Transcripts For FBC Cavuto Coast To Coast 20171221

Developments and the likely tax package everyone put the proverbial john hancock on this except the man who counts the most, the president of the United States. The companies are putting the money to work before its in their hot little hands, you heard a lot about that. So is connell mcshane, doing reporting on this and from the folks at wells fargo, planning big things. Reporter thats one of the Companies Making a big move. The bill hasnt been signed into law yet and have a number of Companies Looking to share the wealth. A small sample up on the screen, there have been more that announced but you talk about at t, boeing, comcast, southwest and were outside of wells fargo location here in new york. Theyve all made some sort of announcement what they hope do with the savings that they will have. Theyre not all equal, want to talk about the banks, if you looked at industry, especially the banks that have big operations domestically, wells fargo is an example of that. They pay a relatively high effective tax rate. You bring the corporate rate down, if you are wells fargo paying effective rate of 31 last year, this could really, really help. Fifth Third Bancorp said theyre going to boost the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour and give out bonuses, thats what the experts and analysts like to see. You look at the bigger companies, at t invest a billion dollars next year, previously said they would do that if they got the tax cut. The same at t facing the Justice Department lawsuit over the proposed time warner deal, and boeing a Million Dollars in bonuses as well. All of that is fine and certainly republicans like to see it after the tax bill is passed, neil, but the analysts point to the wage increases and starting to see a little bit of that. They say long term thats whats matters, the bonuses are great for the workers. If wages go up and were starting to see it from the banks, wells fargo, fifth third, thats a place to start. Pretty good start. Neil connell mcshane, thats the judgment call on this corporate side. They disproportionately did benefit from the tax cut and the feeling is they cant plow back into the stock and hope for the best. Some of the companies that are doing some of the things connell outlined could be a sign of things to come and if a fraction do that on top of the market gains, on the market advance will be the other developments. To gop strategist chris who upgraded network ceo, Alfredo Ortiz and certainly last but not least, democratic strategist jessica tarlov. Jessica, i know you dont like to prespend your tax cut, but what do you think of democrats, not a one voted for, this just like not one republican voted for health care, and there might be a problem with that down the road because when it comes to tax cuts, they generally do produce some bang for the buck, and they might feel like odd man out, what do you think . I think in the short term, democrats need tong how theyre going to message on this. I understand there are substantial cuts going to the wealthy here, if we see a boost in the pocketbook of every average american going to 80 that get a bump right off the bat. We need to be cognizant of that. An extra dollar in the bank account or spokt a good thing. Democrats need to be really careful not to be offensive. I actually say and act as if this is no money at all, membership they didnt have in the first place but talk about the core components of this bill, and how it does benefit the millionaires and the billionaires at the expense long term of the middle and lower classes and talk about the childrens Insurance Program which i feel will get funded in the end but the republicans left sitting there. A difficult line to toe especially for the ten democrats, we have senators in states that trump won handily. They need to be careful how they talk about it. Neil it really depends on your time frame, chris, in the outer years when a lot of the credits and allowances expire, yes, on paper, that does go back and shoot back to gains that people were having that suddenly stopped at that point, so making the assumption they will expire at that point. Near term, it is a good given that most benefit and a lot of the wealthy, particularly in hightax states, i come from one of them, will not. But is it your thought here that what companies are doing might be some of the early surprises here, that youre going to need a lot more than at t and boeing and wells fargo and those we outlined, many more doing what theyre doing, sharing the bounty with workers. What do you think . I certainly do agree that to your point. There will be a lot more companies that will come on board. I think right now me just speaking to a few ceos last night. Everyone is assessing, looking what the they can and cannot do and people are overall enthusiastic about this. Companies are saying what can we do now to give back . How can we stimulate the economy more . I believe more companies will come on board. The average Family Savings is 400, they can have nearly 2,000 additional, that can help from groceries to light bill to other emergencies, when you have Companies Like wells fargo stepping up for 15 minimum wage, its phenomenal. Boeing giving back bonuses. This is a one initial step. So they are setting the tone as leaders for the rest of what will actually happen. Neil, i have to say i think the only two groups that are going to be sorry they voted the way they did first of all are the democrats that are on the sidelines of this one. They truly are going to be bemoaning that. And Companies Like ireland that over the years have benefitted from our hightax environment, theyve been receiving a lot of the large corporations of ours are giving back, and frankly the two biggest groups are going to be bemoaning that. Neil you make a good point, i read a lot of the Foreign Press as well. You read the london times, you read a lot of the papers abroad, the English Version of the french newspapers, theyre concerned about how all of a sudden Corporate America affects things for them and a battle royale, the Financial Times got into this for lower taxes across the european union. That wouldnt be a bad battle to have. Where do you see that going . Absolutely, neil. Were going to see immediately almost, see companies wanting to come back to america. They believe in this country. Automatically you are seeing folks, wells faringo, comcast, amazing what theyre doing immediately. Frankly this tax cut has done more for the fight for 15 movement with minimum wage going up in two of the companies. Neil jessica should be happy, you should be happy about this. Ecstatic about this. Neil 15 minimum wage. Im happy about that. Merry christmas to you well, thank you very much. No, listen, as i led with, its not just a talking point, i genuinely am happy that any american would be getting a boost in the paycheck. The fight for 15 is important. Im a fight for 12er and see what cities can afford to go to 15. That is a dramatic increase and important. We need to see that, there have been a lot of Corporate Leaders that have spoken out. We remember gary cohn standing on stage and saying hey, you guys, the ceos, you are going to let it go. Not really. Mike bloomberg said its a complete fantasy land that all of this is passed down. Neil the fraction of it, is you think about it, jessica, thats more than weve typically seen in the past. Thats what happens when the rates are so dramatically cut or 15 rate on money held abroad, that everyone would take advantage of and bring home, thats going to be put to use, right . And Something Else to say on the Small Business front which job creators network, we advocate for the Small Business owners across the country. 30 million of them. I got a call from one of our Small Business members. His name is joe in florida, owns a cookie company, investing immediately into the company adding another machine, trying to get further output. Bonuses to his organization, increasing wages. Our Small Business owners are excited about this, and were going to see that whole sector of our economy, Small Businesses and medium sized businesses turbo charge the economy outside of our large corporations. And neil chris, you are a strategist, i want to get your sense whether all of this impact will be felt by the midterm elections next year. Some of it is happening now, a lot we learned from the reagan tax cuts, there was a delayed development there. It certainly didnt help republicans in the midterms that year, but certainly did later on in Ronald Reagans landslide reelection, but it isnt and wasnt immediate, what do you think . I certainly do believe that, look, like senator portman said in the floor speech the other day. The proof is in the putting. Take a picture of the paychecks next month, next week, when you look in february and see the different, withholdings, have you more money, that is when it counts. Neil what if its not a lot of money. For a lot of folks, depending whether they are paid every week or every two weeks, its going to amount to 50 bucks. Maybe more like every two weeks. For a lot of people is that going to make a difference . I think its all relative. I do believe for whether its to jessicas point earlier, whether its 100 or few dollars or more, every bit counts when you have struggling families who have challenges paying bills or buying groceries. Neil thats a good point. Last night i was talking to when you were talking about boosting the economy and ceos, people are complaining and talking about how Corporate America is going to be greedy and not give money. Heres the funny thing about it, i was talking to a few ceos last night, one of them has a local starter in san diego, band of hands, theyre partners with shell, with Shell Corporation and shell is going to do a big campaign helping to give back in the community, rebuild local efforts and jobs all in california, all because of this. Things like that is what needs to be out there and discussed in enhancing that message. I would like to add to that a little bit. When you think about corporations and who are the suppliers of the corporations, theyre Small Business owners, medium to Small Businesses. I was a Small Business owner and number one, number two, number three customers when i started were large companies. I know that when they grow, i grew. That is simple formula. Neil jes, final word. Awesome. I take all of your points and you make a lot of phone calls and talk to a lot of owners and ceos, but you need to look at what the generic ballot is, democrats up 15 points and thats tough to overcome with a successful tax bill here. The president is incredibly unpopular, both parties are unpopular but certainly President Trump, and theres a lot to fight upstream. Neil the same generic ballots that had Hillary Clinton winning electoral landslide. That wasnt generic. Retail sales were up the highest in the past 11 years. Thats the highest poll. Neil its a little early, things can and usually do change. Another quick point we might add is number of companies showing up mention funds committing some of the money theyre getting off inquiries in the stock value to make sure Pension Funds are whole. A lot of public and private enterprises was dicey, theyre doing their best to make sure future retirees and those who arent faur off have the money to retire. That is a classic case whether you are directly invested in the markets or not of getting a benefit from stocks that run up and companies that have more money to play with. The idea being its your money. Are you going to be able to play with it . In that case, yes. More after this. I just finished months of chemo. But i dont want to talk about months. I want to talk about years. Treatments have gotten better, so. Im hoping for good years ahead. Thats thanks to Research Funded by the American Cancer Society. The same folks giving me free rides to treatment, insurance advice,and a place to stay during chemo. I need that stuff like you dont know. And now that you do, please give at cancer. Org. Neil all right, want to take you to the United Nations, where 128 u. N. Nations voted in favor condemning the u. S. , and this was part of our decision to recognize jerusalem as part of the israeli capital. Despite nikki haley saying we might think twice about giving so much money to the United Nations, if every time were shot down here in this body. They shot her down anyways. Whether that means that the administration will look to closing up the wallet or not giving as much, anyones guess, this decision was largely expected, widely condemned by countries that said this interrupted the Peace Process. I looked at this, wasnt much of a Peace Process going on. Whatever your opinions on that, that should not be among the reasons to be for or against, it no productive peace talk were going on. We recognize jerusalem as capital of israel. We recognize that Going Forward to move our embassy there from tel aviv. U. N. Is saying its a stupid decision, we overwhelmingly reject it. 8 other countries beside ourselves agreed with the position we took, now the threat is on and more or less tempting nikki haley and President Trump, what are you going to do about it . What are you going to do to avoid a government shutdown, adam shapiro with the latest on capitol hill. Reporter lets make a deal. Heres where we stand right now. The house is trying to get enough votes, the republicans to pass the bill to send it to the senate. They removed from the bill the full year funding for the department of defense. What the goal is to get january 19th and start this process over. Some of what theyre discussing is fisa reauthorization promising members of the Freedom Caucus they would be allowed to add amendments to full term fisa after january 19th. To keep it funded through march 31. 2. 1 billion for the Va Choice Program and the pay go provision. Very simply, if the pay go provision is in the bill and it is, and it passes, which people are hoping it does so they can get out of washington, the president could sign the tax reform bill as soon as tomorrow. So this is very crucial that the pay go be in the bill and pass. The democrats are saying not so fast where. Do we stand . The president tweeted this morning saying the house wants a shutdown for the holidays to distract from the very popular justpassed tax cuts. House republicans dont let this happen. Pass the cr, continuing reslation today, and keep our government open. Nancy pelosi had this to say to the president. We have never advocated shutting government down, and they again, they have the vote, they can keep government open, if they want us to vote for some bills, we have to have some cooperation with what they are. Reporter so if this is any encouragement. We had from Mitch Mcconnell, the senate leader, he said mr. President , the senate is ready to take up an agreement as soon as one originates over in the house. Were ready to Work Together across the aisle to ensure theres no lapse in funding for critical services. Mitch mcconnell saying the government not shut down, but right now the ball is in the court of the house of representatives, neil . Neil but the understanding is whatever they decide is going to get us through the middle of january, right . Yes, january 19th because this is so much fun to do all the time. Neil exactly. I want to talk to claudia tenney, republican from new york, congresswoman. How do you think this is going to go . Im hearing its going to actually pass, but thats a rumor that could be eviscerated in minutes, but i dont typically like crs, i dont think its a good way to fund the government, but i think we have to provide assurances to Government Employees and especially our military as the mother of active duty marine, this is essential, we need to keep them going and active and its what our general mattis, our secretary of defense has asked for, unfortunately, were not voting on the entire Defense Budget but were going to be revisiting that. Essential things in this plan i heard you described, chip funding is going to be restored. Deal with Community Development block grants for disaster relief, we are victims of floods. Theres a lot of things in this bill that have to be done on a parttime basis and we can get through to january and really make this happen. I hope that the tax provisions are kept so we can get the tax cut immediately and the president can sign it next week. I think its looking good, though, i seem to be getting confidence from members stepping out of meetings just now, im hoping we are out of here late tonight. Neil you will be revisiting this in january as you said, it seems like a perennial problem. You cant do another continuing resolution, have you to you do something that is longer term, longer lasting. You guys, i think by extension, republicans want to beef up defense spending. I know democrats have countered, you beef that up, nondefense spending you have to beef up, too. And all the while, debt that is piling up, up, up and away. What are you saying . We have to do all the tests have to be looked at. Ive had senators reach out and said we need to get daca by the end of the year. Thats not going to happen, we have until march to work on that. All the different issues that face us, including the debt which comes with entitlement reform, and thats going to be important as we look into the hopeful growth that we think were going to get out of this tax reform policy. This is a battle for me as a new yorker. Weve had to fight to get lifesavers back in for new york taxpayers so they wouldnt be completely crushed by all of the devastating tax burden. Thats another issue coming up. Albany weighing in and the governor of house and senate weighing in on their tax problems, and we want to see growth but need to see the cuts. We need to see essential programs funded. We need to grow defense. We have to sustain ourselves in a longterm way, and i think thats something that theyre asking for, the military does not should not have to rely on the cr process, they need assurances from us. Neil it is a crazy process for the time being. I did want to get your thoughts on the tax cut bill. You are not among the dozen or so republicans who voted no. You do come from a hightax state, new york. Why . Well, initially there was language in the budget to initiate this process in the budget that said we should remove salt, the socalled state and local tax deduction. We got it restored, more flexible. It includes state and local taxes, property tax, income tax or sales tax or any complication can be used. Fought to get credits back and deductions that are popular for new yorkers that help minimize the blow on higher earners. In my community, about 30 are itemizers, so by adding back this 10,000 deduction, that covers almost 95 of my taxpayers and puts us in a good position. The Small Business issue is really important, the pat through, the repatriation, i represent the rust belt that lost so many jobs. I have run a Manufacturing Business and own one in the heart of central new york. We need to bring manufacturing back, i think this bill is going to move us in that direction, the growth is going to be great. I got a call today, already, from a teacher after the teachers unions are saying this is going to be terrible for you. She said guess what . My husband and i are getting almost 4,000 back under the new tax plan. This is helping middleincome taxpayers, the people doing the teachings and things, its tough on the community, its going to be tough on high earners in new york. I can understand why colleagues that have higher values on property are concerned about it, but i think we can fight next year and do an even better plan, make it permanent. The democrats and president obama said they reinstated the bush tax cuts, its time for them to cross the aisle, come to us, help the American People, reduce taxes and make these personal tax cuts permanent, and im hoping we can do that next year when you see growth. Neil in the meantime, you are doing anything for americas prompter readers . I guess not. [ laughter ] a good sport, hope you have a very, very Merry Christmas. Thank you, Merry Christmas to all of you. I think the United Nations just called nikki haleys bluff. She wondered aloud in remarks early this morning. You keep rejecting United States positions and repudiating us and we disproportionately give a lot of money to you guys, and yet they rejected her yet again. Now what you . After this. See thats funny, i thought you traded options. Im not really a wall street guy. Whats the hesitation . Eh, it just feels too complicated, you know . Well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. Jj, will you break it down for this gentleman . Hey, ian. You know, at Td Ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step until youre comfortable. I could be up for that. Thats taking options trading from wall st. To main st. Hey guys, wanna play some pool . Eh, im not really a pool guy. Whats the hesitation . Its just complicated. Stepbystep options trading support from Td Ameritrade our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Nk na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. United states will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the Worlds Largest contribution to the United Nations, and we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit. Neil and within about an hour of the remarks, the u. N. Did vote to condemn our position in jerusalem naming the capital of israel. It was overwhelmingly so, so now what do we do . We threaten we would withhold aid or rethink how much aid we give to the United Nations, we give quite a bit. To former assistant secretary of defense larry korb, what do we do . Dial back the rhetoric, while you said you were going to do this, for example, when you look at the military and humanitarian aid which you cut off money to egypt and deal with iran or iraq or ukraine or beginning to send more weapons to ukraine because of what russia is doing there, and then in the humanitarian aid which goes only like 45 billion, it goes primarily to thirdworld countries, if those countries begin to have problems, isis could take advantage just like we had the four americans recently killed in niger. So i think in the long run, you may feel good after having done this, but i think when it comes down to, it youre not going to do very, very, very much. Neil you know, secretary, the United Nations bemoaned the fact the u. S. Is disproportionately antiamerican in tone or because they agree with views on Climate Change to how to proceed on middle east agreements and the like. One of the reasons for this crackdown on our position on jerusalem was that it would interrupt the Peace Process and has, but the best i could tell, secretary, i didnt see much of a process going on there, one way or the other, but update me. Peace, theres no doubt about the fact that the Peace Process is not where it should be. President trump wanted to make that a priority. He had his soninlaw Jared Kushner that was going to be involved in that, but then when he unilaterally said he was going to move the American Embassy to jerusalem, a lot of the countries in the region doesnt want to work with us anymore, including the palestinians. They dont want to meet now with Vice President pence when he makes his trip over there. So its not going to help with the Peace Process that youre trying to get going and only really us that can do the Peace Process, other countries can assist but has to be the United States. You know, the great irony is were going to cut off aid. Biggest recipient of military aid is obviously israel who obviously voted with us this time. Neil you know where, do you see this going . The president has followed up on these attacks about who contributes, for example, nato funding, whatever the requirements are, 2 of the gdp into that. And a lot of countries did pony up, what do you think happens here . Well, i dont think much is going to happen because, as i say, were moving in the other direction, iraq, egypt, not going to give money to iraq after all weve been through there, we increase the money to ukraine. Im hoping he pulls back on the rhetoric like he did when he went the first time and said he wouldnt support article 5 in nato which said an attack on one is an attack on all. You are right about that. I forgot. And pulled that back, i think basically he was trying to send a signal how important this is to us, but i dont think its going to change things very much. If it did, for example, in africa, if you cut off aid, china will fill the gap. Thats not what you want to do either. Neil china could hint of filling the gap if we cut back funding at the United Nations, could be another player. Secretary, so good seeing you again. Thank you for take the time. Thanks for having me, appreciate it. Neil all right, sir. It wasnt a terror attack, it was scary, in australia, a driver mowing oun pedestrians on a busy cross road. Ashley webster has the latest what theyre finding out. Reporter all too familiar, using a car as a weapon. In this case, happened at 4 30 in the afternoon in melbourne, australia. A car, a white suv barrelled through a red light mowing down pedestrians. Eyewitnesses say never hit the brakes, never slowed down. 19 people injured. Four we are told in critical condition. No reports of fatalities. Now, the suspect is just being described as a 32yearold Australian Citizen of afghan descent, and even though as we say all of this seems too familiar from other terror attacks, australian investigators do not believe this is linked to terrorism. Take a listen. At this time, we dont have any evidence or intelligence to indicate a connection with terrorism. Having said that, however, we continue to support this investigation with our counterterrorism command to ensure that there isnt that connection, and that there is no ongoing thread. Reporter another person has also been arrested, a bit unclear whether they had connection, a 24yearold man seen filming the whole thing. When they approached him, he was carrying a bag of knives. But authorities do not believe he is linked to this particular incident. We should point out in january of this year, neil, in the same city, chose to where this happened, another car plowed through people, in that case, six people were killed. 30 injured, but again in that incident, it was not believed to be actual act of terrorism, though the city of melbourne installed the concrete blocks all over the city to try and prevent things like this. When someone has a car and wants to do damage, its very hard to stop them. Neil very effective, to your point. Ashley webster, thank you very much. You know a lot about the tax cuts and whats coming with them now, the Companies Planning to do a good deal more than many thought they would do with that money, but if you run a hedge fund and you are expecting it slapped down or people thought you would be slapped down. How did you come out a big winner in this almost completely unscathed in all of this . We think we know. After this. Looking for advantages. The smart ones look to fidelity to find them. 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Because theres more to parkinsons. My visitors should be the ones i want to see. Learn more at moretoparkinsons. Com. Neil you know, youre only a couple of days away from christmas, if you have not gotten anything yet, amazon says it can help you out. Deirdre bolton is at manhattan prime hub with the details. Hey, deirdre . Reporter hi, neil, i certainly am here, as you can see behind me tons of things like santas workshop. Amazon prime has these hubs in 50 cities, in 9 country, each one between 30 and 50,000 square feet. So basically, neil, i want to take you through the process. What happens is, lets say on Christmas Eve running out of wrapping paper or scotch tape or need an extension cord or lights, you put in the order, if i were working here, i would get it on this amazing scanner gun here, i would go back through the stacks, ill take you through, and you can see, im going to move this, i dont know if id last long here, neil. They actually have things organized in their way. Seems abrent, you have bisquick next to cookies, next to chicken broth next to a tablet. Amazons algorithms, they know how to guide the workers, they know what goes where, you get a coded bag and elevator case right over there and the workers deliver it. In new york city, neil, you can get a delivery one to two hours, if you are a prime member. That means on Christmas Eve, the last time can you place an order is 9 00 p. M. , therefore, you could get something by 11 59 on the 24th. So neil, i understand last year, you tried to order some chocolate chip or cookie days ago ice cream, you were disappointed, you ended up getting raw cookie dough, this year, im going send you a Little Something and see if you are happy with your present. In the meantime, back to you. Neil how are they doing on processed meats and cheeses . Because thats the gift that keeps giving, as you know, they have a little compartment for that. Maybe its next to the bisquick. I lost connection. Neil she lost me. 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Any attempt by this president to remove special counsel mueller from his position, or to pardon key witnesses in any effort to shield them from accountability or shut down the investigation would be a gross abuse of power and a flagrant violation of executive Branch Responsibilities and authorities. These truly are red lines. Neil if the president were to fire special counsel mueller, our country would face a constitutional crisis. Make sure that i address senator warners concern for the 1,000th time. We have no intentions of firing bob mueller. Were continuing to work closely and cooperate with him, we look forward to seeing this hoax wrap up. Neil all right, its a little confusing here, should have broken it up a little bit. Democrats by and large, given the times in the tax cut news taken to the senate floor, some to the house floor to say the administration is even thinking of firing bob mueller, which apparently it is not. For the time being it is not. Bad thing to do. What was weird about that as i said, it occurred on the very same day that the administration was announcing this big victory on tax cuts, could be coincidental or could be deliberate effort here to minimize the publicity off of that. But it was weird, remains weird, so why is it still a story line here when the administration tries to say theyre not considering it. The wall street Journal Editorial Board member. Kim, do we know something or missing something or the administration repeatedly denied this, the president certainly could fire director mueller if it wanted to, no indication hes inclined to, but they keep resurfacing. This whats going on . Yeah, i think youre incredibly kind to suggest it was simply weird. The president s team has repeatedly and emphatically for five months now said that it has no intention of firing the special counsel. So i think theres two things going on here. One is the timing, this is a way of deflecting from a big republican victory, its a common thing that happens in washington. You try to spin the news in your direction. Also to spin news away from some of the information thats been coming out about the fbi and the Justice Department and its role in last years election. But i think the other thing is, look, mark warner, Chuck Schumer would love nothing more than for President Trump to fire special counsel because it would give them a reason to then take action against President Trump. And we should stress whether you like mueller, whether you dont like president and you like mueller, you dont like the president , firing the guy doesnt make the investigation disappear, there would be another special counsel brought into continue or follow up on whatever he was doing, so its not as if all of this would go away, right . Well, right, and i would have thought, and ive said this before, that given all of the conflicts of interest that have since arisen and around mr. Muellers team. This agent struck, the text emails, the Close Association between many of the people in the Justice Department who are now on his team. I would have thought if i were special counsel mueller and i wanted to protect the integrity of this probe, then i would actually maybe step down, resign, and allow somebody else to come in and take up the work where he had it. Look, a lot of americans want the answers here but want the full answers to everything that happened and feel they can get that without a conflict of interest like weve seen here. Neil this is proof youve been working too hard, kim. Thats not going to happen. [ laughter ] lets step back and maybe can you read in between the signal, the tea leaves, whatever you want to call them. Were told much of the interviewing, if not all of it is wrapped up. That could be very wrong, several points in ken starrs investigation with bill clinton that the interviewing was just about wrapping up and lo and behold the Monica Lewinsky thing unfolded. It went a different direction, thats the possible. What kind of a sense are you getting about the time line on this . I would argue thats another reason you see democrats saying this or trying to provoke President Trump into firing him because theyre very worried theyre going to come out with nothing in that theyre just not going hes not going, to in the end, find any evidence of conspiracy or collusion or obstruction, so the best they could hope for, because look, this is a cynical game in washington, and democrats were unhappy about the election, they thought they might have another shot at getting the president out of white house with this special counsel, if it looks as if its wrapped up, and could be the case, they end up without that political victory. Theyd love again for the president to fire him, that would give them new cause. Neil do investigators respond to criticism of their investigation . I think Sarah Sanders said, look, we think this russian thing is a hoax, but were not about to fire mueller. How do you think that plays went Investigation Unit . Within muellers unit . I dont think anyone should expect bob mueller to come out and hold Daily Press Conferences and answer the accusations against him. That wouldnt help the integrity of his investigation. Neil he doesnt say broke, he doesnt say anything at all. Nothing. Thats probably smart. One would hope that his investigators and he are aware of the allegations and criticisms, because again, this goes to the credibility americans want answers. Where i do think hes made a mistake is that hes not gone out of his way to work cooperatively with any of the investigators in the house and the senate who have an equal claim to investigating. He knew for instance about the text emails back in august between the agents that are so problematic, and yet he did not go to congress and inform them about this and explain why hed taken the man off of his team. I think they were owed at least that and made many of them question what hes up to. Neil he has said or office has said, i dont know whos telling the truth here, they were not aware of the text until well after the fact. You dont buy that . They were aware of that in july when they demoted this guy. Thats what im saying, they may not have found out about them until we found out from the inspector general. Neil and he was still part of this i see what youre saying, he was part of the investigation in a technical sense. Correct. Correct. So they didnt find out about him until july and demoted him. I do believe that as soon as they were made aware of them that he was kicked off the team, but theyve known about the texts, mr. Mueller, since july, and not only did they not go and tell congress, they actively hid this information from congressional investigators. That doesnt speak well of their motives. Its really made a lot of people question their motives. Neil kim strassel, wall street journal, Editorial Board member. Thank you for updating us, appreciate it. Thank you. Neil there was a ceremony in washington today, another one. This time with the key congressional players signing that tax bill. So everyone has put their proverbial john hancock on this except the one that really counts to make it officially the law of the land. The president of the United States. When will he do that . A lot of things hinge on this. After this. I used to have more hair. I used to have more color. And. I used to have cancer. I beat it. I did. Not alone. I used to have no idea what the American Cancer Society did. Research . Yeah. But also free rides to chemo and free lodging near hospitals. I used to maybe give a little. Then i got so much back. I used to have cancer. Please give at cancer. Org. Neil so, again, as we wait to hear when the president will sign this thing, theyre pouncing on this thing. Blake burman at the white house. Blake, do we know when the president is going to put his signature on it . Well, we are hearing, neil, that it is possible. And i do stress the word possible that President Trump could sign this tax bill into law tomorrow and do so here at the white house. That is according to several white house officials that we have spoken with on this day. Depends, though, on two very big factors. First over up on capitol hill. Passing that continuing resolution. The Government Spending bill and secondly, within that cr, containing the pay as you go waiver. Now, that pay as you go waiver is currently in the cr. But the democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer would not signal earlier today if democrats would be onboard with that. Were not going to address any of those things until we see what the house is going to do. Okay . Now, white house sources say if that pay as you go waiver is not included in this Government Spending bill, then the president would not sign the tax bill until january. Earlier today, the White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders said they hope that they get this Government Spending bill in short order. We hope it happens soon because we know all of you guys and all of congress and everybody else is ready to make sure that the government is fully funded and functional and go home and celebrate christmas. Neil, weve been told for days here probably up close to a week that one of the possibilities that was certainly on the table is that the president wouldnt sign this bill until january when he got back from his christmas break and got back from washington. But were getting the feeling here that they might want to speed this thing up and potentially have him do this tomorrow. Neil that would be interesting. You dont want to terrific sitting there because anything could happen. All right. Blake, thank you very much. Blake burman at the white house. Already companies have committed to put good money to good use. You heard at t promising 1,000 bonuses to the better of 200,000 workers. Comcast, wells fargo doing some stuff. Now, you could read cynically into those companies that those companies have separate issues with the administration and critics and maybe this is a good show of force. Whatever, its happening, isnt it . Republican strategist with the wall street journal back with us. And, dagen, who has not slept with us. Dagen. Yeah. You get me on. Never cynical. Neil no. No. No. And i got you at that weak gerri lewis moment at the end of the telethon. Do you think that these companies, whatever their motivations. One could cynically say at t maybe treatment of the Justice Department incorrectly through the president. But the fact of the matter is they are doing this stuff. What do you make of it . I think that this is a symbol to other companies in this country of this is how were going to put this extra money to work. Again, Chuck Schumer lost his mind over this. Hes coming up with a list of companies that have been buying back stock. Hes talking specifically about at t and the tens of thousands of jobs lost and their real tax; right . I will point to the banks and the telecom companies. They in terms of industries and companies will probably benefit the most from this Corporate Tax overhaul because their businesses are largely in the United States, they dont get the currently the tax benefit of having intellectual property overseas, Business Operations overseas. So they will have a much healthier tax rate for the most part. And theyre stepping up and saying yay. And i think the 15 minimum wage that we heard about from wells fargo and Fifth Third Bank is kind of is intentional; right . Its to embarrass the democrats. It essentially says to them youve been running on 15 minimum wage nationwide. Well, now we got it, and you essentially voted against it. Neil wells fargos case gave them free checking accounts. But let me get your take on it, dagen. Its a curse of riches in a way for these companies because they have not only to dagens point the lower rate, but also the trillions that would be put to use. We dont know how much. But they can do both. They can buy back their own stock, they can do a lot of things that would make their shareholders happy and a lot of things that would make their workers happy. If they do both, then what . Well, they can do a lot of things, thats the thing. Democrats are trying to make this a binary choice. You can either return the cash to shareholders or hire workers. Its not necessarily about that. Neil so you think these might be more than norm what these companies are doing. Well, the bonuses are a nice Little Cherry on top. They dont last very long. It could be to create favor with the Justice Department. But the thing thats important here is the investment. The longterm investment in infrastructure and u. S. Systems construction projects. Those are the kinds of things that will put a lot of americans to work, even if theyre not hiring them directly for their companies. But companies are also going to pay down debt. That will benefit them. Theres a rule in this tax bill that would hurt them if they continued to hold all of this debt, so theyll pay it down. Neil thats true. You cant just sit on it. Also buying other companies. A lot of Companies Said theyll look for more opportunities. But generally when they invest in these infrastructure, thats the key. When they say theyre investing, you know that that could create other jobs indirectly. And thats the big neil free to do with their money what they want. Boeing and amber and the talks that theyre going to be merging. To come out and say heres what were doing right now. Neil heres what were doing. You know, cristy, the rap against this behavior is that it would be all too one sided to investors as if thats a problem. Because i think for a lot of companies intending to back into their pension fund, especially public and private entities, it might be underfunded. That could shore up futures and retirements on a lot of folks. Until now, it was looking kind of dicey; right . Yeah. Look at this, neil. The second is implementation. I think we can have some fair concerns with that. But theres democrat senator that had some real serious concerns. And well leave it nameless. Its not senator schumer about the buy backs and dividends. His net worth is 250 million, you know . I mean, if growth policies work for democrats in congress, i think it should work for other constituents. I think thats fair to say that growth policies are going to help. So when we lebanon at implementation, i think its fair i would like to see these tax cuts for the middle class be permanent. But i think its fair to say that if the jobs arent there, they dont invest in the workers, then maybe hold people accountable for the ballot box. But for now, growth policies are in action and President Trump has these through, and its tough to do these days. Neil it is really tough. And i think, dagen, you were raising it earlier this week. This notion that, you know, the history on tax cuts is that they come out the gate quite unpopular. This is unpopular. And you need to see what people are going to do with that money, how much theyre going to see in the paychecks come february what theyre going to do with that money. So we wont know for sure what youre betting. I think that when peoples paychecks are bigger, i think when they realize neil what if theyre not much bigger. I dont think its the much. I think its also how we feel about our own financial situation is also informed by how our neighbors feel. How our local store owners feel. Thats the even living in new york city as blue as it is, as left wing crazy liberal as it is, a lot of store owners, good business, a lot of foot traffic. Theyre very happy. So optimism gets optimism. I dont think you need to get, you know, 1,000 raise in every paycheck for you to feel it because you feel it everywhere. You feel it at your company if your companys spending money on you. If youre hiring. If theyre redecorating the floor that you stand on. Im talking about where we work. Neil around the clock and who doesnt love sushi around the clock . Right. And i think that it is it will help lift the general feeling in this country. And i think the reasons the democrats are so mad, the blue states got hit by the state and local tax deduction, essentially going away. But they didnt think it would pass. They didnt think the republicans were going to get it done. And now theyre caught trousers, you know, half naked. Neil i understand. Not completely naked. Other arguments are good. I think there should be some sort of concern for the national deficit. But thats not something people are going to feel. Neil by the way, there was a lot more concern for paying for the tax cuts. And you can think of the politics of it all. But at the end of the day people dont feel the National Debt in their pocketbook. Nancy pelosi talking about joes sixpack, she wouldnt know a sixpack if a buzz wiser truck tboned that cadillac limo shes driving around in. Thats a good one. Shes being folksy. Waffle house. Neil really . You can get it there . No. You cant. Neil oh. Oh. Oh. Every time i run in there, im, like. By the way, there was other news today besides this. The un condemning the u. S. For recognizing jerusalem as the israeli capital. This after nikki haley was warning the un to not even think about it. This is what she said. America will put our embassy in jerusalem that is what the American People want us to do. And it is the right thing to do. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that. But this vote will make a difference on how americans look at the un and how we look at countries who disrespect us in the un. And this vote will be remembered. Neil and they promptly went ahead with a vote that was made. What do you think of that . Ultimately if the money walks, theyll step up. Neil the money wont walk. You dont believe the money . We fund more than neil we never do. I fully agree. But it will never change. I think that nikki haleys tougher than that. Shes the lady boss at the un. Neil okay. So you think i think that ultimately if you keep making these threats that they are neil you have to deliver on it. You have to put your money where your mouth is. Neil yeah, i agree. Kristen, do you think other president s have complained about this certainly unfriendly United States and israel in vote after vote after vote and yet we still pay out the dough. What do you think . Right. You know, i would like to see candidate support and others. I think, you know, President Trump, hes not scared to do new things and set his agenda. Neil so you think the next go around when its some time for funding, we give less . I think we should. I mean, doing egypt 20 of their military funding, im an iraq war vet. Come from a military family. Theyre only supported by troops and resources, and were supplying both troops and resources, so i think it could be put on the table. I dont think its unrealistic. President trump said were not going to pay for the fancy parties, and he has pretty consistent. I think we can pull back funding. Sure. Neil do you think it happens . Realistically . I think what he was discussing canada, i believe, abstained from the vote. I believe australia did as well and georgia. Neil Nine Countries did. Maybe we can exact some pain on allies individually rather than just pulling funding from the United Nations. But to his point as well, these parties go on during the assembly. These diplomats are everywhere. What theyre doing, i dont know other than just, you know, throwing down. In a way you cant have your cake and eat it too. You cant decide youre going to make a controversial move that nobody in the world neil the cake is there. You might as well eat it. Well, you can try to. Thats what happened today. They tried to, and it got thrown in their face. Congress voted to move the capital 20 years ago. 20 years ago. Neil jerusalem should be the capital so when they said it was interrupting a Peace Processes, what Peace Processes . Again, this is the kind of shock among democrats that tax reform got done. They just dont they dont think, again, they focus on President Trump and him insulting a few people randomly here and there. And they think that the man cant get anything done and cant do a deal. Neil well, it would be a big news event if he then just closes up the checkbook. You dont have to close it all together. But you can start writing smaller checks. Neil you dont. Guys, i want to thank you all. In the meantime in case this growing talk were hearing that the government will probably run out of money saturday at 12 01 a. M. Because theyre nowhere near even a temporary deal. You think so worried . It doesnt look that way. Were at session highs today and closing in on 25,000. So so much for worry. We need more worry, i guess. After this neil all right. We are running fast and furious here, despite the talk that congress doesnt have the spending battle clear yet. Now, just to update you, they typically run out of cash at 12 01 a. M. On saturday and there was talk that they would cobble together a temporary measure. They probably still will. But democrats are balking on some of the conditions. I wont get caught in the weeds here where i normally live. But its not a guarantee is what im saying, and were going to slow that now to gary and now hes ready. Charlie gasparino. They get the approval with charlie in. Nobody wanted to bring you in. No. They wanted me earlier, but they gave me the wrong time. You know why . Because your producers, your staff filled with millennials that cant tell time. Neil oh, wow. Do you believe this guys . Starting early. Neil starting early. Guys. Hes the gift that holidays keep giving. All right. Gary, i want to get your thoughts first not on that little tidbit that charlie has with my producers but democrats and republicans on the spending thing. Just when something looks like a done deal or its just pro functry to get through, it never gets to that stage. What do you think . Somehow im not worried about government not spending or having the money to spend or having the debt to go spend Going Forward. The biggest one we ever had was three weeks. All the essentials were open and everybody got paid. Im not worried about this one bit. Obviously, the market doesnt worry about it one bit and whether we shut down for a couple of days or not, i dont think it matters. One iota or to the markets. Neil okay. If you dont think it matters, and it clearly doesnt matter to the markets, what a lot of people say is it reminds us again how crazy our budget processes is. How crazy our combined deficits, combined debt are getting that this is virtually ignored. That says something. What do you think . Well, yeah, this is business as usual, neil, for the federal government. Whether they pass a shortterm deal that gets them into january or actually cut a deal to if he understood the federal government through the end of the fiscal year or at the end of september, theyre not making any fundamental changes to the way the government spends money. Theyre not even cutting little discretionary programs that donald trump asked them to cut in their budget. For example, he asked dont fund for public broadcasting anymore. Phase it out. Dont Fund National arts. Phase it out. Republicans are going to do that. Thats not going to happen. But on the bigger picture, the United States is headed towards a fiscal catastrophe because of the money were going to be spending on big programs like Social Security and medicare as the baby boom generation retires and medicaid, which continues to be expanded by obamacare. Neil the president doesnt want to touch any of those. Right. So the big things driving federal spending up are continuing. Republicans are not grappling with those things. Neil well, someone needs to lead. I put the onus on the president there. If he didnt want to touch it during the campaign, still talks about not wanting to touch it now, then its on him. I agree. Neil, in the next ten years, we are going to send washington, d. C. Upwards of 40 trillion of our tax dollars federally. Theyre going to spend over 50 trillion. We are going to be over 30 trillion in debt heading for 40, and i worry about one day there will be that day of reckoning. I have this motto nothing is bad and nothing is wrong as long as markets are going higher. I worry one day markets wake up and see exactly what is going on, and that is spending and doing nothing about the problem Going Forward. I hope im completely wrong. Gary, heres where you might be wrong. And im not saying i buy this logic, but i do to a certain extent. Maybe not as much as mcmulvaney does, the budget director. Theyre basically saying if we can get this economy growing, you know, reliably at 3. 5, maybe 4 , at that point you do start paying down the deficit, and you do start tapping into the debt. And remember neil assuming youre not spending all of that extra money coming in. Even if you are. At a static basis kneel because remember, the money came in fast and furious with the tax cuts,. He did a massive spending on defense. And, by the way, thats a down payment that paid off when bill clinton got into office because communism was neil you think this time the growth will be able to go so strong that it will pay off a lot. I could tell you that is with all that they did with this tax plan, which is essentially a very small tax cut for working class people, a tax increase for certain people in certain states if you make some money. Giveaways for business. Lots of carveouts for private equity as you were talking about yesterday. Neil by the way, how did all of that stuff get through . One thing the points about public broadcasting and everywhere else. But the carveouts for these guys r guys. Particularly even when President Trump railed against private equity. Neil maybe he had bigger fish to fry. It was a combination of things. A lot of money everyone from Mitch Mcconnell to paul ryan to others. Theres also private equity, you know, Steve Schwartzman who runs blackstone one of the biggest private equity firm is close to the president. I mean, that its politics. Three words. But my other point is this remember what theyre gambling on. Carveouts for businesses. Private equity, even though i think its horrible that they stacked it against certain people and made other people winners. A massive Corporate Tax cut; right . I mean, this is massive. 35 to 21. Repatriation of money. If theyre banking on all of that producing 3. 5, 4 growth and getting us out of a jam. Now, it reminds me of david. When i was a kid, i covered new york city hall. When he was mayor of new york, and it was right around the time we had a recession and new york had a minifiscal crisis. It was just waiting and waiting and waiting for the stock market to turn around. And it did when he was out of office; right . But im just telling you. Thats kind of what they wanted. Charlie, three words. Follow the money. And thats why you see all of these things still left in there. And i hope you were right about bringing the debt down. But i have news for you. Last year, Government Spending was 3. 8 trillion. This year is 4. 1. And in four years, its slated to be 5. 1. If they would just stop the growth of spending. Neil or slow the growth. Or slow the growth. Anything like that, that would help. But for some reason, it is on this train. Neil neither party. Im telling you, guys. Neither party has ever been able to do it. Did talk about this. Particularly when he was Vice President. Talk, talk, talk. And, by the way, neil and, by the way, when he was head of the Means Committee and just wanted to slow the growth of medicare, he was pictured in ads throwing grandma off the cliff. And talk about just slowing the growth. Neil it could make a huge difference. A huge difference. I will say this, again. Gary, im not agreeing with this. Thats the theory. President trump, though, has absolutely no skin in the game of rank in entitlements. He did not campaign on it. He does not push it. And these guys dont respond to him a lot. Neil i dont see it happening. Neil. Neil yeah, go ahead. Real quick. Neil, in the budget resolution, they predict theyre going to balance the budget in 2027. Thats ten years from now. Donald trump wont be president. Many of these guys wont be in congress. We have absolutely no guarantee the republicans control the house, the senate, and the white house during that period. But also, you know, you talk about 3 growth. I believe weve had two quarters of 3 growth. Maybe well have 3 growth next year. We havent had it since 2005. But weve also been in a growth cycle, even if its anemic since 2009 and at some point there will be a recession. What United States can look forward to on the track were going, its eventually going to have increasing debt, increasing Interest Rates on that debt, and a recession with the shrinking economy. And then were going to have to have a federal government that figures out what to do when were in that crisis. On the press now. Neil ahappy holidays. Holly cow. Promises made could be promises broken. I promise im going to win a race with charlie. That is so not happening. But its on paper that thats exactly what i will do. The president of the United States after this big celebration at the white house yesterday has yet to sign this tax bill into law. But when he does, the feeling seems to be in rapid fire Fashion Companies will be piling on with promises to do more than simply buy back their stock. Why everything hinges on that, including republicans maintaining control in washington. Well explain after this i dont want to sound paranoid, but dya think our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. Why do you think the president s numbers are where they are . Again, all polls, not just one. Including foxs poll, hes in the 30s. One of the enduring lessons for me of election 2016 was dont believe the polls. I dont remember a poll that had us anywhere close to winning and President Trump won a historic victory. The president was sitting here, what he would say to you is were just going to keep delivering. Theyre going to keep talking. Theyre going to keep resisting. Were going to keep delivering. Neil all right. So the polls dont reflect any of that. Thats coming from the Vice President of the United States. Daily Caller News Foundation editor and chief chris bedford. What do you think about that . Its not out there. There is something that the Vice President argues, that the polls didnt seem to recognize how popular, certainly the president was in those battleground states. But is it the same . What do you think . I think its true. He hasnt really been able to trust polls since truman. Theyve only gotten worse. Mitt romney was getting ready to move to washington, d. C. Hillary clinton was an assured victory and donald trump has been someone consistently underrated in the polls. If i was mike pence, i would push polls aside and look at Companies Like comcast and at t which gave hundreds of thousands of employees 1,000 christmas bonuses with him and trumps name on them or places like wells fargo or regional banks upped their minimum wage to 15. A long time liberal goal to get a minimum wage that high because of tax reform. And when you have people here after this first big republican win of the year, constituents around the country saying, well, ive got 1,000 bonus. Im getting 1,000 because of child tax credit. Im getting a higher minimum wage because of this legislation. The democrats and all the talking points that come out of both republicans and democrats on capitol hill wont mean that much when the vote comes around. Neil life depends too with this whole tax cut thing is how americans feel it, react to it, see it for themselves. And we do know from history that can come and usually does come. But it can often come a year or years after the fact. Thats crucial for the midterm argument, isnt it . Its absolutely true. And on this network with you and Charles Payne and other hosts, weve been wondering will these companies that get had at this big windfall thats so obvious actually put it back into the u. S. Economy . Because they dont always do that. So far, the signs are they will. Thats a really good sign for mike pence and donald trump. But even after a oneyear victory, weve still got months and months and months and this news cycle changes so quickly. Remember george h. W. Bush after desert storm. Neil youre absolutely right. I always argue, and i always tell my staffers because im so old that never has anything gone to script or what expectations were and history has been decided by events we didnt see, not those we did. Having said all of that, is it your belief now because some of these Companies Like at t and wells fargo and comcast are committing to spend money beyond just plowing it back into their stocks, aside of things to come. And if it is, that could be a game changer right there. Absolutely because that creates interested parties and constituents. The problem with a lot of conservative theory on this is it does tend to sometimes trickle down. Its not obvious to see these immediate benefits. Right now, weve seen 200,000 people at at t. Hundreds of thousands of comcast see immediate benefits. Wells fargo. This creates interested constituents. People whose pocketbooks have been affected and all the talking points from nancy pelosi or paul ryan wont impact them nearly as much as having that extra 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 in the bank account, and theyre not going to listen as much as they do to the economy. Because the economys stupid. Neil yeah, if theyre getting more money, i guess it depends how quickly they feel that. That will decide a lot. Chris, thank you very much, my friend. Good seeing you. Good seeing you. Neil meanwhile, travel this christmas is set to break records. In fact, this is for a lot of people the kickoff day. The journey to grandmas begins. Jeff flock is in chicago with the very latest on that. Jeff. They say its the busiest day, neil. And, in fact, we give you a unique perspective here. This is the total traffic and weather network. Maybe you see. These are chicago traffic cams that you see out there. These guys do a radio traffic reports for 2,000 stations around the country. Today is as i said supposed to be the biggest travel volume in christmas history. 3. 1 increase over last year. Most of those people if you look at the numbers going by car, 94 million people. And ive got a legend of chicago traffic reporting with me right now. Oh, youre too kind. Batter. If youve ever lived in chicago, you know batters tone. Are we making too big after i deal . We think positive economy, low gas prices, what do you think . Well, the price of gas is down right now compared to, like, a week ago, so that always encourages people to go out and travel. And today as we make it a fourday holiday weekend, this is the day people are going to travel. Any thursday in chicago afternoon is probably going to be a pretty busy afternoon on the roadways. But maybe today more so because they say between 4 00 and 6 00 more people will be on the road than any time this year. And, neil, its not just chicago. But take a look at some of the other cities around. Boston, dc, atlanta, also going to be very tight this afternoon. So keep an eye on that. Ill leave you with gas prices and 226 last year this time. 243 now. So thats fairly positive. And maybe mark, could you give us your classic kennedy, the eden, the what . Well, right now moving well. We have no delays going outbound, inbound, maybe a little tight at the kennedy junction. He made my day there. You know, i know youre not a chicagoan, neil, but this man is chicago gold. Neil all right. As are you, my friend. Thank you very, very much. I just feel better knowing jeff is going to get home okay tonight. It does not look the same for any of us here in new york. But jeff doesnt care, does he . Really doesnt care. In the meantime, weve got all of these Big Companies already spelling out plans and what theyre going to do with all of that money theyre getting. You know whats unusual about the tax cut. I know im repeating the obvious. Its not just the tax cut, its the one time windfall. Its their money, obviously, and theyve been held broad. And very stubborn. Trillions of dollars. Apple has the most out there. And they really can tell to bring it back home a 15. 5 tax rate that will expire in a few months. So either bring it back now or miss their chance forever. So they bring it back now. And theres almost so much coming back their way that they dont have room for it. I mean, they have to actually do some of these good things youre hearing them doing. How would you like that . A curse of riches. I mean, thats what were dealing with. And the whole idea is to share the wealth, which is why investors are. After this i just finished months of chemo. But i dont want to talk about months. I want to talk about years. Treatments have gotten better, so. Im hoping for good years ahead. Thats thanks to Research Funded by the American Cancer Society. The same folks giving me free rides to treatments, insurance advice, and a place to stay during chemo. I need that stuff like you dont know. And now that you do, please give at cancer. Org. Welcome back to cavuto coast to coast. Im Nicole Petallides live on the floor of the new york stock exchange. Up arrows across the board. In fact, right now the Dow Jones Industrial average up 111 points. Just of those session highs in all three of the major averages are near their alltime record highs and at these levels, we are likely to see some record closes today. The s p up 12 and the nasdaq up 27. Taking a look at our Gross Domestic Product number and that comes in at 3. 2 . In fact, the economy grew at the fastest pace in two and a half years. And now theres a lot of optimism across this floor and i certainly feel the cheer today about the next year. The tax bill and the like. Taking a look at these financials which have had a good year. You can look at jp morgan, goldman sachs, and wells fargo all with up arrows up between 1 and 2 . Both goldman and wells fargo are at all new highs. Wells fargo near a high today. And as were clocking in near near the ninth straight month of Dow Jones Industrial average. We havent seen nine months of gains since 1959. Pretty amazing. Neil. Neil Charlie Brady is scary smart. You ever notice that . Smart like smart doesnt even have a right to acknowledge smart, you know . Scary. Thank you very, very much. Nicole petallides on the floor o of the new york stock exchange. Or in the meantime apple this is getting scary right now. This company that can do no wrong, maybe its a quality thing. Maybe they want to wait until its perfect. But a number of key things first the air pods that they ran out of them. Wont be any more available for christmas. And then this home pod. I guess its a fancy speaker right, guys . That not only wasnt going to be ready for christmas, so this is all the buzz and excitement of that. But at the Consumer Electronics show in january, it wont even make that. So whats going on here . Hillary vaughan has the latest. Hey, hillary. Hey, neil, well, the new speaker youre right. Wont be coming home for christmas, and it wont showing up for ces, which happens after the new year. Apple announcing that they wont release their Smart Speaker device until early next year. Apple missing an opportunity to move into your home for the holidays, which means amazon and google have the monopoly on the Smart Speaker market this shopping season. Now, combined amazon and google already have about 27 million devices in homes across america. Both companies are on their second or Third Generation products. But apple is struggling to make their very first Smart Speaker move in ready. Tech analysts say the vague and ambiguous of these devices go beyond hardware for tech companies. Its a gateway to ecommerce. So amazon and google are in a price war to get their device into as many homes as possible. Data shows the cheap devices sell the best. Amazon said their Amazon Echo Dot marked down to just 30 was the number one selling product on their site over thanksgiving weekend. Google slashed their device to about 40 off and introduced a lowerpriced option. The google home minifor about 29. But apple just has one high end very expensive product. The home pod, which is starting at 350, neil. About seven times the price of Smart Speakers already out there. Neil thank you very much, Hillary Vaughan at our l. A. Bureau. Speaking of apple, it is still a juggernaut of a company, and its going to be even more of a juggernaut because its free to bring back any money that it has been holding broad. Some say it holds a third of the money that all of these companies are bringing back just on its little own. So what is it going to do with all of that money when it comes back . Lets what do you think . Apple is notoriously conservative with its cash, especially the cash hoard it keeps abroad. Now it has a onetime incentive, something that will probably not come up again, like, forever. So what do you think they do . Well, i think the answer is very different by the fact that its not just the repatriation. The fact that this tax bill is so holistic with reduced Corporate Tax rate, the immediate expensing, and the onetime repatriation that in the whole picture it gives tremendous incentive to invest into america. There will be stock buy backs. There will be dividends. But theres been that for years. They pay huge amounts of precash flow that way. But they generate so much free cash flow, neil, that now they have an opportunity to invest in the more productive aspects of the u. S. Economy. Neil you know, ive been explaining to people you know this far better than i. But i never let knowledge get in the way of my passing along information. One of the things ive been arguing is that because this tax cut is beyond generous to companies and because theres that added thing that you just explained nicely, this cash hoard and the incentive to bring it back, they almost have to do something more than just placate shareholders because thats a given. Theyre going to do that. But they have so much of it that surely, theres room to do an at ttype thing or comcast thing or wells fargo thing; right . Well, there is and im going to say two quick comments. First and foremost. Whatever they do generous to employees, it should not be done merely for the generosity. It should be an efficient use of capital, and they will do that because theyre more efficiental indicators of capital than the federal government. A disinterested third party with no skin in the game. So whether were talking apple or another tech company or a Small Business, the reality is that those who have those controls, the csuite those that are actually invest in the company, theyll make the best decision for it. They have a tremendous motivation to invest into the company, their laborers, higher wages. First and foremost because its the right thing for the productive growth of the company. Secondly, and i think this is what you were sort of alluding to. One of the things President Trump has done with this kind of year of tweeting and ive been as critical of it as the next guy. But there is an unbelievable social pressure right now for them to not get on the bad side of that tweet storm, so to speak. And not just twitter and President Trump. But overall public perception, i think you see in the last 24 hours foreshadowing of how much Corporate Americas woken up to the pr battle as well. Neil thats very interesting. That could be right. And it could be a gamechanger right there if that is true. We shall see. Thank you. Good seeing you. Good to see you. Merry christmas. Neil to you as well. Meanwhile, the dow is racing along. They seem to think that investors at the corner of wall and broad that that other little wrinkle, the possible government shut down. Were going to get the read from Louisiana Republican bill cassidy after this im a Small Business, but i have. Big dreams. And big plans. So how do i make the efforts of 8 employees. Feel like 50 . How can i share new plans virtually . How can i download an efile . Virtual tours . Zipfile . Really big files . In seconds, not minutes. Just like that. Like everything. The answer is simple. Ill do what ive always done. Dream more, dream faster, and above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. Retail. Under pressure like never before. And its connected technology thats moving companies forward fast. Ecommerce. Real time inventory. Virtual changing rooms. Thats why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent Network Speed across multiple locations. Every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. Leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. Comcast business outmaneuver. Neil boy, you would never know looking at the dow racing ahead in record territory again. I know that gets to be old after a while that theres the possibility of a government shut down looming a little more than 24, 30 hours from now. Apparently most dont think thats going to happen. I wonder if my next guest agrees. Louisiana senator bill cass republican senator is that going to happen . The markets think it will. It wont. But, neil, let me tell you this. It never gets old to hear the dow is in record territory. That never gets old. Neil i hear you. Like the tax cut. Like what the companies are doing. But it does get back to this worry, its a nagging worry, and you and i brought up before that, you know, budget issues, punting on them, you know . Putting off to fight another day on another temporary. That gets old too. What do you think . Yeah. I think its completely understandable. The tax reform bill has taken such bandwidth and sure folks are simultaneously working on the budget. But you can imagine there are some things that would need to be worked through that couldnt be worked through as folks are focusing on tax. Theres probably a two to threeweek extension that allows people to work over the holidays, work out the unsolved issues and get to where we need to be. I understand it. It looks like the dow understands it as well. Neil you know, would it be just a straight, you know, twoweek extension . You get serious about this. Maybe threeweek extension in the new year that that would be when you settle these differences like daca and military spending versus nonmilitary spending that that would all be sorted out then . I think so and you never know until it happens. I guess theres a slim chance that we can still pass something today more comprehensive. But reality is that people will be working over the holidays to try to come up with solutions to those things that are currently points of contention. And im optimistic that if we dont settle it today, well setting it in the new year. Neil whats your biggest goal in the new year, besides settling the budget thing, im sure thats one of them. But weve heard infrastructure is on tap. Welfare reform is on tap. Which is on tap first . Do you know . Mcconnell said today that he doesnt want to address entitlement reform in 2018. And the president has continuously made a priority of infrastructure spending. So i think that we if you just go by that logic, then infrastructure will be up first. But theres things that are always pressing on us. Obamacare, obviously, people cant afford their premiums. Middle class voters, we did repeal the individual mandate. Thats gone. Big portion of obamacare is gone. But we still have to help those middle income families who cant afford their obamacare policies. Other things as well as well have a full agenda. Neil are you surprised about the by the other companies that have committed to put the cash to work beyond just their shareholders . I am so totally not surprised. As someone said, if a Company Think so theyre going to stay competitive in the worldwide marketplace by not using this money to efficiently invest in their workforce and their facilities and workforce training, then they will be left behind by international competitors. And so for all the folks that said companies will just do stock buy backs. Yes, they will. They always have as your previous guest said. But for them not to do that is to a great disadvantage and Companies Understand that. Theyre investing in their workers and their plants to make us more competitive. Until President Trumps pledge of economic growth. Neil all right. Senator, very good seeing you again. And i hope you have a Merry Christmas. Safe one at that. Thank you, neil. You too. Neil the Senate Raises this great point. And, by the way, public and private Pension Fund Administrators plan to pour that money into their pensions as well. I would like to stress this because a lot of people think that a Business Network like this is just skated to shareholders and all. Were all shareholders in Something Like that. Everyone benefits if their pension is shared up. But were shoring up what we have here. That should put you in a good move. More after this siren blaring working as an emt in a small town usually means hospitals arent very close by. When you have a really traumatic injury, we have a short amount of time to get our patient to the hospital with good results. We call that the golden hour. Theres nothing worse than when were responding to the hospital, and the hospital doesnt have the right specialist. Evaluating patients remotely, by an expert, is where i think we have a potential to make a difference. Robots can do a lot in medicine these days, but they cant think. Theyre still machines. Si. Er and faster wireless connections, itll be possible to bring those capabilities to more remote sites, and be able to operate on a patient in a way that was just not possible before. When you think about underserved areas, you tend to think of remote locations. But the reality is, an underserved area is anywhere where the person that you need, who has the expertise for the problem that you have, is nowhere near you. Low latency is crucial for things like surgery, because the Response Time has to be immediate, it has to be real. I could put on vr goggles like these, and when i move my hand, the robot on the other side will mimic the movement, with almost no delay. Who knew a scalpel could work thousands of miles away . dr. Vasquez its going to be lifechanging, and lifesaving. Neil so when is the president going to sign this thing . Maybe House Majority whip Steve Scalise knows. Well talk to him 4 00 p. M. Eastern time on your world on fox news channel. That is coming up at 4 00 p. M. This fine channel, trish regan. Trish thanks so much, neil. Huge Christmas Present for millions of americans it is all thanks to President Trumps promise to cut taxes. Many companies announcing today they are giving out christmas bonuses, theyre hire aring more employees and they are investing more into our economy. It whats we need earnings and markets know it. Market up triple digits up 102 on the Dow Jones Industrial average. Getting closer and closer everyone to, 25,000. We remain right here for the next hour on 25k watch. Im trish regan. Welcome to the intelligence report. Christmas bonuses, more jobs, good news, right . I said it on this show over and