the expectation of christmas presents is okay with me, and if you think you see something and you don't like it for yourself or give it to someone else, why not give it to someone else? >> mike: allie, what is your take? are you a regifter from time to time? >> i definitely regift. have to be careful, you end up regifting to someone who gifted it to you first. you get caught that way. or you have to be careful, my sister actually gifted me a wallet, which was really nice, but it was monogrammed, so it was obvious that it was a regift. takes away from the sentiment when that happens, but i don't see a real problem with it as long as it is something that is nice. you get those junk gifts from the exchange at work or whatever, just those, regift

those or keep them around. >> mike: ladies, off to a fast start. even without the hassle of returning gifts, there is still plenty of work to do after decking the halls. most folks over their lifetime are spending almost five years on holiday preps, including 34 hours untangling lights and 36 hours of cleaning up those pesky pine needles. allie, is all of this worth it? >> what kind of lights are they using? that's insane. i mean, i am more concerned about the time i have to spend on therapy after seeing my family for a week, but the rest of it, the cleanup, i mean, i have a fake ficus tree i keep around come i don't have a lot of cleanup. i live in new york. it is a small apartment. i like people keep their decorations up year-round. santa is on the lawn for six month after christmas, you don't know if there waiting for christmas or some other holiday or they are just lazy, that is entertaining to me, so leave them up. clean out your will, we don't

care. >> mike: kat, hopefully you are not cleaning up because you are with child and that is the most important priority right now, but what about those statistics in terms of untangling lights and cleaning up the pine needles after the tree? >> you are correct. my current excuse for not helping cleanup is i'm with child, but if not, i have other ones. i can probably say i spent zero hours of my life untangling lights, and zero hours cleaning pine needles, and i do have a tree, and there are lights on it. so i think -- you are not trying hard enough. also, i don't know what method people are using to clean the pine needles, if it is really taking 36 hours of your life. i mean, might i suggest a vacuum cleaner instead of picking them up one by one? although i don't want to ruin anyone's holiday tradition. but i feel this kind of shows people are doing too much. also, i'm not doing it now, but when i do have, you know, mike it is old enough, that will be

the kid's job, to make your kids do it. there is no reason most people should be spending this much time. >> mike: allie, what about that advice, make your kids do it? some would say may be more aggravation than it is worth. >> no, i am so on board. make your kids do more. rick toman, longbow, shovel snow, that is what kids are four. >> that's why i decided to have a child. >> that makes sense. >> mike: thanks to both of you, great to have both of you come and best of luck with a baby on a the way. >> thank you. >> mike: thank you for joining us. thank you for joining us on holiday season. i am mike emanuel, back at 11:00 tonight for fox news at night. "the five" from new york city is up next. have a great day. ♪ ♪