>> bryan: people around the world are getting ready to ring in 2025 and each country has a unique way of celebrating. in the u.s. we watch the ball drop. folks in spain believe it's good luck to eat 12 grapes at midnight. denmark people celebrate by shattering plates. columbia put potatoes under your bed and in puerto rico you clean up your house. the three potatoes are your bed. that's a first. haven't heard it before. one unpeeled potato if you pull it out. what it means, sign of good fortune. if you pull the peeled one you will have financial problems. >> molly: you have to eat all 12 grapes before midnight? >> "the faulkner focus" is aishah hosni next. >> aishah: thank you, guys, fox

news alert right now. new york city officials are set to hold a news conference any moment here. they are going to talk about security measures as the city gets ready to ring in the new year. a million people packed times square for this big celebration. safety is paramount and front and center. welcome, i'm aishah hasnie and this is "the faulkner focus." the countdown to 2025 is on. thousands of barricades are in place right now. confetti has been tested and law enforcement already out in full force in new york city and its members are vigilant. nate foye is in times square for us live there. nate, how does it look out there? >> the excitement is building ahead of tomorrow, aishah. as you mentioned, any moment now we expect to hear from the nypd commissioner and new york city mayor eric adams to explain exactly what the city is doing to insure that the million

people who come here tomorrow new yorkers and people from all over the world are going to enjoy themselves and be safe in the process. nypd is on high alert. they have erected a perimeter around, security perimeter around times square and several rules you'll need to abide by if you decide to celebrate your new year's eve at times square tomorrow. no alcohol, which could be a problem for some people celebrating the new year, no backpacks, no duffel bags as well and enter times square at various checkpoints. the nypd is on high alert. a large gathering and they're extra careful during moments like this but especially after that christmas market attack in germany where a driver slammed a car into a crowd killing five people and injuring more than 200 others. federal authorities are helping out. a spokesperson for the homeland security investigation's new york team tells fox news while

hsi is not aware of credible threats at this time we continue to monitor for any changes and prepared to respond alongside state, local and federal partners. you mentioned the confetti test earlier. get this, 3,000 pounds of confetti will fall here in times square tomorrow and some of it will include written messages from people who submitted them through a virtual wishing well. want to show you the times square new year's eve ball that will drop over a period of 60 seconds tomorrow night. take a look at the southern end of times square which is where that news conference will be happening any second. so i'll ask my photographer paul to zoom in and you can see behind that sign that says 2025 the ball is illuminated and changes colors. this ball is being retired after tomorrow night. it has been in commission since 2007 which was the 100 year

anniversary of times square being celebrating -- new year's eve being celebrated at times square. all eyes will be on that and in the short term here all eyes will be on the news conference where new york city officials will be explaining what they are doing to keep everyone safe. send it back to you. >> molly: we can hear the sirens behind you. we know police are out in full force. we'll bring you that news conference from the mayor and police commissioner as soon as it begins. first to this. >> back in the oval office i will sign executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion [cheers and applause] >> on that same day we will begin the largest deportation operation in american history. >> aishah: president-elect trump

has repeatedly promised to fix our country's border crisis starting immediately, day one he says. the democratic leaders in sanctuary jurisdictions have been pushing back against his efforts before he even takes office. >> we're not going to cooperate. we're not going to ask our police force to serve as ice agents. >> i will do everything i can to protect our undocumented immigrants. they're residents of our state. >> i will fight you every step of the way. >> if it's contrary to our values, we'll fight to the death. >> would the massachusetts state police assist in mass deportations? >> no, absolutely not. we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear. >> not cooperating, they say. trump's pick for deputy chief of staff stephen miller's nonprofit to those leaders in california and beyond.

the organization sent out 249 letters outlining the consequences of interfering with or impeding illegal immigration enforcement. there is an excerpt from that letter that says your jurisdictions sanctuary laws or policies make a mockery of american democracy and demonstrate a shocking disrespect for the rule of law. we urge you to do the right thing. protect your citizens and comply with federal law. republican congressman andy biggs of arizona, border state, will join us shortly to talk about this. first we go live to senior national correspondent william la jeunesse with the latest on the pushback. >> the letter is a warning shot. governors, mayors and police chiefs who quote blatantly violate federal law. it subjects you and subordinates to risk of criminal and civil liability and we put you on notice of this risk and insist

that you comply with the nation's laws. so the law they're talking about u.s. statute 1373 says local and state governments cannot prohibit local sheriffs or police have communicating with ice in any way. which entirely conflicts with sanctuary laws that prohibit police from communicating with ice at all. refusing to admit that criminal aliens are in their jail or when they will be released. >> shame on any elected representative, any council person, any may orr governor who don't want to remove public safety threats from your community. and they are here illegally? that's your number one responsibility is to protect your communities. if you aren't going to do it, president trump and ice will. >> why is it important? ice filed 300,000 detainers the last four years asking jails to hold migrants for deportation, even more detainers were filed

under president trump. yet reports show hundreds of counties declined thousands of detainers. in many cases no matter how serious or violent the crime. that puts sheriffs sworn to protect public safety between a rock and a hard place. right? facing federal prosecution if they don't cooperate and from the states if they do. so aishah there are two issues here, the law says if you are here illegally you are deportable crime or not. secondly the 1986 immigration control act passed by congress requires criminal aliens be deported as expeditiously as possible after the date of their conviction. that is hard to do when states are interfering with the process. back to you. >> all right, william la jeunesse, thank you for setting us up. republican congressman andy biggs of arizona with a recent opinion piece titled america last. democrats push mass migration, ignore voters. he serves on the judiciary committee and as the co-chair of

the border security caucus he is joining me live now. congressman, good to see you. correct me if i'm wrong here, but arizona, a battleground state, went for president-elect trump in november. border security was one of the most important issues nationwide. so what do these people think they're doing here? >> you are right, trump won by nearly 200,000 votes in arizona. it was a big win for him. republicans won up and down the ballot and border security was the top issue. so you have a governor now, our governor and mayor of tucson have said they won't cooperate. so they are missing the boat on what their citizens want and also what the law requires. i believe that under this administration, which will be different than the last one, aishah, you will actually see a department of justice go after those official eaves who are actually aiding and abetting and violating the law.

>> aishah: chuck schumer came out with a warning last week saying they would use the courts and all these judges they had appointed during the biden administration to fight back. there has been a legal victory for the incoming trump administration. in fact a federal judge just sided with texas to stop the biden administration from selling off parts of the border wall just a month before he takes office here. the president-elect posting this on social media. calling the ruling a major crucial win for america and our national security. the judge has also ordered the investigation into the illegal selling of the material so expose how corrupt and anti-american radical democrats are. tom homan weighed in on this, congressman. let's listen. >> it is disgusting they will take the border wall, we paid top dollar for and selling it for pennies on the dollar. ken paxton the a.g. in texas took immediate action and lindsey graham.

i think we have them stopped now. it is insulting they wait four years before we take control to sell a main piece of our plan to secure that border. >> aishah: this won't stop, though. they won't stop with the fights in the court. should the president-elect stop these sanctuary cities from getting federal grants like he did the last time? >> i think so. money talks. it is the number one leverage point that the federal government has and we are still a federalist government. that means that we respect the states but they have to comply with constitutional obligations and laws that we pass and this is one and they are violating it and so money will be the leverage point for the that want to violate the law. >> aishah: before i let you go, congressman, i have to ask you about the president elect making news over the weekend demanding that the debt ceiling issue be dealt with before he ever is sworn into office.

that's not a very long time. you voted against the last cr measure that had the debt ceiling involved in it because there were no off sets. is there any world that you see in which this could get done before january 20th the way the president wants to see it? >> it would take pedal to the metal. you could do it and have your budget reconciliation done but all hands on deck right away and you know, this is where we get to speaker johnson, i think he should be working on it right now. we shouldn't be taking so much of a holiday. i get it. we're tired it is our job. we can get it done but take everybody pulling together, that's for sure. >> aishah: will you speak for speaker johnson in january? he just got the endorsement from the president. >> this morning got the endorsement. i haven't committed yet. i want to speak with the speaker to see what his plans are. there are some issues that need to be worked out specifically dealing with the budget issues.

>> aishah: okay, all right. we'll wait and see what happens with that. congressman andy biggs, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, aishah, happy new year. >> aishah: you as well. vice president kamala harris is pondering her future right now and her party is licking its wounds after the election. a new report says president biden regrets dropping out of the race. plus major companies and colleges are making changes ahead of the new administration. >> i think it's the beginning of the end. i think regular everyday people have to stand up and push back and say no. we have to get the power back from this noreen merit based nonsense. >> aishah: the death of playing favorites based on race and gender. jason chaffetz weighing in next.

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>> aishah: right now we're watching a new york city police department news conference on security measures for the massive new year's eve celebration coming our way. about a million people set to pack into times square where the ball will drop at midnight. right now officials say there

are no credible threats to the event. here is mayor adams on the security measures in place. >> there will be officers in uniform and out of uniform. we will make sure we have the alm any presence of the blue uniform. we always bring that level of security. there are many officers that have plain clothes assignments to give the element of surprise. it would include officers from patrol service, transit, intelligence and counter intelligence and special operations division. we have plain clothes teams, canine teams and officers on horse back and helicopters and on boats. the full compliment of our police personnel will be here. >> aishah: we'll keep watching that press conference for you and bring you any news that comes out of it. 2024 may go down as the year that destroyed d.e.i. major businesses and universities are -- a lot of

them are rolling back or scrapping their diversity, equity and inclusion policies. wal-mart, harley davidson, lowes, starbucks, google. the list goes on and on. that trend expected to continue in trump's second term. >> president trump is certainly going to make sure that his administration gets out of the quota business and gets focused on making sure that our corporations are about productivity. we've seen whether it's john deere or tractor supply, all the way to wal-mart, which is one of the highest if not the highest grossing company in the world, making a decision to move away from d.e.i. >> aishah: one major company is bucking the trend towards merit-based. big box store costco pushing back against it.

they are -- they say our efforts and diversity, equity, inclusion reinforce and remind everyone at our company at the importance of creating opportunities for all. we believe that these efforts enhanced our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed. jason chaffetz, fox news contributor and former utah congressman joining me now to talk about this. everybody else kind of got the wake-up in november and realized people don't like this. people don't want to be told what to do except for perhaps costco. do you think costco will also just change its mind in the next new year when they realize they will be left behind? >> well, the american people are voting with their wallets and if they don't provide a good product, a good service, and darn good hot dogs like i like, then, you know, people will walk away. look, there are very profitable and very good company.

but they also if you really dice down and look at their statement, look, if they have a diverse workforce more power to them. what i want to make sure they're doing is providing product and services not pushing a political agenda, but i think as the employees there at costco want to progress in their jobs based on merit not on skin color or other diversity, equity and inclusion metric but based on merit. as long as they are doing that they will will succeed like these other companies. some of these others are pushing products on the american people that are highly offensive. you don't want to go in your store and see their political agenda shoved in their face. america pushed back on a lot of these companies. >> aishah: it has been interesting to watch in the last month here, couple weeks since the election this soul searching within the democratic party trying to find their new message and new mess en guerre.

democratic congresswoman is urging her party to stand up and push back against d.e.i. initiatives. >> we need a platform where both individuals from the top down offices who are pledging that they will be inclusive. i think that we have to make sure that people do not abandon diversity and equity. we can't have a party that's one sided and that's not just race and gender and ethnicity, it is thought, it is demographics, i plan to be a part and work with anybody that won't close out people. >> that's joyce beattie. does it surprise you coming from her? >> if she is being thoughtful and wants an honest discussion with people with a different political perspective more power

to her. i think that's great. there are arguments to be had on both sides. i think what america is saying and the reason these companies are shutting down their d.e.i. initiatives is it's very costly, doesn't produce a better product and by passing people based on merit are more qualified to do things. so if we want to become a country who is less racist let's be less racist. let's get rid of the affirmative action out there and say you know what? if you are the best person for that job doing the best that you possibly can, then that's the person that should get the job. that's where i think america has come to as a whole. not everybody agrees with it. but i think en masse you see big companies recognizing and universities, too. some of these universities like the university of virginia, which i love. it's a great school. but they spend millions of dollars on these initiatives that don't make the education better.

i would argue it actually makes it worse. >> aishah: i think those universities have a lot of looking inside and trying to figure out what their future holds as we saw this past year, a lot of people, families at home thinking i don't know if my kid needs to go get that higher education degree, that university with the stuff we saw this past year. jason chaffetz, thank you for joining us, appreciate it. always good to see you. >> thank you, happy new year. >> aishah: you as well. sometimes you really do have to see it to believe it. fox news correspondent garrett tenney looking back at some of this year's craziest caught on camera moments. >> defying gravity and expectations, 2024 brought us head turning moments and cameras captured them all. like this mma fighter who faced his toughest opponent yet, an

eight foot alligator. >> you are under arrest. leave grandma's alone. >> officers arrested him at the home of 104-year-old woman. bears made escapes after breaking into house and schools. this pair of thieves wasn't as lucky. they stole a car from a dealership only to have another vehicle they broke into get stuck and pin them inside. >> right now at this second. >> he was just driving. >> michigan man going viral after he video called into his court hearing for a suspended license while driving. later turned out he never had a license in the first place. >> stop right there. stop. >> in new york a good samaritan was quick on his feet as he took down a porch pirate who tried to run for it. a dramatic scene in maine.

jurors went after a man after he escaped from a courthouse. >> mother nature lit up waves along the coast and had sink holes and tornadoes. a total solar eclipse stopped people across the country in their tracks. >> a group of astronauts had an out of this world achievement when they shored high above early during the first ever commercial space walk. california firefighters responded to a stranded kite surfer whose call for help was written in the sand. >> this massachusetts man may be 90 years old. it didn't stop him from making a sixth sky dive to celebrate his late wife on their anniversary. >> no way, you did it? >> new york deli owner rewarded a 12-year-old customer's hard work after making honor roll. with artificial intelligence,

events that appear to be caught on camera will need to be watched with a closer eye in the new year. in chicago, i'm garrett tenney, fox news. >> aishah: there is a jam-packed to do list for congress in the new year. government shutdown will need to be averted and there could be a wild election for speaker of the house. plus more than 40 tornadoes ripping through several states in the south. at least four people killed and communities left in ruins. millions of americans facing more dangerous weather today. >> it happened so fast. and between the time the switch goes out and you aren't around anymore, you know, you are saying i'm just lucky. i'm lucky to be here. (sigh) (snoring) if you struggle with cpap...

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brunt of the damage. some of the tornadoes brought winds of up to 145 miles-per-hour leaving an almost surreal path of utter destruction. survivors recalling the terrifying moments. >> it was really strong. you could just hear it sounded like a train coming. >> our house is now behind the neighbor's house shredded to nothing. >> it happened so fast. between the time the switch goes out and you aren't around anymore, you are saying i'm just lucky to be here. >> aishah: forecasters are warning people to brace themselves for severe thunderstorms even more tornadoes across parts of the southeast today. fox weather correspondent brandi campbell is live in mccaul creek, mississippi. the destruction around you, brandi. >> yeah, as you can imagine, for some families this past saturday

was completely devastating. as you can see also likely very scary. i'm standing in a home where a family of three took shelter in a bathroom in the center of this home. what is now left is a home without a roof. you can see the back wall of this house is completely gone. the bricks collapsed. i'm standing in what was likely the laundry room and now you can see into their kitchen. some folks now dealing with after an ef2 tornado was confirmed in this area. footage was taken on saturday as storms developed in this area. the national weather service out of jackson, mississippi are continuing to do surveys of the damage. so far there are over a dozen tornadoes confirmed across the south but we're expecting a lot more to be released in terms of how strong they were and the

track of these tornadoes. residents home as these tornadoes hit the area said it happened quickly but they aren't alone for the cleanup. >> such an outpouring of neighbors and family and friends. it just -- it kind of -- it kind of overwhelms you. food, support, i have had people to come by and offer to buy equipment and stuff like that. >> meanwhile the severe weather outbreak has been deadly. at least two people in mississippi lost their lives, one person was killed saturday in texas just outside of houston, and a fourth person died sunday morning in north carolina. bringing it back here to mississippi, the damage is not widespread but it has deeply impacted some communities, as you can see. now folks left to clean up and figure out their path forward. back to you. >> aishah: just a terrible way

to start the new year. our thoughts and prayers are with them. brandi thank you for bringing the report. >> aishah: the government had an 11th hour funding bill. the next deadline is in march. that's just part of a long to do list for the house's narrow gop majority. they also have a big vote this friday to elect the next speaker of the house. the president-elect now throwing in the debt ceiling issue and congress will also need to tackle immigration and taxes. that's just the house side. over in the senate, trump's cabinet picks head to confirmation hearings. some republicans feeling confident. >> at the end of the day the difference between the 119th congress and 118th congress is we'll have a republican president. a strong republican president who is very popular, which republican congressmen constituents back home and that's donald trump.

>> aishah: alexandria hoff is in washington with more on this. a lot on their plates, alex. >> a short time ago the president-elect satisfied supporters of house speaker mike johnson with a gesture to shore up the speakership by showing support. he have wrote the american people need immediate relief from all of the destructive policies of the last administration. speaker mike johnson is a good, hard working religious man and he has my complete and total endorsement. how any delay in voting johnson back in would delay his day one priorities. congressman mike lawlor slammed the four to ten colleagues have been undecided on johnson. >> the fact is that these folks are playing with fire. if they think they are somehow going to get a more conservative speaker, they are kidding themselves. we can't get anything done unless we have a speaker, including certifying president trump's election on january 6th.

so to waste time over a nonsensical intramural food fight is a joke. >> the funding battles that weakened johnson earlier this month will have to be addressed again. the deal is only through march 14th. republicans want to take immediate action on securing the border and to move on a bill to get federal workers back in the office aiding in the knew administration's effort to reduce waste. >> i think he will be known as the doge speaker for the next congress. he will enable chairman like myself and others to go into our respective lanes and get rid of the waste and help to do our lane making america the most prosperous it has ever been. >> speaker johnson responded to trump's endorsement thanking him and the american people deserve that no time is wasted. >> aishah: congressman biggs said he isn't sure he is a yes or no so it is an uphill battle.

alex hoff live for us. we're all excellent monday morning quarterbacks, right? you won't believe what president biden's biggest regret is according to one report. that's next. plus the president's party is in disarray after losing the white house and facing minorities in both chambers of congress. some democrats are pointing fingers on their way out. others are calling out the party's aging leadership. >> people in our party have been in congress for 20, 30 years and they aren't change agents. we need a new generation to step up. we need people who were part of the failed status quo to step aside.

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>> aishah: listen to this. president biden reportedly regrets his decision to drop out

of the 2024 presidential race. regretting it. the "washington post" said biden and some of his aides still believe he should have stayed in the race despite the rocky debate performance and low poll numbers that prompted democrats to pressure him to drop out. charlie hurt with his take. >> is most delusional thing i've ever read in politics in the last couple of months which is saying something. until they work through all these internal problems, democrats have a long way to go. >> aishah: lucas tomlinson is in st. croix u.s. virgin islands where biden is taking his final vacation as president. are you hearing anything from their camp? >> aishah, recall new cnn poll in july of 2022 that said 75% of democrats didn't want joe biden to run for re-election. his approval rating has been under water since the hastey

withdrawal from afghanistan. we heard reaction on air earlier today. >> joe biden and his aides may very well believe they could have defeated donald trump. that's not what the data suggests. the data suggests that joe biden never led over the course of a better part of the year into the campaign. >> aishah, president biden's approval rating is 39% right now. about the same as when jimmy carter left the white house. that "washington post" piece jake sullivan came to the president's defense saying the president has been operating on a time horizon measured in decades while the political cycle is measured in four years. while carter had to deal with the american hostage crisis in tehran biden's low approval rating is weighed down by the war in gaza. according to the "washington post" piece biden has other regrets including his pick for attorney general. he said he should have picked someone other than merrick

garland as attorney general and prosecuting trump and it's aggressiveness in prosecuting his son, hunter. the 39th visited in to st. croix saying at the hotel in downtown. he brought 31 family members with him, aishah. >> aishah: lucas tomlinson, thank you. former republican congressional candidate of new jersey, citigroup vice president of federal government relations and barbara shrek, and fred hicks. just a couple of minutes with you both. i want to get to fred, to you first. i wonder what's going on in your head right now. do you believe this "washington post" report? is the president not getting the same numbers we're seeing? >> i think it's normal for

someone to live with a bit of regret particularly given he was ushered out of the race in july of 2024 this year. but the reality is this. he is limiting decisions, reflecting but what he is not doing is calling on people to storm the capitol. he is encouraging democrats to be part of a peaceful transition. he plans to attend the inauguration january 20th. something that president-elect trump did not do. something that is normal and we watched it play out publicly over the last four years. >> aishah: should he have regrets he didn't drop out earlier? that's what democrats in his party feel he should have done. >> that's true. listen, as the reporter mentioned 75% of democrats said they did not want president biden to run. 2/3 of all americans didn't want a biden trump rematch. i think america is ready to turn the page from both of those but given the choices that we were faced with people chose to go

with donald trump over the biden-harris ticket or the harris-walz ticket. that is something that -- this is someone who wanted this job for more than 50 years and finally got it and only able to serve one term. i understand the feelings he is having right now. >> aishah: he was elected as a transitional presidents and democrats feel that way. rosemary, quickly on this. i wonder if the president would have seen things differently had there been more reporting on the way that he was carrying out business. i want to talk about the way the media covered his mental fitness. january crawford hit back at journalists for not reporting on president biden's mental fitness. >> that would be to me joe biden's obvious cognitive decline that became undeniable in a televised debate. starting to emerge that his

advisors managed his limitations for four years. yet he insisted that he could still run for president. we should have much more forcefully questioned whether he was fit for office for another four years. which could have led to a primary for the democrats. it could have changed the scope of the entire election. >> aishah: she is talking about this report from earlier this month that revealed that aides kept meetings short. at the controlled access, they acted as go betweens and public interactions were more scripted. the administration defies that biden has declined. what do you think? >> i think the american people clearly were concerned about his capabilities and i think they spoke very loud and clear in this last election. i don't know how you can denied that his abilities were

definitely questionable. >> aishah: yeah. fred, i want to ask you about the democrats and where they go from here. they are really struggling to regroup after losing the white house, the senate, not being able to take back the majority in the house and more and more of these party leaders are calling out the failures of the democratic party, the left. congresswoman crockett questioned the old guard here. >> within the democratic caucus, we are really stuck in our old ways of doing things, which is you get there by senior orr tee. if you've been there longer you get the post. i think that america is looking at us saying wait a minute, we lost the election. we're looking towards y'all to show us that you are willing to shake it up if it means we can move this country forward. >> aishah: it is not just her. outgoing democratic lawmakers are taking parting shots. former presidential candidate dean phillips told "politico"

right now we're totally devoid of leadership. we're rudderless. retiring senator joe manchin with this take. >> i am not a democrat in the form of what the democratic party has turned itself into. the brand got so bad, the d-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of -- it's toxic. >> aishah: fred, is it time for the older guard to go? it feels like they just can't get with the program. >> you know, age is something that's rewarded in politics probably more than any other industry on both sides. president-elect donald trump will be the oldest person to serve as president. mitch mcconnell is one of the oldest majority leaders and things on the democratic side, president biden and committee leaders, jim clyburn and others age into their positions. so this is something, i think, that the political system overall needs to address and we

need an adjustment or course correction. there is nothing wrong with experience, fantastic thing. the world's greatest teacher but we need to make space in both parties for new leadership and younger leadership and more energetic leadership. >> aishah: last word. >> absolutely. one of the things the american people do every year is elect new people into office. we elected out 11 congress people and three u.s. senators and, that you know, we created turnover there and so again the american people have really showed that they do want -- spoke out and want in a leadership on a lot of issues, absolutely. >> aishah: we have to go, guys. thank you, rosemary and fred for joining us, thank you for watching "the faulkner focus." i'm aishah hasnie in for harris,

"outnumbered" is next.