china's involvement. here is kentucky senator rand paul earlier this morning. >> he needs to leave the u.s. attorney in place. if the u.s. attorney is fired in the first weeks of the administration and the investigation goes to a biden appointee you can tell the fix is in and there won't be justice. but hunter biden deserves the same justice that paul man fort got, nothing less, nothing more. >> sandra: colorado congressman ken buck calling for a special counsel in the hunter biden case. we have fox team coverage as we kick off a brand-new hour, dan henninger from the "wall street journal" will join us along with lucas tomlinson. we begin with peter doocy with the biden camp in delaware this morning. peter, what are they saying about hunter biden and china? >> sandra, good morning. the only direct response that we have from the president-elect about any of this came yesterday when i asked him about the federal investigation into his son. >> are you confident your son hunter did nothing wrong? >> i'm confident. >> the last time i tried to ask the president-elect about his son he sarcastically said thanks for the congratulations and then said i'm proud of my son. the weakness of the evidence against hunter biden comes even though joe biden has long claimed he doesn't know how exactly his son does business even though emails revealed last week that hunter biden wanted his dad to have a key to an office he shared with an emissary for that chinese energy company. the email fox news fox published yesterday showed me asking for $10 million wire that never went through as the deal fell apart. concerning china policy more broadly. biden said they are a serious competitor. as he has been rolling out cabinet officials including the defense secretary he wants last week lloyd austin, nobody ever directly mentions china or what they want to do concerning china. the president-elect today on a snowy, icy day in wilmington is home. no public events on the schedule. sandra. >> sandra: we'll keep watching all that. peter doocy. thank you, for more let's bring in colorado congressman ken buck. he joins us now and sits on the house judiciary committee. thank you for joining us this morning. as we kick off a brand-new hour and there are no revelations now in this hunter biden investigation, what needs to happen next from your view? >> from my perspective i think president trump or president-elect biden needs to appoint a special counsel. if you look at who hunter biden is dealing with. he is not dealing with western european nations or countries whose leaderships share our values. he is dealing with communist china and receives hundreds of thousands of dollar check from the mayor's wife of moscow. he is dealing with the corrupt ukrainian oligarch. these are people that no american company should be dealing with much less the vice president's son involving the vice president in those activities. >> sandra: but you just saw that they are again saying very little, if anything, about this. how much longer can the biden team in transition about to enter the white house ignore questions on this matter? >> well, they ignore questions to their own detriment. the american people are fed up with corruption in washington, d.c. and selling their office for personal gain. that's exactly what it appears president-elect biden did. if he didn't do it, we need to have a special counsel to clear the air. it is the special counsel that should be answering the questions just like special counsel mueller investigated president trump and cleared him. if president-elect biden is cleared, so be it. if he is not cleared, we need to make sure we proceed with criminal charges against hunter biden and if necessary against joe biden when he leaves office. >> sandra: you are making it clear you're calling for a special counsel into this matter. do you believe under a biden administration that this can be fairly and independently investigate? >> it absolutely will not be if a u.s. attorney is doing the job. it can only be investigated by a special counsel in order to give the american people all of the american people the comfort, the confidence, that the truth has come out. >> sandra: sean hannity gave us his take in his opening monologue last night. listen. >> joe has repeatedly stated he has no knowledge or involvement in his son's international business deals. stop for a second. why did he leverage a billion u.s. tax dollars demanding a ukrainian prosecutor be fired in six hours? maybe, just maybe joe is lying. maybe joe not only knew the details about hunter's deals but actively encouraged, and as a big guy perhaps even benefited from them. >> sandra: that's a really important point. many have asked is it possible that he never discussed -- joe biden never discussed his son's business dealings considering their time spent together? do you believe that he is lying about that? >> i believe that a representative, a board member from burisma met with joe biden and two days later hunter biden was appointed to the board of directors of that company and received an $83,000 a month salary. i believe that hunter biden was on air force 2 with joe biden and as they got off they met with chinese communist officials and businesses controlled by the chinese communist party and 12 days later hunter biden announces a joint venture investment firm with china. chinese officials. i don't believe joe biden has no knowledge. the real question is whether he knew his office was being used by hunter biden for personal gain. if i can say one thing, sandra, this is why it's so important we win the georgia election because the senate will have the ability to hold appointments like the attorney general and deputy attorney general and make sure a special counsel is appointed and these facts come out and they can hold hearings to bring further facts out and to make sure the american people know what happened. >> sandra: all really important stuff and really big questions that many are demanding answers to at this point. congressman, appreciate you coming on this morning, thank you. >> thank you. >> trace: fox news is now learning a report from the intelligence community focused on foreign interference in the 2020 election will be delayed. the issue is how much china tried to influence the outcome. lucas tomlinson live in washington good morning to you. was the intel community sounding the alarm on china before the election? >> good morning, trace. just two weeks before the election the dni chief and f.b.i. director held a press conference and china was not mentioned. >> we would like to alert the public that we have identified that two foreign actors, iran and russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections. first, we have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by iran and separately by russia. >> but since then officials say things have changed and they're delaying the report on the election due tomorrow. a spokesman did not mention china as the reason for the delay. the intelligence community received relevant reporting since the election and a number of agencies have not finished coordinating on the product. officials say top dni brass are adamant china tried to influence the 2020 presidential election. others say analysts aren't so sure. the director of counter intelligence said china has stepped up surveillance and influence against a incoming administration. >> trace: lucas, thank you. for more let's bring in dan henninger, deputy editorial page editor of the "wall street journal" and is a fox news contributor. good morning to you, sir. the assessment of the foreign elections influence has been delayed as lucas was just saying there. former deputy national security advisor k.t. mcfarland has a hunch on why. >> what kind of thing was it? cyberattacks or something to do with the balloting, something to do with influence peddling, something to do with bots and stirring the pot? they're the range of issues. i assume the reason it's delayed there is probably something pretty explosive in there. >> trace: your thoughts, dan. >> well, there may be, you know. the dni reports are always the product of a lot of intelligence agencies and people arguing and in some ways you end up with a product the lowest common denominator, something they can all agree on. let's be clear, trace, what we're talking about here with the chinese possibly interfering in the election, it's just a piece with a much, much larger problem. we have already in the news the eric swalwell issue and swalwell himself is just a proxy for a much larger effort by the chinese to turn u.s. political figures, to penetrate our research institutions, our universities, and as well we know that russia and iran are up and running constantly and trying to interfere in the u.s. and just this week we had the director of national intelligence, john ratcliffe, coming back from a trip overseas to deal with the russian hack of the treasury and commerce department. thought to be one of the most dangerous hacks in american history. so this is a big, big problem that obviously is still being under addressed by the u.s. government. it needs direct attention. >> trace: the question would be even if there are differing views, why shouldn't everything be included in this report? the former acting intel director grinnell said the following. dni ratcliffe is standing up for career analysts who want their views to be accurately reflected. is it being politicized? should we throw it all in there and let, you know, let people decide for themselves? >> well, the intelligence communities worries about methods and sources and how they got this information. i think sometimes they worry too much about it because it creates doubts in the minds of the american people when a report like this one comes out about the chinese interfering in our election and people naturally ask what was the nature of the interference? just as k.t. mcfarland was suggesting, it could be a range of things. the american people deserve to know exactly how the chinese are doing this. and we do not necessarily need the intelligence community to have 100% confidence in what's going on. they know that these sorts of efforts are being made. let's get it out in public so the american people can be aware of it and react to it and absorb it. >> trace: lastly in the swalwell case are you fascinated that now you have american politicians using the term that swalwell was groomed by this chinese person, right, this spy for lack of a better term? that's a pretty good term. swalwell his first instinct was to blame president trump for this. now he has been very silent. he won't talk about his relationship with her at all. what is he hoping? he is hoping it just blows over? the media isn't really covering it. what do you think on this, dan? >> well, i think the intelligence agencies are covering it. the idea that eric swalwell was groomed sound like something out of a hollywood or netflix series. a minor figure when he started this relationship with this chinese person and apparently they are doing this with others, these plants in the united states. and they have got to somehow get on top of this. i think the intelligence community will continue to investigate and that will include eric swalwell. >> trace: it sounds like a clancy novel that you can't put down. the problem is half the country not willing to pick it up. dan henninger, always good to see you. thank you, sir. >> sandra: the hollywood reporter saying disney executive chairman bob iger is under consideration to be the next ambassador to china. tucker carlson saying china would be a perfect fit for iger and the biden administration. >> biden may nominate bide iger because of what he said. sucking up to china is a qualification and actually bob iger is following the lead of the biden family. >> sandra: the report also has -- >> trace: the recent cybersecurity attack on commerce and treasury departments forcing the intel community to take immediate action to protect federal agencies. john roberts live for us on the north lawn with the latest. john, good morning to you. what are the implications of this cyberattack? >> nothing less than huge, trace. some former government cybersecurity experts say it could take years before the united states fully understands the damage that was done in this attack but they say that the hackers be believed to be russians had perhaps unfettered access to some american computer systems for between 6 and 9 months. you can imagine they just had the opportunity to go in and out at will wherever they pleased. we don't know how deep they got into it. in a joint statement the f.b.i. and cybersecurity and infrastructure securityy agency and the director of national intelligence saying it's a developing situation and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government. the f.b.i., cisa have formed a coordination group to throw a whole of government response to a significant cyber incident. it was a software product from orion that hackers used to infiltrate computer systems as well as the department of homeland security cyber arm. the government issued an emergency directive earlier in the week instructing federal and civilian agencies to disconnect the solar winds product from their network. it is believed russia is behind the attack but solar wind cannot verify the identity of the attacker. russia has denied any involvement. not a surprise there. in a statement the russian embassy saying we paid attention to another unfounded attempt of the u.s. media to blame russia for hacker attacks on u.s. government bodies. malicious activities in the information space contradict the principles of the russian foreign policy, national interests and our understanding of interstate relations. russia does not conduct offensive operations in the cyber domain. take that for what you will. the house intelligence committee chairman saying it exposes a huge vulnerability in the united states to sophisticated hackers saying the seriousness and duration of this attack demonstrate we have urgent work to do to defend our critical information and networks and that we must move quicker than our adversaries do to adapt. the hack used a simple method. 18,000 emails were sent out to people telling them to update a version of the orion software. the update was tainted. that's how it easily got in. no idea how deep this goes but the software is used by all five branches of the military, pentagon, state department, nsa, nasa, even here, trace, at the white house. >> trace: john roberts live at the white house. thank you. >> sandra: a fast moving snowstorm slamming the northeast overnight causing dangerous travel conditions across several states including pennsylvania where ems workers had to dodge out of the way of an out of control pickup truck as they were helping people injured in another car crash. massive traffic pile ups. the big apple snow total he surpassed all of last winter. high winds blew down power lines. three deaths now to blame for that storm in pennsylvania. >> trace: a bit warmer, a battle now in los angeles as the new district attorney is fighting back after criticism that he is soft on crime. what victims families are now saying. alexandria ocasio-cortez calling for big changes in the new congress saying it's time for nancy pelosi and chuck schumer to step aside. reaction to division among democrats next. >> there is no rule, no guts, no glory. aoc talks a lot. she has a chance to do something. she will cave and be like everybody she attacks and just another compromiser. with over 20 essential vitamins and minerals they are the most complete mini multivitamin. so you can focus on punching above your weight. no matter how high you set the bar. try centrum minis. bundle auto and home, and save up to 25% with allstate. bundling just feels good this time of year. saving is easy when you're in good hands. call a local agent, or 1-800-allstate for a quote today. 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>> i mean, i think so. i think the results of many years of power being concentrated in leadership with a lack of real grooming of the next generation of leadership. so when you have really talented members of congress that do come along, the opportunities to lead are so few and far between. >> sandra: more division in the democratic party as alexandria ocasio-cortez there in that new podcast is saying democrats need new congressional leadership. let's bring in guy benson, host of the guy benson show and jessica tarlov. great to see you both on this thursday morning. jessica, tell us about it. what is she looking for from her party? >> she is looking for a new leadership in the years to come. she did make it clear later in the podcast she is not putting herself up for the position. she certainly doesn't think she is ready. this is actually not an uncommon criticism when you look at the ages of the two-piece three democrats in the upper 70s and 80s and you look at the fact that we're constantly trying to get new talent in there to make sure we are as representative of our party as possible and meeting the american public's needs. there could be calls for diversification in leadership and new opportunities. i'm not surprised or not threatened by it. nancy pelosi isn't responding. it is a long held thing that aoc posts pelosi. pelosi takes it or doesn't and moves forward. this will be nancy pelosi's last term as speaker and we'll see fresh leadership coming up. >> sandra: sounds like that is something you see your party needing at this point because, of course, some of the moderates, jessica, i'll let guy dig into this. moderates have blamed aoc and far-left democrats for recent house losses. aoc took issue with that and hit right back. listen. >> it's because this political class and this kind of larger power in the democratic party, they need to say, they have to blame defund the police because their actual political execution is so sorry and it is so poorly done. >> sandra: so, guy? >> it's definitely not one big happy family over in democrat world. i'm intrigued by a few different things that she is saying here. she was asked about not just pelosi but also chuck schumer. and i will just remind folks that chuck schumer is coming up for reelection in the state of new york. another young up and coming member in the state of new york who has an opportunity potentially to challenge nim a primary and that's been, i know, a source of buzz for a while. will she, won't she? in the question presented to her she was asked about pelosi and schumer saying yes, they both need to go. what she is doing blaming the moderate wing of the party such as it even exists among democrats these days is silly. i think you can look back at 2018. a lot of moderates won seats that progressives like aoc could never win in a thousand year and some lost in 2020. as for pelosi, what is intriguing is i think aoc is actually right about pelosi. she is past her expiration date as speaker how kevin mccarthy referred to her on my show recently. likely her last term as speaker. republicans will win the house back in 2022 because it is such a tiny microscopic democratic majority. not a lot of maneuvering pelosi can do. in the past her success has been getting sults and being a strategic thinker. i think she has slipped on both of those things. it is not just the aocs of the world and moderates are also saying maybe it's time for someone else. they don't have an actual candidate they can rally around and pelosi is ruthless. she will keep the gavel. >> sandra: sounds like you agree on one point. nancy pelosi's time may be up. jessica, when it comes to the biden camp and that idea of unity that you heard so much from the biden campaign that we would see that unity. here is jen o'malley dylan from the biden team and she had some choice words for republicans. listen to this. >> i'll quote her. the president elect was able to connect with people over the sense of unity in the primary. people would mock him like you think you can work with republicans? i'm not saying they're not a bunch of fers, mitch mcconnell is terrible. the sense that you couldn't wish for that. you couldn't wish for this bipartisan deal, he rejected that. what are republicans supposed to take away from this after biden said he will try oh work across the aisle in his administration. >> she is the deputy chief of staff, not the president of the united states of america on january 20th. joe biden is exactly who he said he was. those are certainly choice words, maybe we shouldn't have used i refer to it as spicy language. the sentiment that she is expressing is one that's commonly held on both sides of the aisle and i'm completely exasperated at the pearl clutching of republicans over this who accepted trump and his words and marco rubio didn't chastise him. it is a little ridiculous to say it's so offensive. >> sandra: quickly let me get guy to respond to that. go. >> look, there is spicy language on both sides. the difference is donald trump never ran on being mr. civility. that was not part of his case. it is almost the entire campaign for joe biden. we'll restore the soul of america. you don't restore the soul of america by calling half of it fers. >> sandra: i'll leave it there. jessica and guy. good to have you guys. thank you, see you soon. >> trace: house republicans urging nancy pelosi to remove congressman eric swalwell from the intelligence committee. congressman chris stewart serves on that panel and his thoughts on swalwell's ties to a suspected chinese spy, plus this. ♪ >> trace: the spirit of christmas comes to capitol hill. how lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together to celebrate the season. ♪ alright, everyone, we made it. my job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. i'm having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner. so we're using a speakerphone in the store. is that a good idea? 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>> it should frighten every american. i have to laugh at the irony. they call it anti-chinese hysteria. we are finally recognizing the truth. it is not just tik tok, huawei, of other companies here in the world and tens of millions of u.s. homes through other applications where they can know everything about your digital life. there is virtually no privacy with them. for someone to say there is no evidence the chinese communist party used that, of course they will use it. that's why they collect it and designed these apps and these programs to do that, so they could if they choose to use that and, of course they would. >> trace: you say it should concern every american and couple the cyber-warfare and growing ability to monitor us where the fact we know that china is also trying to infiltrate our politics by befriending and working with young politicians like eric swalwell. i want to play your colleague south carolina congressman ralph norman said this. listen. >> so hypocritical for eric swalwell to one, not be replaced by ms. pelosi. not get in front of the cameras and explain what went on. it was reported when asked about whatever went on between he and miss fang he said it was classified. somebody explain that to me. >> trace: why isn't he going before the cameras to say here is what happened and here is the timeline? >> that's a question, isn't it? people are making accusations against me that were not true, i would defend myself. i would come out and say these things are not true. and if i didn't the presumption would be why aren't you denying this? why aren't you holding press conferences talking to the american people? and eric has a particular responsibility. every member of congress has a grave responsibility but it is so much more so with those of us on the intelligence committee. the sensitive nature and the incredibly private nature of the information we have holds a special position of responsibility where we have to be honest and forthcoming with our colleagues and with the american people. we have to show judgment. mr. swalwell did not do that. there are all sorts of things about this relationship that just beg to be answered. >> trace: we want you to be careful whatever is going on behind you it is getting loud back there. maybe the reason that eric swalwell is not coming out and defending himself is nobody is putting his feet to the fire. you write this quoting media has gone from bias to propaganda to open deception and suppression and yes, it is suppression when social media and traditional news not only ignore facts but actively suppress things they don't want you to know making it impossible to share information they don't agree with. for example, hunter biden's connections with burisma and, of course, eric swalwell. we talked earlier how this swalwell stuff does read like somebody said a novel and nobody is covering it. >> no one except for fox news and one or two others. thank you for covering. the american people deserve to know. this comes back to the premise of the editorial. when i was in college i listened to dan rather and he said something and i said that's not true, he must know that's not true. that's the good old days, a simple bias. we're beyond that by so far. the media is suppressing information. not only not reporting on it, they are actually making it so no one else can report on it. they are actively suppressing information. that's exactly what happened with the hunter biden story previous to the election and what has happened with eric swalwell now. >> trace: what i guess i don't get is why? what have they got to lose? i could see the hunter biden thing not covering that because there was a lot on the line with the election. what's to lose now? why not be more curious about it? >> because their political goals are more important than the truth. and many times the truth is a challenge or an obstacle to their political goals. they don't want people to know the truth. it's a huge problem in our society. i get asked all the time what's the most dangerous threat facing our country? they expect me to say china and russia and they are. the greatest threat facing our country is that no one knows what is true anymore. you can't preserve a republic if people don't know the truth. if they don't understand the basic foundations of this is real and this is not. >> trace: there are very few consequences to be had these days. congressman chris stewart. thank you to you. meantime new questions about this morning about correspondence between hunter biden and a chinese energy firm. will the incoming biden administration try to shut down the probe? and fireworks on capitol hill over allegations of election fraud. the question is, is there a double standard at play here? >> you lied repeatedly in the press that i was spreading russian disinformation and that was an outright lie and i told you to stop lying and you continued to do to it. ♪ ♪ i got it all from you ♪ i'm always pushing through ♪ i know we'll make it to the finish line ♪ ♪ i know you're waiting on the other side ♪ ♪ i'm like you on-demand glucose monitoring. because they're always on. another life-changing technology from abbott. so you don't wait for life. you live it. >> the purveyors of russian dispower, hillary clinton's campaign, dnc, steele dossier, ranking members peters accusing senator grassley and i of disseminating disinformation. that's where the disinformation is coming. >> i had nothing to do with this report. >> you lied repeatedly in the press that i was spreading russian disinformation. >> mr. chairman, this is not about airing your grievances. >> sandra: a heated argument on capitol hill two senators battling it out on voter fraud in the 2020 election during these hours yesterday. democrats positioning themselves for another run at investigating president trump's ties to russia. republicans argue the real investigation should be into hunter biden's overseas dealings. here to break it down pete hegseth. great to have you here. many are saying wait, russia again with the president? will this continue under the biden administration, pete? >> of course it is because they have not overcome their obsession with this idea. take the hunter biden example, the immediate back and forth. the only thing representative peters should be issuing to senator johnson is an apology. ultimately the hunter biden laptop, nothing has been denied on that. the social media coverage was completely suppressed. "new york post" has been completely vindicated. now the government acknowledges an investigation is indeed ongoing and there is a potential tie to joe biden. all of that has not been disputed by anyone on the biden side or on the left. but ultimately they ran with this idea that it was all russian disinformation and it was former c.i.a. agents, former obama officials who put that letter out saying no, this has all the hallmarks of russian disinformation. if you look at that letter from the obama folks they also acknowledge we have no evidence that this is russia. just like what we had with mueller four years ago and that entire russian hoax. they run to russia in a campaign season and impugn people like senator johnson and everyone else who said this is useful information we should be looking at a couple weeks before the election. you wonder why sparks fly when democrats remain obsessed with 2016 in this so-called russia collusion narrative that has been totally debunked. >> sandra: it is a fair point. newt gingrich went off on this yesterday on what he saw happen at that senate hearing. >> he should be incensed. the american people are watching their country being stolen away tr them. we spent four years with people like peters lying about us, attacking us, trying to impeach the president and we're still dealing with it now in the election. what you have is a total censorship by the media and internet companies to block the american people. >> sandra: jim jordan issued this letter to jerry nadler. we're disappointed you are continuing to misuse limited committee resources with attacking president trump. for too long you have allowed your oddly personal obsession with trump to cloud the committee's work. it is time that you stop. so pete, what exactly is happening here? and what are we going to see over the next few months do you believe? >> well, it appears with jerry nadler wealth owe -- we'll see more of the same. they want to subpoena mcgahn and go back down the trail of the mueller report and russia. hard to believe americans have an appetite for that. the fanatical obsession that jim jordan talked about is a real thing. absent this channel and talk radio and other places there is no appetite amongst the universally left wing media, completely compliant and complacent on these issues. this laptop is gold for an investigative reporter who would actually want to look into international business dealings including wire transfers and references of a former vice president, potentially a future president. it has all the makings of the kind of washington scandals in the old days when reporters yourselfed to look into things would be significant. now they just take joe biden's word at it? we're taking politician's word at it now while they go back at donald trump? more of the same. the veil has fallen off the eyes of those of us who understand the press. >> sandra: there are important and fair questions that need to be answered. we'll see what happens. pete, great to have you here this morning. good to see you. have a great holiday by the way. >> you, too. >> trace: congressman eric swalwell facing new questions about a chinese spy. why was he camera shy and is his spot on the intel committee in jeopardy? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ janie, come here. check this out. let me see. she looks... kind of like me. yeah. that's because it's your grandma when she was your age. oh wow. that's...that's amazing. oh and she was on the debate team. yeah, that's probably why you're the debate queen. - mmhmm. - i'll take that. look at that smile. i have the same dimples as her. yeah. the same placements and everything. unbelievable. the - i'm lea.steve. and everything. and we live in north pole, alaska. - i'm a retired school counselor. 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[steve] we met online about 10 years ago. as i got older, my hearing was not so good so i got hearing aids. my vision was not as good as it used to be, got a change in prescription. but the this missing was my memory. i saw a prevagen commercial and i thought, "that makes sense." i just didn't have to work so hard to remember things. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >> trace: several pennsylvania restaurants remain open for indoor dining defying a state ban that includes seven sirens brewery in bethlehem that opened less than a month before the pandemic started. we're short on time. i know the brewery opened 28 days before the pandemic. you were not qualified to receive any of the coronavirus funding. now you are taking a stand and tell us why. >> yeah, trace. it has been a crazy year for us. took us three years to open and 28 days to close down. if we were open days longer we would have been eligible for the ppp loans and all that stuff. we weren't. you know, a lot of our employees haven't received their unemployment benefits and all those things and we've been reaching out to our bank to the sba, to anyone that would possibly have any relief for us and it just doesn't exist. >> trace: on your facebook page if you don't agree with our decision we respect you and the decisions you need to make to keep yourself and family safe and we ask that you extend the same courtesy to us and others making these difficult decisions. jordan, are you getting pushback and if so, what do you say to those people? >> yeah, you know, we have received positive feedback. we have those who don't agree with our decision but it is a global emergency and people are making the decisions they need to for their families and their employees and their community. that's all we're doing. i hope that they can do the same thing for themselves and stay safe and, you know, it's just crazy times. >> trace: good sentiment. jordan, good to have you. we apologize for the short time sir. thank you, we had breaking news. >> sandra: and brand-new information in the hunter biden investigation newly uncovered correspondents revealing asked a chinese executive for $10 million and offering best wish fres the entire biden family. trace, good morning, i'm sandra smith. >> trace: the plot thickens. good morning everyone. the chinese billionaire hunter biden was dealing with had ties to china's military and intelligence and he has since disappeared and energy firm gone bankrupt. the latest development follows confirmation hunter biden is the target of federal investigators into his foreign business dealings and tax affairs. colorado congressman ken buck earlier calling for a special counsel saying the american people are fed up with corruption in washington >> it absolutely will not be fairly and independently investigated if a u.s. attorney is doing the job. it can only be investigated by a special counsel to give the american people the comfort, the confidence that the truth has come out. >> sandra: senior political correspondent mike emanuel has more on the growing scandal live in washington this morning. >> good morning. correspondence from june 2017 between hunter biden and the chairman of china energy on a joint venture. biden wrote on june 17, 2017, please accept the best wishes from the entire biden family as well as my partners. hunter also urged the man to quickly send a $10 million wire. i would appreciate it if you'll send that quickly so we can properly fund and operate the company. the man responded and asked two of his colleagues to expedite the input. please accept my best regards to you and your family. >> $10 million wire to hunter biden's otherwise bankrupt company. this email along with so many other emails we've seen over the last couple months raises serious questions about just how much hunter biden but the entire biden family was doing business with chinese entities. >> there are growing calls from republicans for expanding the hunter biden probe. >> it is imperative that we have a special counsel to carry this forward so we know exactly what the bidens have done not only with the chinese, but also with the ukrainians. let's figure out what their participation with foreign governments is going to be. but especially with the chinese. >> democrats counter the president-elect should be given a chance. >> in terms of whether a special counsel is necessary, i hope that the selection of attorney general by president biden makes it clear that a person of honesty and integrity can take a fresh look at this and handle it properly. >> leading republicans worry a new administration could sweep these issues under the rug. sandra. >> sandra: mike, thank you. we have more on all of this and the impact of the biden presidency coming up with molly hemingway, senior editor at the federalist and she will join us live in just moments. >> trace: eric swalwell was back on capitol hill for votes yesterday and kept mum when fox news asked him about reports of his past ties to a chinese spy. so far nancy pelosi has not responded to a letter sent by 17gop lawmakers urging her to remove swalwell from the house intel committee. former speaker newt gingrich says the situation cannot go on. >> the american people are watching our country being stolen away tr them. they're watching the chinese become dominant. they're watching a level of penetration that's unimaginable. they're watching pelosi put swalwell on the intelligence committee after she had been told by the f.b.i. that he had been hanging out with a woman who was a chinese professional spy. >> trace: coverage of this developing for story. brad wenstrup is standing by. we begin with rich edson with the latest on the growing controversy. good morning. >> good morning. democrats are defending congressman eric swalwell. adam schiff is the chairman of the house intelligence committee, the same committee that republicans want swalwell booted from. schiff says this issue is closed. >> mr. swalwell did everything right. there was nothing -- no suggestion of any impropriety on his part. >> schiff says china has targeted members in both houses of congress. last week axios reported suspected chinese spy christine fang targeted swalwell first when he was a local politician and interacted with him at events over several years. fundraiseed for his 2014 reelection campaign and helped place at least one intern in his office. house republicans are calling for an investigation. senior republicans are urging speaker pelosi to remove him from the house intelligence committee charging swalwell is unfit to serve on that committee. house minority leader kevin mccarthy called him a national security liability and now senate republicans are questioning all this as well. >> there are bad actors trying to infiltrate the american political and economic system. china is at the -- >> swalwell said he cut ties with her and cooperated with federal investigators and f.b.i. thanked him for his help and never accused of any wrongdoing. back to you, trace. >> trace: rich edson live in d.c. thank you. >> sandra: for more on this let's bring in a member of that house intelligence committee republican congressman from ohio brad wenstrup. good morning. so many questions i have for you. hopefully something has changed from the last time i spoke with you, which is about this time last week, congressman. i asked you if you had reached out to eric swalwell. have you spoken with him? >> no, i have not. i haven't even seen him. but i will say what i do want to appreciate is what fox is doing and other networks that happen to be covering this story because mainstream media is not. look, i'm a soldier and i've deployed into war and i can tell you that loose lips sink ships. when there is foreign interference in anything we're doing it's of grave concern. the nation needs to know about it. and also members of congress need to know about it. it seems to me mainstream media is just giving it a pass. nancy pelosi seems to be just wanting to give him a pass. adam schiff seems to be wanting to give him a pass. if there is nothing to hide here then be transparent and tell us what actually took place and as eric swalwell says he can't talk about it because it's classified. we have classified settings where he can engage with us. if this was a republican the mainstream media would be all over it and if it was a republican they would be subpoenaed into the house intel committee for questioning under leadership especially if it was adam schiff. >> sandra: does he continue to be privy to classified information since these revelations came to light, since we have learned more about what happened years ago? is he still receiving that information? >> well, i was checking on that yesterday. he certainly seems to have access. if you go down to the secure facility there is a way that you can get in that only you can get in and from what i could see he still has that same access. and that to me is also concerning. but you know, i just think if you will be briefing the intelligence committee and he is sitting there, wouldn't you want to know who that person is and what their engagement has been with a foreign entity before you speak? >> sandra: we're trying to figure out what happens next. clearly the "wall street journal" and others are laying out a timeline as far as what we know, when we knew it, what he revealed to members of congress and congressman, when we spoke to you last week and this is the headline, the "wall street journal" is asking did a communist spy knows the congressman was about to assume oversite of the c.i.a. these are important questions to ask when you look at the timeline of the revelations and how he was put on that committee shortly after he supposedly told nancy pelosi and other members of congress that this happened. so congressman, my question to you is how do you find out? we talked to you this time last week and you said that he continues to sit on the committee. you think you've got big questions reasons why he should be pulled off that committee. nancy pelosi we went directly to her after you last week and she said members of congress were briefed on this. you said you were not. so which is it? >> i don't know which members of congress were briefed on that and what capacity they were briefed. i plan to reach out and have started to each out to the f.b.i. to try and get some type of conversation with them to let us know especially members of the intelligence committee, what actually took place. the "wall street journal" is right trying to put together this timeline. the optics are horrible. even if he did nothing wrong, which we don't know, the optics are absolutely horrible and it would be the last person you want to put in this type of position. it is not the type of person -- i can tell you on the republican side with the leader and the speaker we're in the majority what the speaker's role is to put people on this committee that are trusted by the american people and trusted on both sides of the aisle. for that matter. and this is not the situation that eric swalwell is in. he is not to be trusted and look -- >> sandra: real quick. would there be a paper trail of that briefing that nancy pelosi says happened? >> i would imagine there is but i'm not privy to that. apparently she is. this is a situation, i think, of such national importance that if she got something that maybe we all should get something and get the information and let's be clear about what took place and we'll continue to fight for that, i promise you that. >> sandra: i'm running out of time but i'll end with this. the journal says in their piece both swalwell and speaker need to explain who knew what and when about the chinese infiltration of its political network and why many intel committee colleagues were not told among other issues. short an time but one more question. what about her? what are we doing to find out or dig into or get access to their communications while this relationship was ongoing? can't we get access to that? can't the f.b.i. get that? >> we should get that and as i said the last time i did speak with you we need to know what nancy pelosi knew and when she knew it. same with adam schiff and swalwell and with the f.b.i. that's the only way we'll get to the bottom of this. this is not going away, i can promise you that. we have to get these answers. you are asking all the right questions and for that matter so is the "wall street journal." >> sandra: we're just wondering how you as a member of the intel committee are going to move that story forward and to be clear you are calling for him to be pulled off that committee, is that correct? >> i don't think he should be on there right now at least until the questions are answered and i can tell you that as republicans on the intel committee we met yesterday and we are having our discussions on how we move forward. i'll leave it at that right now. we aren't just sitting back. >> sandra: got it. please follow up with us on any developments on that, congressman. appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, sandra. >> trace: we're learning more about hunter biden's request for $10 million from a chinese oil tycoon. do these revelations help make the case for a special counsel investigation? plus alexandria ocasio-cortez suggesting congressional democrat leaders need to leave. whose names aren't pelosi or schumer. new reaction coming up with molly hemingway. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez is now publicly calling on pelosi and schumer to step aside. i'm actually in full agreement with the congresswoman from new york. she wants them gone from leadership and so do i. it's long overdue. one of the worst things about a cold sore is how it can make you feel. but, when used at the first sign, abreva can get you back to being you in just 2 and a half days. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores. 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somehow, you all found a way to pull it off. it's not about the toys or the ornaments but about coming together. santa, santa, you're on mute! just wanted to say thanks. thanks for believing. >> trace: as we learn more about hunter biden's choice to china critics are calling for a special counsel the take over investigations of his foreign business and tax affairs. molly hemingway is a senior editor at the federalist and joins us now. molly, always good to see you. the email that hunter biden sent to the chairman of the chinese energy company reads as follows here, please accept the best wishes from the entire biden family as well as my partners. we're all hoping to see you again soon here or in shanghai. tony bobulinski sent a request for the funding of the $10 million. i would appreciate it if you will send that quickly so we can properly fund and operate sino hawk. do you see in there how maybe there is a theme that he is trying the make sure the whole biden family is really happy that this is happening. >> right, the context of all of these emails and all these discussions is that joe biden's son, hunter, and his brother, james, have made a lot of money from companies or even governments that sought to access joe biden. so they would indicate that they were close to joe biden, they would get a lot of money, and they would also make sure not to put anything in a paper trail. some of the emails that we saw showed that new parties to the venture were told not to talk about joe's involvement in writing, only in person. so what's interesting here is that joe biden has always claimed he had nothing to do with this. we have many indications that at least from the perspective of the governments and companies giving money to the biden family they were doing so in part because they wanted that access. hunter biden saying that he represents the entire family. and also the other emails showing that 10% was supposed to be held for the big guy, joe biden. tony bobulinski saying that joe biden had a personal conversation with him about this enterprise. this is in contradiction to what joe biden has said. the reason why it's concerning is you don't want the president's son having ties to corrupt foreign adversaries or governments because you worry how that will affect u.s. policy. >> trace: the entire family, we hope to see you, all hope to see you soon. talk about the keys he was asking for in the building. what do you make for the calls of a special counsel, molly? >> well, special counsels are supposed to be in order if there is a conflict of interest that might be in play in an investigation. clearly there is a conflict of interest between the incoming president's son being investigated while this guy is president. i think that's also why the transition team put out this notification about hunter biden being investigated. they want to show that they are being -- that they know what's going on. they don't think they need a special counsel. special counsels the end to get out of control as we saw with the mueller probe which wasn't supposed to be investigating trump even though we know it was and how that really caused so many problems for these years of trump's presidency even though they never found what they claimed to be looking for, which was treason and collusion with russia to steal the 2016 election. >> trace: trying to get ahead of this thing saying there is a tax investigation. a lot more than that. i want to play this sound from alexandria ocasio-cortez and then get your thoughts. watch. >> are you ready to say pelosi and schumer need to go? >> i mean, i think so. i think the results of many years of power being concentrated in leadership with a lack of, you know, real grooming of the next generation of leadership. so when you have really talented members of congress that do come along, the opportunities to lead are so few and far between. >> trace: ari fleischer calls it the socialists against the liberals. what do you think? >> it's what's so interesting about the democratic party. they technically control the house of representatives. they've won the presidency, have a shot at winning the senate and the party is in complete disarray because of this issue that ocasio-cortez is talking about. all the enthusiasm for the party comes from that progressive left wing base but that's what is costing them seats. with republicans having an excellent shot at taking back the house in two years, democrats are trying to tamp down that progressive wing that hurts them with voters and yet that's where all of their excitement is. ocasio-cortez knows she has some influence here. i'm surprised she is not using it more to get a speaker more in line with what she would like but we'll see how this plays out. nancy pelosi had a very bad year. >> trace: she did say it wouldn't be her, she is not ready. thank you. >> thank you. >> sandra: another high-profile democrat, the governor of rhode island. caught breaking her own rules to stop the spread of covid. will cain has more. plus a multi-state lawsuit targeting google claiming they joined forces with another tech giant the rig the online ad market. >> their motto when they started is don't be evil. they've dropped that model and turned it on its head and become pretty evil in the marketplace. ia. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's one that'll really take you back. it's customized home insurance from liberty mutual! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ dreya! hey! how are you so good at this? relax. get into it! aw, yeah! i've got it! rated everyone. or psoriatic arthritis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce 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losing control in pennsylvania nearly running over an emergency crew. >> trace: white house announcing plans for vice president mike pence and his wife to get the coronavirus vaccine tomorrow to promote its safety. president-elect joe biden is expected to do so next week. >> sandra: a large extremely dangerous tornado ripping across three counties in florida covering more than 50 miles in two hours. it left behind widespread damage and power failures. so far there are no reports of serious injuries. for more on these and other stories download the fox news app, scan the qr code on your screen or go to foxnews.com/app. >> trace: 10 states are suing google claiming the search giant cut a deal with facebook to maintain its monopoly over online advertising. ken paxton claims google's business practices are bad for consumers. >> we want fair competition and want consumers to be treated fairly and businesses to be treated fairly. if one company controls the entire internet ad market that means we're all paying higher prices. >> trace: edward lawrence reporting for the fox business network in washington good morning. >> those 10 states led by texas in suing google saying the tech giant ran a trillion dollar a year illegal advertising monopoly with facebook. the complaint filed in texas says google saw facebook as an emerging challenge for advertising revenue. alphabet struck a deal with facebook so it would back off some of those competitive moves in exchange for guaranteed special treatment with google-run ads. the program nicknamed jedi blue. they were acting as pitcher, catcher, batter and umpire forcing ads in front of all of of us and leaving other ads out. >> there could be some structural changes in their business. divest some and pay fines. in the end we need some type of structure remedy so there is competition so they don't control the ad market and consumers do get a better deal and have choices other than google. >> they say facebook is a competitor for them. last october the federal government sued google for antitrust behaviors. federal prosecutors sued facebook earlier this month for anti-competitive behavior. the two companies facing those legal challenges from federal and state prosecutors. trace. >> trace: getting hit from both sides. edward lawrence live in d.c. >> sandra: now growing list of democrats facing criticism for ignoring the covid precautions that they are urging others to follow. the latest apparent offender rhode island governor. she went to a wine and paint event just days after urging people to avoid unessential activity in order to stop the spread of the virus. the governor not wearing a mask while she was sipping that wine, but she was wearing it when talking with restaurant staff. when she wasn't drinking her wine. the host of fox and friends weekend, will. good to have you here this morning. they call these events sip and seize for those familiar with them. is this just another case of hypocrisy of some of those politicians who are pushing rules that they themselves are not willing to follow? >> you know, the governor said you shouldn't do anything that is deemed what an inessential activity. clearly you don't realize that wine and painting is an essential activity when it comes to the running the state of rhode island. it is hypocrisy but i believe it's deeper than that. it refeels this won't go away when the pandemic goes away. what we're dealing with is elitism. the through line to everything story we're dealing with in america now. if you think about why it's happening. not the governors and mayors and political figures don't believe in their own rules, they just don't they think apply for them. the rules are for the little people that they rule. a signal. all of these are signals they're better than you. elitism as the media class, what stories are appropriate to be reported. elitism in academia and debate is frowned upon. you have elitism when it comes to the political class. the rules are for little people, not me. it bleeds down and contagious. how do people treat masks? they don't treat it as a protective mechanism but a virtue signal they're better, more scientific minded and smarter than you. it is running rampant and the dividing line in our society now. the elites versus everyone else they view as the little people. >> sandra: well, i will have to leave it there. i seem to have lost you. but it was good to have you and find you here on "america's newsroom." i hope you can hear me. i'll leave it there and we'll see you on "fox & friends" weekend. >> trace: one healthcare worker suffering an adverse reaction to the coronavirus vaccine. what happened and why experts say it is to be expected. plus the sister of a murdered police deputy reacting to the new d.a.'s reported plan to drop some of the charges against her brother's accused killer. >> when we were told last week that george was -- gascon was going to take away the life sentencing and no death 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>> i'm very concerned. mr. gascon was very transparent and very clear he was going to implement these reforms when he ran for office. he was elected to do this. this is a decision that los angeles made. i'm the immediate county to the south, the largest county 3.3 million people, the third largest county in california, sixth in the nation. i'm here to warn my constituents look, there is a grand experiment that has dangerous implications, one county to the north. and i'm not about to risk the implementation of some of these reforms. no bail? first of all let me make something very clear. i believe we need to re-examine bail. it is very unfair to people who can't afford to get out because they can't write a check the get out on bail. however, we agree to a risk assessment when the legislature considered this with sb10. mr. gascon's initiative eliminate risk assessment and say if you commit a certain type of crime you'll get out. so that concerns me deeply. it concerns me that he is saying that crime is out of control, up 30% in los angeles so what is wrong with me trying something different? he is not taking any responsibility for bringing us proposition 47 which increased crime in his own city of san francisco and he was the godfather and author of that initiative. we can't let what happened in san francisco and the rest of the state of california happen in los angeles. look, i was a police officer for 10 xwreers as a reserve for the city of los angeles. i went to law school in san francisco. los angeles is out of control. its homeless population is ruining that city. now mr. gascon is saying this is what no one is talking about. everybody today is talking about the violent crime. he is not going after violent crime. what i want to point out he won't go out the broken windows crime. driving on a suspended license. trespassing, loitering, drinking in public. if you don't enforce those laws do you understand what is going to happen to our communities? people who are already exploiting and loitering and taking advantage? the property values in los angeles are going to plummet. the streets are going to be out of control. no one is going to be safe. no one is talking about that side of the equation. that concerns me greatly as well. >> trace: you are in orange county. in los angeles county proper we talked about how his own prosecutors are pushing back on this. the deputy district attorney there says i believe there needs to be some reforms. however, those reforms need to be based upon the law. they also need to be based upon protection of the public. they need to be based upon the protection of children. they need to be based upon the facts of each case. he is saying look, he is out there trying to fight the kids and you have gascon trying to get these child abusers back on the streets. >> i'm very proud of him. he is one of the only prosecutors that have come forward. i don't know if you know, but they put out a snitch tattletale formed and ask defense bar to snitch on the prosecutors not implementing these reforms in court. as the elected district attorney, you know how offended i am you would ask as the elected d.a. for people to snitch on your prosecutors? an example. no hate crime enhancements in orange county i'm sending a white supremacist to prison for life. gascon won't go after hate crimes. the rest of the nation is in jeopardy. >> trace: i want to put this on the screen. they talk about all over southern california getting people out of jail because of covid restrictions. your county, statistics on the screen about releasing inmates. from the aclu. district attorney's office is keeping statistics to understand the impact of the court orders. orange county released inmates. it says early on the bail pandemic committed three times -- those released committed three times the normal rate of crimes. i will give you 10 seconds to respond to that. >> do you know that george gascon is not going to -- they committed a new crime while out on bail? he doesn't -- he won't enforce people who won't pay attention to the crimes they are charged with today. >> trace: orange county district attorney don spitzer. thank you. a year since al county deputy joseph gilbert sal an owe was assassinated at a restaurant. the new district attorney wants to drop charges against his accused killer. we'll talk to his sister in our next hour. >> sandra: a blue state exodus why some banks and big tech companies are calling it quits in new york and california and heading to red states. and there is also this. >> sandra: tom cruise meltdown go virals. some hollywood a-list ers are coming to his defense. a look at that just ahead. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) once-weekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like emily lower their blood sugar. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! 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a red state. so what's going on here? >> well, you and i live in new york, don't we? are you going to hold us responsible? i see what you are saying. by the way -- >> sandra: i'm still here, charlie. >> i got my apartment there, too. my brother is still living -- he works at a hospital. i'm a native new yorker. you found one in the building. >> sandra: i don't think that shocks anybody, charlie. >> there is -- i understand the degree of hypocrisy having limousine liberals say oh we can't deal with the situation here it is so horrible and leftist and taxes are out of control. i get that. let's unpack this and what it means for the city and the state and here is the bottom line. the numbers don't lie. new york city, wall street has been outsourcing to different states for many years. what sped it up is not just covid. some of the leftist policies coming out of bill deblasio and cuomo. >> sandra: that's my point. many of those banks and ceos voted for them. >> i don't know if jamie diamond voted for bill deblasio. that doesn't sound like something jamie would do. he runs j.p. morgan. my point is this. again not crying for these folks. they run big businesses and the costs increasingly of living in this area and operating in this area because of the leftist policies of the city and state have gotten out of control. you throw covid into the mix, the harsh lockdowns. you can't go out to dinner and you can't have 20% capacity inside a restaurant even though we all know the stats don't lie it doesn't spread covid. yet that destroyed the new york downtown economy. on top of that governor cuomo and deblasio are both threatening more tax increases on wealth creators on their employees. you throw in the fact, i know this because i have friends in dallas, guess what? dallas ain't a bad place. there are a lot of smart people in texas. why can't you move operations there? goldman sachs is looking at dallas as one of the places to move possibly its asset management division. i don't cry for limousine liberals. i've been mocking them for years. this is a serious situation and it is not their fault that deblasio and cuomo are running new york city into the ground and gavin newsom is destroying california. they're reacting to that. you can make the same case with the lefties that run silicon valley and they're running to texas. >> sandra: look what is happening in florida. by the way, i know you are writing about this in the "new york post." jamie diamond it is said a couple years ago he considered the move to florida. the reason he didn't do it he has so many young people working for him that have young families and the schools were never up to speed down in florida. guess what? they can change that with money and word is that they are doing that. so i don't know if they ever come back. >> well, listen, i have a ton of friends that are down in florida right now that are changing their residency. this is anecdotal. here is the thing, sandra, there comes a point where new york city, the benefits of it as you know, which are the cultural aspects, the great restaurants, they get outweighed by the cost of living there, of the crime that's going on right now in new york city, which is out of control. it's just off the charts. that is the dynamic that's going on right now. and on top of that you have a political class that doesn't seem to care and there is no one waiting in the wings. there is no rudy giuliani waiting in the wings. the president of the new york yankees wrote a great article about this. randy is not running for mayor unfortunately. that's the problem we have. we have bill deblasio. the best we have the ray mcguire maybe? the former citigroup executive. the chances of him winning are slim to none, i think. >> sandra: the pandemic is not over. it's still bad and you look at these live pictures of new york and charlie, as you know, it is just empty. the streets are empty. >> it's a ghost town. it is scary, it really is. >> sandra: i hope you have a wonderful holiday. good to see you, thank you. all right. >> trace: don't get tom cruise angry, watch. now some of the biggest names in hollywood say he was right to tear into crew members. carley shimkus on that next. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. to customizes yourcan gocar insurancetual.com so you only pay for what you need? 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i know he has run to whole thing but a little diplomacy, guys, come here, knock it off. >> absolutely. pull people aside and talk to them and say listen, i saw you guys were less than six feet apart. you have to follow the rules. tom cruise aside, the film industry is open and making movies and tv shows. we all saw the nbc film setup next to a restaurant that was shut down. the only difference between the film industry and the restaurant industry are the tom cruises of the world. the folks who will make the phone calls that governors will take. i would be cool to see those powerful folks stick up for other industries as well. >> let's play one more sound bite from tom cruise because we can. watch. >> is it understood? if i see it again you're gone. and so are you. so i see you on the set you are gone and you're gone. that's it. am i clear? >> trace: sounds like the character played in a movie. he had on a bald wing and he went crazy. he sounds like that. he has practice at this kind of role. >> one more thing i was reading about the head of the entertainment union saying these freelancers have been through a whole lot this year. the last thing they need is a multi-million dollar hollywood star screaming at them and threatening their jobs. he is trying to keep their jobs and make sure they are working, people are walking off also because of his behavior apparently. >> trace: the movie was tropical thunder the crew just told me. thank you. >> sandra: and this is a fox news alert as republican calls for action grow louder over controversies over big name democrats. one involving the president-elect's son hunter biden. the other congressman eric swalwell putting speaker pelosi under pressure and exposing the threat china poses as analysts say the communist nation is plotting to harm the united states. welcome back to "america's newsroom" thursday morning. trace, good morning, i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning again. i'm trace gallagher. republican lawmakers are pushing for a special counsel to look at the hunter biden matter after fox news obtained an email exchange in which hunter gave a chinese energy company executive greetings from the entire biden family bringing the links between the younger biden's business dealings closer to his father. now gop house members say it's time to get to the bottom of what went on. here is congressman buck on "america's newsroom" a bit earlier. >> president trump or president-elect biden needs to appoint a special counsel. if you look at who hunter biden is dealing with. he is not dealing with western european nations or countries whose leadership share our values. he is dealing with communist china, a corrupt ukrainian oligarch. these are people that no american company should be dealing with much less the vice president's son. >> sandra: congressman buck dealing with the spy controversy surrounding his democratic colleague eric swalwell. swalwell facing demands to step down from the intel committee after reports linked him to a suspected chinese spy. he again ignored questions from the media about that relationship indicating that he was on a zoom call and could not talk. joining us now is congressman chip roy who co-wrote a letter to speaker pelosi asking her to strip swalwell from his committee post. where do you stand if eric swalwell should be removed from that committee in the meantime? >> great to be on the show. we have a simple request. 16 colleagues joined me in writing a letter to speaker pelosi calling on swalwell to be removed from the house intelligence committee. a simple and important step. the congressman -- i have no interest in getting into his personal indiscretions that's between him and his family. he endangered the united states of america. he knew there was an investigation for five years into this engagement he had with a chinese communist spy. so we believe he should be removed from the committee because he made a bad decision and he has endangered the united states of america as a result. imagine if you will if he had done the same thing with a kgb operative in 1986 at the height of the cold war? we need to recognize right now communist china represents a dangerous threat to the united states of america and we ought to treat it accordingly. eric swalwell should be removed from the house intelligence committee as a result. >> sandra: brad wenstrup from the house intelligence committee was my guest earlier and he said this. >> i can tell you that as republicans on the intel committee we met yesterday and we are having our discussions on how we move forward. i'll just leave it at that right now. we aren't just sitting back. >> sandra: so really important questions here, congressman. maybe you could take us through this. there has to be a timeline. nancy pelosi says members of congress were briefed. was it the gang of eight? if it was, who got briefed and why didn't they do anything about it? were republicans in the room when it happened? what about the suspected chinese spy? where is she? what is the contact she has now with the f.b.i.? what questions are they going to ask her? and what answers are they going to get about their relationship? where is the text messages and the emails that were exchanged? it feels like this story should be moving forward faster than it is. >> well, i agree and appreciate you highlighting it so the american people can see this. it is critically important. if this were 1986 i promise you this would be a major story. we need to continue to make this the story it really is. we need to look at the timeline and who knew what when and what other individuals in our intelligence community and leadership had engagements with this particular spy or any others. this is a critically important issue. let's also keep in mind congressman swalwell throughout this time knowing full well there was an investigation going on politicized the environment going after the president regarding a basically concocted theory about russian involvement in our elections and raising and elevating that when we could have been focusing on china our clear threat in terms of having a chinese spy that had something over one of our house intelligence officials. so i think we ought to be removing congressman swalwell and making sure we protect the country going forward. >> sandra: as a member of congress, i asked this of wenstrup as well. wouldn't there have been a paper trail of that briefing that nancy pelosi says members of congress received after this revelation six years ago? even if it was a meeting or briefing in person, wouldn't there still be documentation that that happened? >> you would certainly think there might be some information that's available on that. again we should investigate and look at it. that's what we're calling on the speaker as the leader of the house. let's understand what happened, let's understand who knew what when and produce it so the american people can know and have transparency. there is a chinese spy having direct relationship with a member of the house intelligence committee. let's address & remove that member for having endangered the united states of america hiding that he news this from colleagues on the committee. >> sandra: he has clearly had the opportunity -- quickly. he has clearly had the opportunity to answer questions and this is someone who has demanded transparency from republicans. to your best knowledge, why won't he answer a question on this? >> look, i think it's an embarrassing situation and knows he should have come clean with his colleagues. that's what's going on. i think speaker pelosi wants to hide it and tamp it down and move on like nothing happened. we can't allow her to do that. this is the security and well-being of the united states of america. we need to demand answers and that's what we're trying to do by sending the letter to the speaker and she should respond. >> sandra: congressman chip roy from texas, appreciate your time this morning, sir. thank you. >> thank you, ma'am. >> trace: chinese spy scandal illustrates how hard the country is working to undermine the united states and hunder biden's foreign business dealings with china. here is ron johnson on hannity. >> they are investing in influence. let's face it, we see how a long-term thinking how strategic they are. look what they do with congressman swalwell. groom this guy. here is an up-and-comer. let's fund his campaign and see how far this guy can go. get in place on the intelligence committee on the house and nancy pelosi knows about it. is it far fetched to think they were grooming hunter biden as well with his connections with his father? >> trace: are they saying anything about hunter? >> very little, trace. good morning. but the president-elect told me yesterday he thinks this federal investigation into the future first son will turn out okay. >> are you confident your son hunter did nothing wrong? >> i'm confident. >> that's even though the president-elect has long claimed that he doesn't know how his son hunter operates. >> mr. vice president, how many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings? >> i have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings. >> but new emails suggest some of those business dealings hinged on foreign partners at least thinking joe biden was in on the deal because hunter biden wrote to a chinese business partner about a $10 million wire request. please accept the best wishes from the entire biden family as well as my partners. that builds on emails from last week where he wrote to an administrator he needed to get spare keys to his office for his dad and uncle jim biden. the president elect hasn't yet named and attorney general or whether he will replace the u.s. attorney in delaware currently overseeing the hunter biden investigation. it will come next month. president trump is saying i have nothing to do with the property ention prosecution of hunter biden or the biden family. i find it sad to watch. the president elect doesn't have any in-person events today. he will receive the president's daily brief both of those things from home here in wilmington, trace. >> peter doocy live in wilmington. let's bring in fox news contributor james freeman, member of the "wall street journal" editorial board. he and fox business maria bartiromo have a new book "the cost, trump, china and american revival." . peter doocy made a couple of great points. hunter biden is the one asking for $10 million from the chinese energy executive and yet in the email, you know, the entire biden family says best wishes. we all would like to see you again. i'm not pointing fingers here, james, it seems like a wink wink of an email. >> absolutely. thanks, trace. i think it's clear here the -- by now it should be clear to everybody the product that hunter biden was selling -- it wasn't his expertise about chinese finance or ukrainian energy or romanian reals at this time or whatever else the deal was. it is clear in that note and when you look at the record it was an influence peddling operation. joe biden, who has been talked about in the emails. his explanation that i didn't pay attention or i don't know what my son was doing, you know, that would not be tolerated at any large organization in america to, you know, if family members were trailing behind you with their hands out to say i haven't asked any questions. i haven't looked into what exactly they're doing. that's not a reasonable conflict of interest policy. i don't know how it was tolerated by the white house office of general counsel under the obama administration. but it shouldn't be tolerated now and it is extremely disturbing to see all these links. you mentioned the $10 million that hunter biden was asking for as he shared the best wishes of his entire family. that didn't come through. he ended up getting indirectly almost $5 million from the chinese energy company to his law firm. >> trace: let's switch to the eric swalwell story. he is not addressing any of this. maybe he doesn't have to, right, james? 90% of the media is not covering it. you are and you write this in your -- here is the headline. let's put it up. the swalwell timeline. sub headline did a communist spy know the congressman was about to assume oversight of the c.i.a. it is fascinating. back in 2015 when he was put on the intel committee it goes on to say he was put on the intel committee and he was the senior democrat. even his local paper was saying wow, this is kind of a coup for a young congressman and you quote both mr. swalwell and the speaker need to explain who knew what and when about the chinese infiltration of his political network and why many intelligence committee colleagues were not told among other issues. there is a lot at work here when you talk about the timeline of eric swalwell's rise. >> it is really remarkable. one of the very few details the congressman has been willing to share about this relationship with the alleged chinese spy. he said the f.b.i. warned him about it a little more than six years ago. it looks like somewhere in the november to december 2014 time frame. as we know, the alleged spy helped him fundraising for the 2014 campaign. so presumably if he is telling the truth that he cut off ties with her it would be stimulate november, early december. weeks later, in january, nancy pelosi announces that she is putting this young congressman with no experience in intelligence, not only on that sensitive intelligence committee, but as the senior democrat on the new subcommittee overseeing the c.i.a. so this has to be explained how someone who says they were just told by the f.b.i. they got duped into a relationship with a communist spy is suddenly given oversight of the c.i.a. it is amazing. >> trace: last piece of the puzzle pelosi said they were all briefed saiment by the f.b.i. some are saying we weren't briefed. good to see you. >> thanks, trace. >> sandra: u.s. agencies on the defensive after coordinated cyberattacks from russia. we'll have a live report on that coming up. plus a judge making an important ruling on covid restrictions in california. mercedes colwin here next on that and what it means for small businesses struggling to survive. and with a report on china's influence in the election now delayed what the next steps could be for the intelligence community. >> i'm assuming that reason it's delayed there is something pretty explosive in there. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa let's be honest. quitting smoking is hard. like, quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so try making it smaller, and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. starting small can lead to something big. and now with q4 wrapping up, the north pole has to be feeling the heat. it's okay santa, let's workflow it. workflow it...? 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what about this case? >> certainly it's a glimmer of hope for the small businesses that you mentioned. they are just trying to survive this pandemic because what the judge did was really balance the equities here. there is no question the public health is of vital and critical importance to municipalities and all of us as individuals without question. but it can't be that these regulations are not looked at and scrutinized under the second part of the analysis of let's look of the balance of inequities. what are the rights of these businesses? what have they done and put in place to show that public health safeties and concerns are met and is it a danger to the public? looking at these two businesses, they were able to do it. they expressed there had been no cases of individuals that frequented the business didn't get the virus. policies and procedures and protocols are in place to comply with the cdc guidelines and safe for individuals to frequent those places. so those two metrics were met and the judge felt interestingly enough not the first time the judge has ruled in favor of these types of establishments of adult entertainment. he ruled in favor of these types of establishments in the past and used it under the rubric of freedom of expression, first amendment right. that's how he was able to then look at this and say on these facts it's fine. for any of these businesses to remain open as long as they have these policies and procedures in place and they don't pose a threat to society. >> sandra: as long as they follow them, right? in the case of strip clubs the entertainers have to stay 15 feet from the tables. only one adult entertainer on the stage at a time and then everyone there, the customers have to wear their masks throughout, of course. but mercedes this brings up the big question and why we see lawsuits with some of the churches and archdiocese saying wait, a strip club can stay open but our parishioners can't come in and worship? it brings up bigger picture problems with some of these restrictions. >> that's a good question. you are exactly right. it is a blueprint for other entities outside of just businesses that are going to look at this and say we satisfy these metrics and we don't have individuals that may have gotten infected one, two, look at the safety protocols we have in place that we're strictly complying. if you've gone to churches recently they are taking temperature, limiting the numbers of individuals that are in churches, they are making sure the pews are every other pew. so there are policies and procedures and protocols in place. this frankly is i think a great blueprint for other businesses to follow suit. >> sandra: i'm just wondering what some of the consequences are of this, unintended consequences if you will. like in the case of the strip clubs, a bar that can stay open. does it encourage the opening of more strip clubs? what we see down the road with that. good to have you here. thank you. >> thank you so much, sandra. always great to be on with you. >> trace: a shutdown showdown brewing in another state where some small businesses are set to take action and how they plan to fight new lockdown orders and the intelligence report on foreign interference in the 2020 election will miss a key deadline and looks like china is to blame. we'll explain that and it's no joke after a nor'easter barreled through overnight. the mess the storm made in new york city and beyond. ♪ ♪ oh, the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ♪ sharing smiles together is a gift. at aspen dental, it's easy to gift yourself the smile you deserve. new patients, get started with a comprehensive exam and full set of x-rays with no obligation. and if you don't have insurance, it's free. plus, get 20% off your treatment plan. enjoy flexible payment options and savings when it matters most. we're here to make your smile shine bright so you can start the new year feelin' alright. call 1-800-aspendental 7 days a week or book today at aspendental.com apps except work.rywhere... why is that? 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"wall street journal" called it restaurant lockdown massacre and we completely agree. it is so over the top and now to go after these individuals, these innocent individuals particularly single parents at christmastime. where are they kids going to go if they get incarcerated? it is so over the top especially in consideration of how they stood back and watched minneapolis burn this summer and now they are doing this? >> trace: it's amazing because it's interesting. in california they're on day 12 of the restaurant shutdown, darius, and yesterday they had the highest number of infections in the pandemic so far. so if you look at the average time from infection to symptoms it ain't the restaurants that are causing the infections. we now know that because they've been shut down for 12 days and the infections keep going up. your final thought. >> yeah. to that point we're surrounded by states that are largely open and their data, their caseload is exactly the same slope, it is just the same trajectory. it makes a clear argument that these lock downs just aren't working. >> darius, best of luck to you, all the businesses in minneapolis and minnesota. we'll have you back on if things change. thank you. >> sandra: outrage in los angeles as the new district attorney is looking for lighter sentences for criminals including the accused killer of a deputy. that deputy's sister will join us live next. alright, everyone, we made it. my job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. i'm having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner. so we're using a speakerphone in the store. is that a good idea? one of the ways i do that is to get them out of the home. you're looking for a grout brush, this is -- garth, did he ask for your help? -no, no. -no. we all see it. we all see it. he has blue hair. -okay. -blue. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. -keep it coming. -you don't know him. and i'm still going for my best. even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm on top of that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. what's next? getting out there. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. ask your doctor about eliquis. and if your ability to afford your medication has changed, we want to help. your medication has changed, ♪ irresistibly smooth chocolate. to put the world on pause. lindor. made to melt you. by the lindt master chocolatier. veterhave now fallen evengage lower. by refinancing at newday you can save $3000 a year every year. with their va streamline refi, there is no income verification no appraisal, no out of pocket costs and no va paperwork for you. you can start the process right over the phone. refi now and cut $3000 a year off your mortgage payments. loans can close in as little as 30 days. you're on it. jardiance knows you're doing all you can to manage type 2 diabetes and heart disease... 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[laughter] it's from fully robotics. this is a cool concept. this watches other chefs cook and then it mimics the movements so you could have a master chef from the best restaurant in paris create a dinner recipe for you that it will then mimic down to their exact movements. you know, cutting the vegetables and searing the steaks. but the price is really high. $340,000 is a lot to pay for a kitchen accessory. this is from somebody who likes to cook. that is a little high on the list, high on the price scale. $300 kitchen aid stand mixer is as high as i will go. >> trace: it's brand new. they say the price will come back at some point. you remember in 1980s the calculators were like $500 and now they give them away. who knows? you might have smart kitchens installed in a few years. >> exactly. you know what is also great about this, trace? we are going to see a lot of the technology in different forms. the roomba robotic vacuum drives around and vacuums up your home. but you could see maybe a robot that just does the dishes. that costs $1,000. it can hand wash your precious china and do that without damaging it. or maybe a robot that can quickly make you an omelette. you are right. the prices on this stuff comes down and technology improves we will see more of the automation in the kitchens of the future not too far away. >> trace: it's great to see you. $340,000, sandra, buy, as the song says, buy a boat and a truck to pull it. yeti full of beer and more stuff, sandra. >> sandra: all right. hey, trace. great three hours. quick look at the dow. more record highs as the operation vaccination continues. >> trace: yeah. great to see you. "outnumbered" starts in three seconds. ♪ >> harris: two. one. there is a growing push on capitol hill for a special counsel investigation. fox news has obtained an e-mail from 2017. it's from hunter biden. reaching out to the chairman of a chinese energy firm. offering best wishes from the entire biden family. hunter biden in the e-mail urging the chinese corporation chairman to quickly wire $10 million to properly fund and operate a joint venture. that part is a quote. this just happened. our own peter doocy, pressed joe biden to respond to the federal tax investigation of hunter