6.9 trillion and we will hit the 7 trillion-dollar mark. i have been covering money for 40 years and i have never seen a run-up like this. they all combine to create this extraordinary rally and it continues today. i hope you're able to follow it from the comfort of your home because the weather along the eastern sea board is just plain terrible, the bomb cyclone, the bombo genesis, carolina, virginia, a blizzard by any other name and brought one-third of a country close to standstill. we offer a unique opportunity, sit back andat w dow 25k and th bombo cyclone, varney & company is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: liz peek with bombo cyclone glasses. look at futures, we are going to go up 100 points in the opening bell. we should cross 25k. if those futures, quote, stand, we will hit 25k in approximately 27 minutes and 40 seconds. by the way, we just learned that 250,000, a quarter million new private-sector jobs were created in november, that's a big number, a very strong economic indicater. let's take a look at the biggest winners on the dow, the dow 30 stocks, biggest winners since november 30th, that's when we hit 24k, caterpillar, chevron, united tech, all of them straight up. look at the percentage gains. boeing, disney, nike, exactly the same story. huge percentage gains leading the dow over the last 1,000 point rally. the fore mentioned liz peek is with us now. look, i think we have momentum going on here. that's the big deal that's going on right now. >> i think we do. we have just gotten started. after all the tax plan really went into effect now so companies are just begin to go gear up their expectations for 2018, plan their spending, et cetera, and we have all the bonuses being paid across -- why are you smiling? [laughter] stuart: key expression, we are just getting started. we are just getting started? >> in terms of trump's policy, yes, we are just getting started. ashley: the bombo market rally will continue, here is why, because of my opinion, very humble, very humble, what else is there, the alternatives, when the market did start to selloff, people jumped back in. where else are you going to go until interest rates start moving up and the feds start giving people alternative there's no other game in town. that's why i think the market will continue to run. liz: amazon, fracking is keeping stocks low. who is going hit a trillion first, apple, google or microsoft. looks like apple will be the first one trillion dollar market value company. they have a shorter race than mooingle and microsoft. stuart: that would be extraordinary. trillion dollar company. do you think it could happen this year? $200 a share. liz: about 128 for google and about 1,460 for google, 128 for microsoft. stuart: that was your dog walker calling. [laughter] stuart: you have a problem in manhattan. >> by the way, there's another thing going on that the synchronize growth around the world is pushing commodities prices higher. i think the oil sector is an interesting area right now. oil prices are going up a little bit. i don't think that's in a vacuum. i think that basically we have seen supply and demand curves begin to cross, we have seen copper prices moving up. that's a whole other leg, natural resource companies, et cetera, might begin to participate more fully. i know that you're thinking i'm crazy. [laughter] stuart: that will be forever your name. >> thank you, that's lovely. stuart: let's get serious for a minute. this clearly is one monster winter storm, cost not just snow and high winds but the arctic temperatures, they will follow it, it's moving up the east coast as you see from the weather map there, it's slamming boston where connell mcshane is live from boston common. looks to me like boston shut down, is it? >> pretty much, stuart. what is this bumbo cyclone. a drop in the atmospheric pressure and almost like a winter hurricane, you get the swirling winds. we have seen some of that. cape cod, 65 miles an hour. you might see the power going out in a lot of areas, here is the challenge in boston, it's pretty much shut down, they closed the schools, local stores and restaurants, can they give the streets plowed? the mayor has been talking about it. can they keep them plowed? the temperatures is less 10-degrees, hovering below zero. but for the moment, if anything it's actually beautiful here, stuart, in the boston common. they are out there enjoying themselves a little bit. stuart: i feel for you and i feel for my daughter and her husband and five children who were suppose today get off cape cod today and fly to naples, florida. >> oh, man, oh, wow. stuart: we will be back to you later, connell. thank you very much, sir. it occurs to me the weather like this is good for online selling, who do we have with us? the online version of cosco. >> all smiles today. stuart: you ought to be ashamed of yourself. >> it's so easy. stuart: seriously this is very good news for online people like yourself. >> 100%. with the items we sell, essentials, january is a strong month for us, on top of that bad weather like it is today, unfortunate for us have to work but for the business it's quite good. stuart: can you measure it? can you measure today, a lot of northeast is shut down because of this storm, can you say, yes, x number of dollars extra in sales because of this weather? >> i believe we can. so the beauty of our company is that almost the entire executive team is all from public companies so we built a very good finance department, and so they're watching right now and they're probably oh, my god, i know what my assignment is going to be, we are going to measure out the impact and know how that impacts forecast going forward. stuart: give me a guess. 5, 10% -- >> more than that. stuart: just because of the weather? >> they don't want to pick up of the big things, water, toilet paper, 6-inches, 12-inches, you're not going to go. 20, 30, 40% depending on the magnitude of the storm. there was an internal e-mail chain going or not whether we should close the office and head e-mailed everyone, in the ivory tower you can close but in the world packages will be going out. >> what about deliveries? >> they go out via ups, fedex or courier, i think today the hard-working folks of ups and fedex should be out there. [laughter] stuart: you got a whopping great big tax cut, didn't you? >> yeah. stuart: are you going to put it into hiring more people or expanding more business? >> i would say i don't know anyone that's pulling back, including us. stuart: that's not an answer. invest more because you have more money coming at you? >> i would say '18 is investment year for given the magnitude of the overall economy. ashley: more jobs? >> more jobs, more fulfillment center jobs and more sales for us. i just think that like you guys said before, it feels like it's almost starting, we are almost 7, 8 years into the rally which is unprecedented even in my old age it's -- i've never seen this before. stuart: you're a child. [laughter] stuart: take that smile off your face. you have to get home. >> i have to buy bombo cyclone.com before somebody buys it. stuart: i want you to create some bombo sunglasses. a medical breakthrough, a cure for some types of blindness. there's a catch, not cheap, doc seigal breaks it down for us. he's calling the country a safe haven for terrorists, says we have given them billions, all they've given us is lies and deceit. trump is sending a cease and desist letter to steve bannon after bannon accused the president's son of treasonous behavior. you'll hear bannon's reaction to that coming up next. we will be back. building a website in under an hour is easy with gocentral... ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. stuart: breaking news for you, attorney general jeff sessions is going after legalizing marijuana. ashley: rescind the policy that states put in place without federal intervention. what this would do is allow u.s. attorneys where pot is legal to decide whether they aggressively enforce federal marijuana laws. this is going to add to a very confusing situation. i find it strange to be honest with you. it's clear what this country is saying about marijuana but jeff sessions compared marijuana to heroin and linked it to spikes in violence and now we have this word that he's going to change the federal law that will put the federal government back into enforcing marijuana laws in the individual states and, of course, this comes after california legalized marijuana on the first of -- stuart: that's a bombshell. huge reversal of a social trend which has been going on for a long time in america. ashley: absolutely. interesting. stuart:let get back to market. look at the futures, going higher still. we are up 112 points on the dow industrials. open with that kind of gain and we are right at 25k right at the opening bell which is coming up in 14 and a half minutes. politics, just hours after his war of words with trump steve bannon had some kind words for the president. roll tape. >> the president of the united states is a great man i supported day in and day out whether going out trump giving speech or the website, you don't have to worry about it but i appreciate the kind words. stuart: i just asked senator rand paul if the riff between trump and bannon is a threat to the trump presidency and this is what he said? >> no, i just think it's a side show. you have this sort of sensationalistic stuff in a book but i really don't think it's going to change anything that goes on officially in washington, any kind of legislation, i really think it's a side show that will pass in about a week or so. >> senator says it's a side show, will not affect the trump presidency vis-a-vis impeachment but what about the trump agenda? liz: let's get the lay of the land in the senate, slim 51-49 for the republicans, two senators make no bones about loathing, when you have funding from the government spilling over into january, it is like planes on runway, jam-packed agenda right now that they have to get -- take care of force, daca executive order expires in march, funding the government, budget fights and then the trump agenda, meaning infrastructure and more, immigration reform. stuart: you think that bannon statements affect the agenda -- >> i think it puts more spine in the backbone of senators who can oppose the agenda or trump. stuart: i had an extended conversation with senator paul and i asked him about the president withholding what is it $255 million in aid to pakistan because he calls pakistan a safe haven for terrorists, roll that tape. >> the only thing that i know of that's illegal in the whole russian thing is that when they recorded general flynn's conversation someone illegally and it's a felony to do this, leak this to the media and they basically ruined general flynn over a conversation that was illegally leaked, that's the only thing i know of so far in the whole russian thing that is provable illegal and doesn't seem anybody investigating who leaked the conversation. stuart: i'm sorry, that was the wrong sound bite. let me paraphrase. take the money off of it, anybody in disagreement with that? >> look, where was osama bin laden all those years, he was in pakistan? they harbored him. i think, look, everyone has always been afraid of confronting all of the nations, trump is doing that. as far as supporters, high time too. liz: they're so abuse i have to women and men there. it's horrible what they do to their own people. ashley: a waste of money. stuart: what about money in the palestinians? what about money in the iranians? not too happy about that. >> the liberals actually hate to talk, but american voters are tired of seeing our dollars going to places where we get nothing in return. we are supposed to be giving money to countries like pakistan and palestinians and other organizations in return for good behavior, intelligence shares, et cetera, if they fail on that, we should not be supplying money. ashley: all the money goes around the world, they burn the american flag, we have lots of things in the country that could use help, new schools, rebuilding roads, all of that money that could be used for help, getting back to lizzie's point, america first. stuart: if you put it to a vote, 80% in cutting them off. ashley: yes, absolutely. stuart: story of the day, though, it's the market. it is your money. look at this, we are almost certainly, ten minutes away from the dow hitting 25,000. we are 73 points away, futures suggest a gain of 110 for the dow industrials, right at 25k, that will be, stop doing the math, stuart. ten minutes and ten seconds away. [laughter] stuart: next as much of the south really paralyzed by this winter storm, we have a stranded -- he will tell us her story. tell us her story after this. liberty mutual stood with me when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. stuart: two big stories today, your money and the stock market rally and this, the big winter storm that's moving uphe easter seaboard, o the phone now, she's stranded and also happens to be sister of executive producer, robin, welcome to the program, tell us exactly where you are and what happened to you. >> good morning, stuart, my daughter and i left richmond, virginia yesterday morning around 6:30 a.m. to visit our dear friends in florida, it's very chilly in virginia and we decided to head south and just north of charleston it started snowing and i even said to my daughter, how odd this is that we are heading south and it's snowing. [laughter] stuart: wait a second, on a screen we have a picture taken by you looking out the front of your car. >> that's right. stuart: you're stuck at the moment on the side of the road? >> at this moment my very brilliant daughter has us on detour, we were stuck in exit off of 95, i mean, the roads are closed, it was police blockades and she routed u wt and -- s now we are traveling southwest on 301. you know what's really odd, i mean, we have been listening to the radio, they said they had an inch of snow but the roads were completely iced over, emergency vehicles coming, they were coming on the exit ramps. stuart: i have to leave you because we are about to go to wall street for the opening of the stock market, look, we wish you well and thank you very much for getting in touch with us. >> okay. stuart: we wanted firsthand experience, thank you very much, indeed, good luck. we will open the market very shortly with 100 point gain for the dow industrials, that should take us to 25k on the dow. back in a second. stuart: standby for glory, ladies and gentlemen u mere 13 seconds away for what we think could be the opening bell ringing on wall street, 25,000 on the dow jones average. 3, 2, 1, bang. here we go. where are we opening? oh, we are up 42, we are up 46, we are up 40. come on, come on. this is not good enough. >> try harder. stuart: 53, 53 points up. not all of the stocks are open on the dow industrials. give it time. give it time. we are up 66 points. okay, we are at all-time high, i want to see 25k, we are 12 points away. we are still 12 points away. [laughter] stuart: come on, please. [laughter] stuart: i'm lost for words. [laughter] ashley: don't be disappointed. stuart: i should tell you, however, all three, the dow, the s&p and the nasdaq have opened to brand-new all-time highs and as we wait patiently for the dow to hit 25,000 -- ashley: not patient at all. stuart: that's true. we are up 55 points at 24,980. let me introduce everybody, here is what we've got today, the s&p, et cetera, et cetera, let me introduce everybody, here is what we have for you, ashley webster, liz mcdonald, of course, liz peek and look who is here, jeff sica, anxious for his moment of glory. [laughter] stuart: have you ever seen anything like this rally before? >> no, i would describe it as unbridalled enthusiasm, but also i have never seen this much complacency people are piling into stock with -- stuart: nervous? >> you have too many people who have high allocations in stock and haven't really experienced the volatility, yes, markets are capable of, my worry is that people have got to start to pull back on allocation and not be so entrustiastic, the reality is -- [laughter] stuart: you're being honest. a lot of people are talking about a pullback at some point and i'm sure everybody agrees there will be a pull back at some point but we are not hitting 25,000 yet and that's the truth. let me show you -- i have a big number for you, another one, $6.9 trillion, that's how much the value of all stocks has gone up from the election to now. $6.9 trillion. have you ever seen anything like that before, liz peek? >> that's a cycle, house prices are going up, people are feeling incredibly optimistic which first time in more than a decade they are really optimistic about their prospects, so they're spending money. you know, we talk about thift fatigue on the show, people are tired of saving, are tired of worrying about the agreement, right now they have a big bounce and -- and we are seeing that come out in terms of the economy. liz: u.s. manufacturing best high since 2004. we always talk about what's the risk of the market, i would add larry summers, we were going to have a global collapse and now added 7 trillion. ashley: just notice the swiss markets for anybody that's interested. that's also very encouraging speaking of global market and economy. stuart: very encouraging number for the economy, 250,000 new private-sector jobs created in the month of november, that's a good economic indicater, isn't it? >> there's no question about it. all those people who said the tax policies, the tax cuts will not engender that kind of hiring and investment, look, the evidence is in, manufacturers, by the way, some of the jobs are manufacturing jobs which we are happy to see, they are higher paid and better benefits and here is a prediction, in the first quarter we will see wage growth resume and it's highly time that we see that, i think the obama administration constantly underestimated how many people were out of the workforce, now people will be drifting back into the workforce but we will also see wages go up. ashley: what a difference, the obama economy, two or three people having part time jobs and low benefits and low paying, what a change and you can feel it not only the markets but the confidence. liz: it's better than last year. really solid numbers. 212,000 average. stuart: as the man who single handily talked the market away from the 25k on the dow, don't you think that it's a pretty strong job indicater? >> the fact that small businesses were not hiring, now they have their tax cuts, there's optimism, there's enthusiasm, my concern is that this trend continues and that small businesses continue to hire despite some of the -- stuart: do you remember alan greenspan. liz: late 90's. stuart: here we go. 25,000. >> there it is. [laughter] ashley: come on. >> it's 25,000, let's all be happy about it. [laughter] >> you have five stocks and i say it over and over again that are driving about 50% of the gains in the s&p and you look at the number, the appreciation, it's coming from these 5 stocks, when you have investors piling into the five stocks, it concerns me, the market has got to spread out and it might but it concerns me. stuart: okay. ashley: january 4th and we hit 25,000. >> that's why commodities are going up. >> there's also a word that people have not mentioned and it's called inflation, we are seeing it in certain aspects of the real estate market and asset prices. inflation comes on very unexpectedly. >> gop tax bill will stop -- stuart: any way you can get me the board up which shows me the five big technology companies. i've got it on my phone right now. ly tell you what's going on here. microsoft up 60 cents at 86.95. close to $87 per share. i own a little of it. there you go. facebook is now 185. i'm pretty sure that's close to all-time high. >> yeah. stuart: certainly close to it. amazon up 9 bucks and well over $1,200 a share. microsoft as we said is 86.96, almost 87, apple at 172, it's the weakest to have big five thus far. liz: we talked about the race who will be the first trillion dollar market cap company, when you look at microsoft's free cash flow numbers, wow, it is printing, looks like it's printing money there, it's outstripping the pace of alphabet, amazon as well and facebook. stuart: accumulation of cash? liz: it's stunning. stuart: keep talking because i own some of that. 25,020 is where we are now. for the benefit of radio viewers, listeners, we hit 25,000 a couple of minutes ago, this thursday january whatever it is, fourth, we hit 25,000, dow industrials, we hit 24,000 on november the 30th, that is an explosive rally. show me some individual stocks, i will start with monsanto, reported better profits earlier this morning. it's at 118 as we speak. taco bell taking on mcdonalds, the dollar menu rolling out nacho fries, taco will begin selling the fries for a limited time on january 25th for one dollar. yum brands, parent company, mcdonalds is up, 172 mcdonalds. the amazon story of the day, amazon grabbed 4% of all u.s. retail sales last year and get this, it grabbed 44% of e-commerce sales. ashley: still room to grow, there's more to grab. >> 100 million people live in the cold zone, stuck at home, will they be shopping on amazon? when you look at what's going on with amazon, the business model is stunning, if they grab more millennials, millennials buy houses and more stuff. in you you lock in millennials which seems to be the business modeling you have good earnings. >> they buy echo dot, we need -- >> unbelievable. ashley: number one area, best-selling area for amazon was electronics and that was driven to liz's point by echo and amazon echo devices. impressive. stuart: $110 per share on amazon right now. >> in this year as they bought whole foods you will see amazon brying brick and mortar, that they can't compete with, looking at retail pharmacy, you will see them buying more brick and mortar than you ever imagined because i think the reality is amazon is brilliant in their logistics and they know there are certain areas that they can't compete online. stuart: listen to this, macy's planning 5,000 job cuts and they're closing 7 more stores. macy's down a little bit, down about, let's see, that's 3% actually, down on this up day. liz. >> they're saying the new tax law is going to add a lot to the bottom line, tax benefit of 550 million. stuart: tax benefit. >> lowering the rate is going to help them a lot. stuart: closing more stores and firing 5,000 people. stock down, yet they have a huge gain from tax cut. that's fascinating. tesla, model 3 deliveries, well, fall short again, if they can't get it together on model 3, can they get a truck on the road? i believe they delivered in the fourth quarter, 1,550 tesla models. >> it's about what they were supposed to have in weekly basis. are they going to become a full, big volume auto company or are they not. liz: 200,000 models and then 16,000 and then 5,000 and then 2,000. >> i think elon musk needs to be called out on this, they invented the word production bottleneck every single time they miss not by a fraction, by a massive amount, he comes out with this truck, so he misses his -- he misses production goals and deceives investors and comes out with a new -- with a new technology, supposedly new technology just to get everybody off his back. tesla is facing increased competition, they have about -- they have about $22 billion in liabilities, this company is not making money and i think he needs to be called out for this and when it comes down to it, when it comes down to it, the tax incentive that people had to buy teslas was unfair, it's gone and now reality is going to hit. stuart: and the stock is down 8 bucks, tesla just above $300 per share. has the rest of the market rally strongly, if you are just joining, we are at 25,000 in dow jones industrials. 25,033. that's momentum for you, isn't it? you could see -- ashley: capital m. stuart: i got up this morning and looked at the future's market and showed gain at 100. that was at 3:00 o'clock eastern time. up she goes. we are up 108, 25,000 and 31. let me tell you about roku, streaming device-maker, i don't know how to use it but i'm told it's pretty good. plans to develop a voice assistant. [laughter] stuart: it's a gadget after my own heart. i'm told that you can walk in the room and say to electronic device, roku, put on fox business. >> if you ask nicely. ashley: if you ask nicely. liz: if you have a smart tv. >> my husband's promise always says please and thank you. it confuses alexa. would you please -- it's complete armageddon. [laughter] >> it's true. stuart: he says please and thank you? >> he's a gentleman. >> not only binge-watch but you don't even have to move anymore. stuart: we have reached the point where we have to say good-bye to liz and sica, that would be jeff. great stuff, indeed. all right, check that big board again. the dow did hit 25,000 just a few minutes ago. nicole, at the exchange, you have a new hat? >> sure do. we were having a conversation, he was saying that the valuation here looks pretty good. >> you know what, it feels -- people are buying this market. nicole: they are buying it. he still talks about what we are seeing out of the administration, the better tax reform that we are going to see and that the markets will continue to go higher, if you like this 25,000 hat, what's the next hat? >> 26. we are going a thousand point increments. we have almost 30,000. nicole: honestly, he really just represents the optimism that we are seeing in wall street across the board, unbelievable 2017 store, 71 record closes, we kick it off here, the new year already seeing a couple of records and it's only a few days in stuart: you've got it. you were there during the entire run-up since election day. nicole: and i love it. i love it because it's good to the 401(k)'s and ira's and people are feeling better and the confidence is back, i love it. stuart: do you have a hat for 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25,000? >> sure do. i can sell the whole stack, right? stuart: hey, nicole, we will be back to you later, thank you very much, indeed. check the big board. i think this is the high of the day, we are up 116 points, 117, 118 points, keep moving, 25,000 and 36 is where we are. all right u midterm elections coming up in november of this year, so joining us now congressman tim ryan, democrat from ohio. tim, you can see what's going on on the stock market here and it's because record profits for corporations and the tax cut, you guys, democrats, are you going to run against this in november? >> well, you just kind of summed it up, varney, record profits, there were record profits before the tax cut and the tax cut was primarily focused on giving tax cuts to those big corporations, apple is going to get $47 billion and not too far from where i'm sitting in youngtown, ohio, we have all kinds of issues that we need investments in whether it's opioid epidemic, whether it's the infrastructure, getting people back to work, pensions, these are huge issues for people here and what you've been talking about for the last five or ten minutes since i have been listening, great for you guy that is -- >> what about people with pension plan, anybody with the pension plan in the country and that include union guys, government workers, anybody with any kind of pension plan is doing extremely well and we just reported 250,000 new jobs created in november. i ask you, again, congressman, are you running against this? >> well, varney, you're saying that this tax cut all of a sudden is leading to every positive thing that is happening and meanwhile during the 7 or 8 years of the obama administration once we got out of the financial crisis you don't give any credit to any democrat for that which is coincidental, i'm sure. while there are benefits to the stock market going up and that's great, but what you need to realize is the economic plan coming out of washington dc is not hitting those people who don't have money in the stock market, they're losing their pensions, we have a huge issue with teen steres right now who are losing pensions, pensions are getting cut in half, this tax cut is not doing anything for them. stuart: would you rescind it, if you take power in november, will you rescind the tax cuts for businesses, will you rescind the tax cuts for individuals? >> i would make sure that whatever we did was revenue real. look, the corporate tax code was a mess, the tax code is a mess, it needs to be simplified. id seeds to be streamlined, it needs to be easy. i have actually agreed with mcconnell and paul ryan when they said that they wanted it to be simplified, revenue neutral and and on a postcard. all three of those things did not happen. i'm for tax reform, but i'm not for a $2.3 trillion give away. we are borrowing this money from the chinese government and -- >> stuart: may i remind you, congressman, that it was barack obama, president obama who put 10 trillion-dollars on america's credit card, borrowed the money from china and i don't recall you saying much about it. >> why did that happen, varney? >> we spent -- we couldn't grow. >> okay, what happened a few months before obama took office, what happened the first month obama was in office, we lost 700,000 jobs. stuart: i don't get it. >> go ahead. we are full of good news. >> i know that you don't get it. stuart: profits are up. pensions are doing extremely well and you won't tell me whether you want to rescind the tax cuts for business and rescind the tax cuts for individuals. >> i would keep tax cuts for small business people. i think this corporate give away is a joke. come on, varney, the corporate profits were the highest they have ever been and we put a tax cut, the republicans put a tax cut out there that's going to give apple $47 billion, that's insanity and we are borrowing the money from the chinese. we are not in a complete economic collapse like we were in 2008 and '9 and '10. we are doing well now, we don't need to be giving money to the wealthiest people. stuart: congressman tim ryan. >> we are not doing good in some places, you need to recognize that. stuart: the stock market is going straight up, and this economy is really moving along. that's the truth of the situation. congressman, i'm terribly sorry, we have to make money here, i have to run a break, i have to run commercials, you know how it goes. we will see you again soon. check the dow 30, let's see where we are. we have most of them in the green. only a few in the red. the dow is up 104 points, holding at 25,000 and 26. if you're blind, would you pay close to a million dollars to get your vision back? doc siegal on a possible cure, expensive cure for blindness. he's next. achoo! achoo! (snap) (snap) achoo! achoo! feel a cold coming on? zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45%. shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected technology that's moving companies forward fast. e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. stuart: another new high for the day. now we are up -- we are up 130 points. dow is at 25,051. now this. a drug company says it's offering a cure for a retinal eye disorder that could lead to blindness. it's not cheap, 508,000 bucks to fix both eyes. fox medical correspondent dr. mark siegal is with us now. are people going blind with this illness? >> some people are born blind. i want you to know, this is an exciting discovery, we are talking about 1 to 2,000 people a year who literally can't see, lost vision and now have hope. that's a real exciting thing. one-time treatment. stuart: drug of some or the operation? >> it's a drug that introduce it is gene and if you have viable cells in the retna, causes them to rejuvenate, a miracle cure. stuart: am i right in saying that you only pay if you take the cure and it works? >> that's one system. when i interviewed scott, he said we need new payment systems for one-time treatment, 425,000 treatments per eye. only if it works. you'll only have to pay if it works, one-time treatment -- one time payment rebaitable if it doesn't work. another way to look at this and they're working out with medicare, medicaid, pay a bit by bit for month only if it's a one-time treatment. stuart: miracle cure, yes? >> i like the payment system, i like the idea of paying if it works. stuart: okay, doc, thank you very much, indeed. you're all right today. [laughter] stuart: the dow hit, yeah, 25,000. check your 401(k), you are making money. varney & company witnessed history once again. plus the man who says amazon will buy target, he's on the show, my take on a breakthrough in the deep-state scandal, all coming up for you. . . . . stuart: it is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 out west, and this is a huge day for your money and the markets. look at that! the dow industrials, high of the day, right now, up very close, yes, 150 points higher. 25,072. that's where we are. all four major averages hitting all-time record highs today. dow, s&p, nasdaq, russell 2000. how about the big check names. we really have to. how about them? all of them on the upside, every single one. i have news on amazon. amazon accounted for 44% of all online sales last year. that is amazon for you. no wonder it is above 1200 bucks a share. macy's however, planning to cut 5000 jobs, closing seven more stores. bricks and mortar taking it on the chin. jcpenney, same-store sales did increase this holiday season. the market says, not enough, that stock is down. we have all kinds of market news and we have a big political development as well. here it is. what a distraction. steve bannon makes inflammatory claims. the president's lawyer tells him to cease and desist. you think russia, russia, russia, had broken new ground and presidency is indeed threatened. not so. the bannon uproar is pure politics and nasty speculation. this is a real distraction. finally after a long stonewall we'll find out the truth of the i am famous russian dossier. was it used as an excuse for domestic spying on the russian campaign? sure looks it. was it the reason the fbi began the russia speculation in the first place? sure looks like it. don't forget the dossier was paid by hillary clinton and contains scurrilous and fake material that the president described as a pile of garbage. we'll get the details how the fbi and justice department used that dossier. this is political dynamite. far more important than bannon's provocations. before the election the clinton campaign pays millions of dollars to fusion gps. they're looking for dirt on trump. fusion comes up with a being pa of lies called the dossier. released it to the media. talk about dirty tricks? it gets worse. the fbi got the dossier. what did they make of it? pack of lies? did they use it to spy on the trump campaign? is this how russia, russia, russia, got started in? we're going to find out. this morning the establishment media is all over bannon's comments. to repeat it's a distraction. the real story is about the cabal of obama supporters buried in the fbi and the justice department who interfered with a presidential election. hats off to the republicans who pushed hard to get at the truth. it is not about trump and russia. it is about a deep state conspiracy. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ stuart: well it is a very exciting day. let's follow it up with the latest on, mortgage rates. what have you got? ashley: this is exciting news. down to 3.95%. that is a 30-year fixed-rate, down from 3.99%. a year ago it was 4.2%. so in other words, getting cheaper to get a fixed-rate, 30-year loan. stuart: that is remarkable. strong economy, economic growth. mortgage rates go down. ashley: but for how long? it is incredible. stuart: that is really something. the dow is up 140. 25,064. let's get back to the steve bannon uproar. i call it nasty politics and i say it's a distraction. we could be on the verge i think of a breakthrough in what i call the deep state conspiracy. joining me now, "national review" columnist, the man who has really been spearheading this whole story. john fund. yes you have, actually. am i going wrong? that was a pretty testy editorial i just issued. am i going wrong anywhere? >> no. because the worry has been this, about a decade ago our national intelligence agencies developed the ability to hear anything anytime anywhere they wanted. which meant they could potentially spy on us. we have protections in place so americans can not be spied on without a court order. if this is true, if this steele dossier, which came from russian kremlin sources, was used to convince a federal court to approve the surveillance of hundreds of americans, not just trump campaign officials, that is not only a dramatic interference in our election process, it should worry the privacy rights of every american. stuart: so the documents that will be revealed include why the fbi got to spy on the trump campaign and got to spy on them by using a fisa court warrant, that's accurate? that document will reveal who went after trump? >> it is not just documents. the justice department for the last four months refused congress' request to interview certain officials, what did you know, when did you know it, and what did you use to get the surveillance documents. it is not just live documents but eyewitnesses have to appear in congress in private session to tell the truth. stuart: it will be in private session? >> it should be because obviously national security issues are discussed. but what really broke the story open was, chairman devin nunez of the intelligence committee, told the justice department we'll hold you in contempt of congress if you refuse to deliver the information, or, we are going to, we are going to literally force this information out by having the congress vote on declassifying it. stuart: so what we've got here, i think is, this deep state cabal about to be revealed. think that i is what happens. i say the bannon comments are a distraction, do you agree with that? >> no. i think steve bannon was close enough to donald trump that we should pay attention. michael wolff, has a history of reimagining conversations and i want to know exactly what he got on the record. now, here's the issue with the whole deep state thing. again, the privacy rights of americans and whether our fbi, our cia, our nsa are once again out of control, the deep state not only threatens president trump, it threatens the civil liberties of every american. stuart: we're going to find out the truth? >> i believe it is inevitable now because there sun with thing about computer records, they really don't go away. we learned that with the hillary clinton emails. stuart: that's true. liz: irs problem. stuart: you're on top of the story, john. thank you for that. now this, our next guest says, said quite frequently actually, amazon is going to buy target. when that news broke a couple days ago, target, the stock did rally on the news. so joining us now, the man who is making the call. his name is gene munster, loop ventures managing partner. other than a stock price movement i haven't seen anything to justify your call that amazon buys target. target is not saying anything. amazon is not saying anything. do you have any evidence to back up your claim? >> well the companies are not going to say anything, varney, but if you look at the future of retail there is clearly a move to this. what essentially will happen, 45% of all brick-and-mortar will be off-line some day. most people think it will go to 10 percent. think move, basically a much bigger market off-line. if you think about the future, kind of, how this plays out for amazon, they need to grow nair is about. this is one of the biggest ways they could potentially do that. stuart: why target? >> they have shared demographics. they are going after women typically. think about the future where the spending is going, it comes from the woman's wallet. 58% of spending comes from the woman in the household. 10% comes from typically the man in the household. 30% comes from shared spending. when you think about the opportunity for shared demographic, amazon and target covet this demographic. that is opportunity to dive into that. this goes after big opportunity for a bigger demographic and expand their reach into brick-and-mortar. stuart: you're a fan of tesla as i recall, you're a fan of tesla but they have more production delays for the model 3. they delivered, what, 1550 in the fourth quarter, instead after great deal more than that, are you losing enthusiasm for tesla? >> no, i'm still equally enthusiastic. this is the second disappointment that tesla has had in as many quarters around the model 3 production but i think it is important to understand that the slope of this production is starting to ram nicely. so if we look at numbers, they did give us evidence that they are in fact ramping 100% week on week in terms of the production of the model three. when you think about this opportunity that tesla has in front of it, they need to get that curve and lift off of that curve. i want to put that 100% week on week growth in perspective here. if they continue to grow the model three production at 13% a week, which is a much smaller pace than they have been doing over the last month, they can hit their revised numbers. varney, my take is this. it has been a painful process for tesla to really ramp this production but we're confident that they will in fact ramp this. here is kind of your stat for the day. as we think in a couple of years they will be building more than a million of these model 3s per year. so this is going to be a wicked ramp and this is starting. stuart: if you insist on calling me varney, i will call you munster. i will leave it at that gene, you're all right. thanks for joining us, gene, yes, thank you very much. >> thank you. stuart: serious stuff now, that winter storm, blasting along the eastern seaboard. we have jeff flock. he is at o'hare airport in chicago. are you seeing some ripple effects from -- what is going on at the airport there? reporter: well, mr. varney, i would say it's a bit of a mess. if i take you to the boards, the big losers, here, boston, for example, all the flights from boston chicago have been canceled. in total we're told laguardia, logan, 687 flights canceled so far. this is rippling out across the country, flights to and from places like newark and laguardia and logan canceled as well. tweet from laguardia out this morning, says 90% of the flights from and too laguardia now canceled. 0% from newark and -- 70% from knew blacker -- from newark and 20% from jfk. a lot of aligns changing fees if you have a problem with that they have gotten out in front of that, they canceled flights in advance so you don't have big mess. latest numbers from plate away, 3170. three thousand flights canceled today alone because of storm. stuart: terrible, absolutely terrible. jeff flock, thank you very much indeed. we'll have much more on the winter storm the next go hours. live reports from up and down the eastern seaboard. janice dean will tell us how bad the south is getting hit. that is coming up on this problem. new york's governor andrew cuomo suing to block the tax reform bill. he says it is an unconstitutional we're on that one. merrill lynch -- mark chilton wants to see bitcoin regulated. yes, you're watching the historic second hour of "varney & company." ♪ see that's funny, i thought you traded options. i'm not really a wall street guy. what's the hesitation? eh, it just feels too complicated, you know? well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. jj, will you break it down for this gentleman? hey, ian. you know, at td ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step until you're comfortable. i could be up for that. that's taking options trading from wall st. to main st. hey guys, wanna play some pool? eh, i'm not really a pool guy. what's the hesitation? it's just complicated. step-by-step options trading support from td ameritrade stuart: oh, what a day. will you look at this? we're up 150 points. the dow is well above 25,000. to be precise for our radio listeners, we're at 25,073, up 150. five dow stocks, okay, these five are all part of the dow 30 and all of them have hit all-time highs today. i will read them for you. jpmorgan chase, 109, american express, 101. visa, 116, dow, dewpoint, $74 a share and united technologies 130. the big tech names, oh, how pleased we are to read this list. amazon up 10 bucks. facebook, i think that is close to an all-time high, 185 on facebook, very, very close. liz: yes. stuart: alphabet, otherwise known as google up nine bucks at $1100. netflix well above $200 a share. netflix, google, all of them at record highs at this moment. the stocks are already big winners in 2018 and that follow as very strong 2017. the market is very strong story. president trump's tax world. bernie sanders of this world say it only helps corporation and lets the rich, get richer. i asked north rand paul about the criticism. here is what he had to say. >> after ordinary american, teacher, their pension fund is heavily invested in funds. they are big investors in the stock market. i have some money in the stock market, a small amount. most of america owns part of our big corporations. stuart: most of our america owns part of our big corporations. i think that is absolutely true. joining us now, senator bill cassidy, republican from louisiana. may i offer exactly the same question, the criticism is, as we look at the stock market going crazy here, it is just the rich. the rich get richer, the poor have nothing to do with it. will you refute that? >> if you look at the list of companies giving bonuses, raises, planning investment in the billions of dollars for the coming year, investing in workers training, this is the investment in america that has been absent the last eight years but is present now. and it began with deregulation of president trump and congress. it continues with the tax plan. it is good for america. stuart: i think business in america is on trial, for wont of a better word. they have been given almost everything they want from tax cuts to deregulation. they have got to perform and put that money back into work in america because if they don't the bernie sanders will take it off of them all over again, am i right? >> i think you're right on that but i would go a step further. the way our corporations and businesses compete worldwide is investing in human capital. as they invest in human capital, the american economy, the american worker are proven they can compete. they have been given the ability to do so. under the previous administration they weren't. now they have it, now they're investing. i don't know as much of a trial but getting the shackles off and doing for them what they want to do. stuart: 250,000 new private sector jobs were created. that is a pretty strong pace. that was before any tax cuts took effect. >> yes absolutely. you see that from the regulatory regime, but from a general understanding that the united states is going to encourage the private sector, not punish it, not tax it, not regulate it, because ultimately the private sector means the employees. those working families who for the last seven years under the obama administration did poorly but with this administration and this congress are going to do far better. it is about those workers. i'm very pleased for them. stuart: is there any chance as we go forward here, you could tweak the tax deal, at which point i don't know, could it be tweaked to improve the performance of the economy? >> economy runs, once you take away the regulations and decrease the tax burden, the economy will have its own momentum. inevitably there will be some things we do a little differently with taxes going forward but i think the fundamentals are right. it is all about the american worker. how do we get our companies, our workers competing worldwide in a way which is not disadvantage them with onerous regulations and burdens and taxes? i think we're pretty much there right now. >> senator bill cassidy may i once again apologize for giving you such a hard time for all of last year when i didn't think that the tax cut deal would go through. i formally apologize. happy new year, to you, senator. >> to you and to the american worker. stuart: thank you very much indeed sir. thank you. check this one out, south carolina senator tim scott finding a new way in the snow in charleston. he was looking for a different mode of transportation to get back to capitol hill. it was a boogie board, okay. didn't quite work out. show it to you again. oh. a good man. crazy weather, isn't it? more in a moment. ♪ building a website in under an hour is easy with gocentral... ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. stuart: now this is truly a record-breaking, historic session for the dow industrials. we opened at 9:30 eastern time. we are within minutes, we hit 25,000 on the dow. which kept on going straight up since then. what you're looking at now is a gain of 173 points. 25,095. that's where the dow stands. this is truly an historic session. here's another number for you. since the election the wilshire 5000 shows that the value of all stocks has gained $6.9 trillion. we're very close to breaking through the 7 trillion-dollar level. that is the big story, money. here is another one, weather. the northeast is really getting hammered in this winter storm, the "bomb cyclone" or bombogenesis. i have heard it called that, the weather people hyping it up a little bit. no hype from connell mcshane in boston. looks like you're in the middle of a blizzard? i don't know whether he can hear me or not. his ears are muffled. ashley: snow in his ears. stuart: the picture tells the story. liz: i went to school in buffalo. they still drive 80 miles an hour in blizzards. people in buffalo know how to handle stores. stuart: i'm not making light of this. liz: we're not either. stuart: this is very serious. this blizzard gone all the way from north florida, all the way up to maine, it will be followed by arctic temperatures. ashley: this weekend, well below zero. liz: that is the danger point the arctic temperature, i think so. very big deal. everyone i promised more "varney" and you're going to get it after this. so i got an offer on the business, and now i'm thinking... i'd like to retire early. oh, that's great sarah. let's talk about this when we meet next week. how did edward jones come to manage a trillion dollars in assets under care? jay. sarah. so i have a few thoughts on that early retirement... by focusing our mind on whatever's on yours. stuart: moments ago we tried to go to connell mcshane in boston but equipment froze, so he couldn't speak. it is now unfrozen. we rejoined connell in the middle after blizzard. what have you got? reporter: what a time for battery to die. i'm blaming ashley webster or the deep state. i'm not sure. it has gotten a lot worse since last time we spoke. what it is, it is the wind, it is a blizzard. 40 or 50 mile-an-hour gusts. when i turn into it, a big gust will smack you in the face, almost impossible to see. when it is calm, it is almost beautiful in the boston common. i want to show you as we go back to new york, as i walk out of the common on charles street, this is the big challenge for the boston and cities in the northeast. can they keep these roads clear? we have green light. i have eight seconds. this is down to the pavement. you can drive as far along as you can see. the mayor is saying if they don't get it plowed by tonight, then things will really freeze tomorrow and next day. they know they have a big problem. we have been out here seven or eight minutes. 10 plows have gone by. they have been trying to stay out of here as best they can. stuart: stay on top of it, fellow, frozen equipment or otherwise. connell mcshane. this is a story about money. straight up for the market. 25,092. that is a gain of 170 points. the big technology names, again, doing extremely well. facebook, amazon, microsoft, alphabet and apple, all of them on the upside, significant gains for every single one of them. but look at tesla. often considered a technology stock. well it is having production trouble with the model 3 sedan again. the market doesn't like that. it is down nearly nine dollars, back to 308 in otherwise upside market. let's get back to this. steve bannon as you know by now made inflammatory claims. one of them he accused of donald trump, jr. engaging in treasonous behavior we have the a white house deputy press secretary. raj, i want your official response to what bannon has been saying. >> if the president issued our official response, steve bannon has lost his job and appears to have lost his mind and, you know, i think we'll let the president's comments speak for themselves but he said a number of things published in the book excerpts are wrong. they're reckless and inappropriate and i think we responded in kind. stuart: so is there, what is bannon's standing now in the republican party? >> well, look, the standing has always been with the president of the united states. mr. bannon worked on the campaign for a few months and worked in the administration for a few months but the president has been backed by a big team that is doing a lot of great things this year, from the tax bill, to deregulation, historic growth in the stock market, crushing isis overseas. these accomplishments have been driven by the president of the united states and the team that he has had here, and not one staff member. stuart: is the president trying to shut up steve bannon issuing the cease and desist order? >> i think the president is trying to make clear that the remarks he made, maybe some other things in this book are inaccurate. the key here this president and this president and his agenda are driven by him, the his views and great american men and will who voted for him, the forgotten people in this society who have voice in this again day, we hear attorney general jeff sessions is going after legalized marijuana. marijuana is illegal at the federal level but it is made recreationally okay in some states. mr. sessions wants to reverse that, the fed goes after these states. what do you make of that? i ask, there is awful lot of comment that mr. sessions and the president are on the wrong side of history on this. what say you? >> they are going to be on the right side of the law. the president wants the attorney general and we as a white house want the attorney general and the department of justice to enforce the laws that are on the books and make it the job of congress and the legislators to change the law. right now, i don't want to get into the details of all these reports, i will let the department of justice speak to the specifics here, but we had eight years of an administration that tried to not change the laws on the books but rather enforce what they thought should and shouldn't be legal. the laws are set by congress and the american people. it is the job of the department of justice to enforce them in an unbiased and entirely fair manner. we expect the attorney general to do that. stuart: the laws in states are written by state legislatures and in what, about a dozen states, the state legislators are saying it is okay to smoke weed on recreational basis. now the feds are going to turn around and say no, no, we'll not let the states act at laboratories. you have all have to conform to this federal law. that is going rather far, isn't it? >> no. it is enforces federal laws on the books, and you know the attorney general and the department of justice, that is their job. their job is to enforce the laws on the books. it is congress jobs and state legislatures all over the country to change the laws. so we're very comfortable with the department of justice enforces federal law. stuart: raj shah, thanks so much for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me. stuart: yes, sir. the governor of new york, andrew cuomo, wants to sue the federal government over that new tax bill. congressman tom reed, republican from new york is with us now. now, congressman, the governor of new york, he says that the tax law is unconstitutional. if you get rid of the deduction for state and local taxes he says that amounts to double taxation and he is going to sue to reverse it. where do you stand on this? you're from new york? >> i don't think there is a legal basis for that claim but if the governor still wants to take his time and resources of the taxpayers to investigate that or take on that cause, i guess that is his prerogative. i would be more focused on governor of state of new york, what is the cause of the problems that the high taxes represent. that is spending policy out of the state capital creating a root cause of the problem. let's solve that problem rather than go down the path of litigation in order to fight something that i don't see -- stuart: new jersey, new york, california, you're all in the same boat because those three states have very high taxes and they have been hit very hard by this new tax deal. i don't see that, the state of new york, or new jersey or california, can seriously consider, or they should, but i don't think they will consider cutting taxes in the state. do you see them doing that? >> well i would hope they would. i think the governor has publicly stated before that taxation in our state capital is driving businesses, driving people from new york. it has to stop. so let's hold them accountable to those words. stuart: do you think they will? >> let's -- get policy and get them under control. stuart: i can't imagine new york, california, new jersey, cutting taxes, can you? >> i can't imagine it because i haven't seen it yet. that doesn't mean we give up hope and actually try to advocate for policies both at the state level and now at federal level. if we grow the economy, get taxes under control, you do a lot to solve problems of our debt crisis and problems and burdens taxation puts on people on day-to-day basis. stuart: you're a republican from new york. will you get hurt by this? >> in our area of the state, i would tell you with average sally of $42,000 for average income, and compromise that we are successful in getting through on $10,000 for income and property taxes that takes care of 99.9% of the folks we represent. i understand the city. i understand higher income folks will have real issue here. that is a real problem. but i think you're going to solve it, not by litigating but by addressing the root cause which is spending and tax policy coming out of our state capital. stuart: congressman, thank you very much for taking time out to be with us today. very important subject for all of us in the northeast and california as well. thanks for joining us, sir. appreciate it. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: there is one research firm, it says america could be the world's new oil leader this year. liz? liz: the history in the oil sector for the u.s., they said this year the u.s. will dethrone saudi arabia and russia as the world's oil king. this year, 11 million barrels a day from the oil sector, driving jobless rates to the levels of 2% in north dakota and maybe in also texas. history again, coming in the late 20s, 2020. the u.s. for the first time is expected to cabinet exporter of oil, ranking in the world's biggest. we vent seen that since the 1950s. it will be according to the iea, the world's biggest exporter of nat-gas. you need nat-gas to power electric utility plants to power electric cars. this is history in the making in the u.s. oil sector. stuart: it really is. that is dramatic stuff. who would have thought? who would have thought. great stuff, liz. liz: sure. stuart: check this out. we can all sympathize with this guy, a passenger aboard a ryanair flight, he was frustrated because he had a to wait a long time to get off the plane. so he opened the emergency exit. he climbed out on the wing. there he is. this is a protest. ashley: i'm outta here, he says. stuart: i'm outta here he says. he was arrested. ♪ my "business" was going nowhere... so i built this kickin' new website with godaddy. building a website in under an hour is easy! 68% of people... ...who have built their website using gocentral, did it in... ...under an hour, and you can too. type in your business or idea. pick your favourite design. personalize it with beautiful images. and...you're done! and now business is booming. harriet, it's a double stitch not a cross stitch! build a better website - in under an hour. free to try. no credit card required. gocentral from godaddy. ♪ ashley: president trump says pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists. that is why he is cutting off a quarter of a billion dollars in aid. earlier in the show rand paul says that money should be spent right here at home. >> i would say this environment i don't know anyone pulling back including us, right? stuart: that is not an answer to the question. are you going to reinvest and invest more because you have more money coming at you? >> i would say '18 is investment year, up investment year given magnitude of the economy. ashley: more jobs? >> more jobs. more fulfillment center jobs and more corporate jobs. more sales for us. like you guys said before, it feels like almost starting seven, eight years into the rally which is unprecedented, even in my old age, i have never seen this before. ♪ stuart: all-time highs for the major averages all across the board today. look at that market go. why don't we show you blizzard stocks? why don't we call them bomb bow blizzard stocks? ashley: why not. stuart: why not. we show you stocks when there is blizzard. all are up today, and it is a very, very big blizzard. home depot is down a little. just like the rest of the market, it is up 160 points, well above 25,000. now this if you're affiliated with merrill lynch you can not buy or sell bitcoin. that is, if you're a financial or investment advisor allowed to use merrill lynch's name you can't buy bitcoin-related investments for are your clients. joining us former commissioner of the cftc. his name is bart chilton. not sure exactly what this means, bart, if you're in any way affiliated with merrill lynch you can't put your clients into bitcoin. is that roughly right? seems to be a big negative for bitcoin? >> well it's a negative for bitcoin, stuart but it's a negative i think for merrill lynch and b-of-a. i know they're trying to protect investors. i get that. but, a lot of investors want to get into digital. so there are now these 17,000 investors at merrill who can't make the transaction for their customers. and you know, a lot of folks in the institutional world have been afraid of digital currencies. first, some pretty darn good reasons but smaller investment advisors are starting to take it on. i think we're really seeing the maturation of the digital economy for a number of reasons. so you're going to see a little bit of, you know, shaking things out. merrill iserring on the side of being cautious, i think others will get into it, particularly now seeing futures trading in bitcoin, stuart. stuart: okay. i want to ask you about some very, very small companies which changed their name, they changed it overnight, put the word blockchain in their name, and the stock goes to the moon. for example, there is an iced tea company, changed its name to sound like it was a blockchain company, long island iced tea, became long blockchain. the company's stock went straight up. now it's a little bit down today but it did go straight up. what is going on with all this? >> i think there is sort of a mantra out there, you know, all things blockchain are good and it requires really discriminating mind and investors to know, that merely a name change is not something that adds value to a company in the long term. so you may see these stock machinations out there with people trying to tag things, stuart "varney & company" blockchain, all of sudden increase in viewers or bart chill ton blockchain. people have to be careful. stuart: let's simplify this, would you bart chill ton buy into -- bart chilton would you buy bitcoin? >> i might t was up at 20,000, stuart, a couple weeks ago. it changes so rapidly. before we went on air it was 14,636. it was down to 11 a little bit ago. i would probably put a little bit in there and look at other cryptos that are safe. stuart: you wouldn't say no way, jose, i'm not going to touch this thing? you would not say that? if you have a little bit of money you could lose, you would put it in? okay. >> i give you one caveat. i would put night the futures. the futures, i'm regulatory guy, right? they are regulated, there is transparency, to make sure your money don't go poof. i would invest in the futures probably at cme group. stuart: would you invest in a fund that has blockchain companies look a blockchain fund, would you invest in that? >> i think those are doing well. they are more diversified. they have things essentially etfs for a block-chained based companies. even etfs for different digital currencies, stuart. that take as way a lot of risk having explosion, the digital currencies the problem with them they are not based on anything you can touch and feel. so if they're hacked your money can go poof. a etf circumstance whether or not in currencies or the underlying blockchain makes a lot of sense for investors to be a part of the their portfolio. stuart: i understand. bart chill ton, thank you for. yesterday, dr. siegel and i had a argument whether or not to get the flu shot. you all had a lot to say about the story. we'll talk about that in a moment and we're bringing back doc siegel. ♪ when i received the diagnoses, i knew at that exact moment ... i'm beating this. my main focus was to find a team of doctors. it's not just picking a surgeon, it's picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. visit cancercenter.com/breast or a little internet machine? it makes you wonder: shouldn't we get our phones and internet from the same company? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. see how much you can save. choose by the gig or unlimited. xfinity mobile. a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile.com. stuart: regular viewers of the show you know i don't get flu shots. >> you will not be able to win this argument. stuart: really? >> 36 states have widespread activity. south, southeast, southwest. many viewers are looking to you, stuart to be a role model. stuart: there is a downside? why should i put a factory-made substance into my system? it went down hill from there. as you saw dr. marc siegel and myself debating effectiveness of the flu shot. strong reactions. hundreds of responses on line. candy, stay strong, do not get the flu shot, you are right about the shot. thank you, candy. angela says, not being immunized for a disease that you can easily avoid is the height of stupidity. angela. last one from cheryl, are you all nuts? get a flu shot or get sick. well by popular demand siegel is back. ashley: and laughing. stuart: wait a minute, you never dealt with the fact that, it is only 10% effective. why would you, why would you have innoculation when it is only 10% effective? that just doesn't make sense. you guys have messed it up. if you come up with a flu shot that is 100% effective, i will negative get the flu again, i will take it. >> first of all, i did deal with it yesterday. i will deal again today. secondly there is new study out of the university of washington that will have 100% successful flu shot over 10 years. we will talk about that. you will take it here on the program. stuart: okay, okay. >> in terms of what we have now, technology we have now. it is not 10%. it is more than 10%. stuart: what is it? no 10% in australia where they only inoculate elderly people and young people. we inknock late more people here. we have more robust immune response. you will see more than 10%. the number is only people avoid hospitalization or urgent care. i'm interested in those that don't get the flu at all, or get a milder version, don't even bother calling their doctor. so the numbers are affected postively by this flu shot, even with mismatch of one of the four trains is much greater than 10%. say probably 40 or 50%. why wouldn't you want that advantage? why wouldn't, you stuart? stuart: i'm not opposed to vaccinations. i will do polio, yell hoe fever, do all of them, so do my kid and grandkids, i have no objection to that whatsoever. i don't want to take a shot every single year which is marginally effective. >> what if i told you you're in the room with pregnant woman chances of spreading flu to her is less because you took the shot? stuart: i don't have flu. >> not now. stuart: i never had it? >> well you're just an example of one person that never gets yous it. i certainly hope. stuart: you're losing the argument. >> somebody gets the flu, chances of spreading to someone at risk is greater i call it ring of immunity. i want the household protected 20, 30, 40% reduces risk of spreading it to elderly person with emphysema or heart disease. you have to protect the community. that is what vaccines are about. the number one invention of the 20th century, is vaccines. >> wrap it up. you lost again. >> no. i want to protect people next to them. get a vaccine. stuart: more "varney" after this. stuart: have you noticed since the passage of the tax deal, president trump has become, if it's possible, even more confident. he's got a bigger nuke button than rocket man, he's going to start his own fake news awards, and steve bannon has lost his mind. this is an emboldened president. and so is the market. investors clearly emboldened by tax cuts. they're pouring money into stocks. if you're just joining us, the financial news is nothing short of spectacular. i've been covering money on tv for 40 years, and i've never seen anything like this. since the election all the major indicators have gone up by roughly one-third. how many times have we said check your 401(k) and smile? well, do it again. you're going to like it. and this record-shattering rally has added nearly $7 trillion to the value of america's companies. never, ever seen anything like that before in that time frame. the value of the big five tech companies has zoomed to well over $3 trillion, and apple is on track to become the first trillion dollar company. now, this picture of confidence is directly opposite to what you're seeing in the media. you'd think america is down in the dumps if you watch and read what the other guys are putting out. so stay with us. sit back and watch financial history unfold. it's a very positive story. an emboldened trump, and your money is doing very well. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ stuart: i believe we've got the latest report on oil. how much we've got in storage. we're just waiting for the numbers. they haven't come through yet -- >> down 7.4 million barrels. that's a huge drawdown, much more than expected. it's the seventh week in a row that we've seen a drawdown which means, among other things, of course, is that the economy is humming along and, therefore, more oil is being used. so we've seen oil hit a near three-year high today, around $61.70 a barrel. this will put more upward pressure on it because we are using more oil than we have in a while. stuart: and apparently, there is a big buildup. we've got a lot more distillates, as they call it, home heating oil, for example. >> correct. the unrest in iran has been cited as one of the reasons for oil prices to go higher even though nothing has happened in the iranian oil fields. the potential has lifted prices. but these usage numbers, that's going to help support that number. stuart: all right, $61 per barrel on the price of oil, and that's the highest it's been in a couple of years. >> yes, three years. stuart: president trump meets with republican senators on the issue of immigration. he's holding that meeting at this hour. if any headlines emerge, you will see them first right here on "varney & company." we're also following, of course, that dreadful winter storm that is truly hammering the east coast all the way from florida all the way up to maine. the southeast, i'm going to say it's paralyzed. boston right now is getting hit with what really looks like a blizzard and a half. more than a foot of snow expected in new england, about 18 inches if you go north of massachusetts. we have every angle covered and another very serious aspect of this storm is it will be followed by truly arctic temperatures. in some parts of the northeast, we won't get above 0 for the next couple of days, and that's a big deal in the aftermath of this storm that we've got right now. >> yeah. stuart: back to the markets, that's the other huge story of the day. it's a record-shattering day. the dow well above the 25,000 level, right now it's at 25,080. all-time highs for every single one of the major indicators. we're joined by john layfield and peter morici, both have an impact and input here on money. first of all, john layfield. i've been doing this for 40 years. i have never seen a market rally like this. have you? >> no, not at all. i was in scotland when president trump was elected first, november of last year, and the market was down. all of a sudden it's back up 8, 10%, and it's been on this incredible tear ever since. and there's as much optimism, as much cap-ex spending since 2007, this market is truly roaring. stuart: peter morici, have you ever seen anything like this before? on the market, that is. >> no, i haven't. when we went through 24,000, i said we could go all the way through 30 by the end of the president's first term. now we have three years the go. so much of this is paid for by higher profitability, and we're going to get better profit reports yet again in the first and second is quarters, and then the tax cut impact and so forth. but also because american industry is using capital so much more effectively, the market will eventually support higher price earnings ratios. we haven't seen those yet, and that is yet to come. i think the good news here is not just the scope of the rally; but, rather, the underpinnings of the rally. i think they're very, very positive and strong. stuart: yeah. i've got news on that actually, peter. tomorrow morning we get the jobs report, a key economic indicator. this morning we found out that the private sector added 250,000 jobs just in the month of november. >> right. stuart: i'll go to john, first of all. that's a huge number. >> it is a huge number, and something we haven't seen. the lowest unemployment rate for a president overall was lbj, 4.1% following the 1964 tax cuts enacted by lbj. gdp went to 6%. i don't think we're going to see that, but we see a very good economy coupled with tax cuts, i think it portends to a great market going forward and economy. stuart: okay, peter, you comment on the economy, please. 250,000 private sector jobs, november. are we looking at near 4% growth next year? >> no, i don't think it's going to go that high, but i think we're going to start to see jobs creation in the good old tradition and not this 180,000 a month and calling it, you know, sort of a great thing. the reality is a lot of the technology that's, you know, in our cell phones, the apps and so forth that made life easier, they're really artificial intelligence. now they're getting more sophisticated, more reliable and more useful to business. and the real opportunity here, more than jobs growth is going to be for a productivity bump. we're going to return to the good old days of 2 and 3% annual productivity growth, and that is going to drive profits and wages. and guess what? it's going to give the chinese fits because all of a sudden the dynamism of a free culture will come forward. we'll see that you can't be monitoring people all over the place and have this kind of dynamism. and america, you know, we may continue to import a lot of stuff from them, but a lot of the new, interesting, great ideas are coming out of america, and that's why apple is a $1 trillion company. stuart: okay. i don't want to digress too much, but i'm going to deal with bitcoin. if you are affiliated with merrill lynch and you use their name, merrill lynch, to advise any of your clients, you can't buy bitcoin or related bitcoin stocks. what do you make of that, john? >> look, this free wheel argument is bogus. people who are bashing merrill lynch for saying they should allow their clients to have free will, it's a ridiculous argument. you still try to stop them. if somebody had stepped into investors investing in tulips in the 1600s, you'd have saved a lot of money then. i think there's underlying value but certainly not 14,000, i think merrill lynch is right. >> by the way, it's not just them, it's jpmorgan chase, royal bank of canada -- stuart: really? they've all said the same? >> yeah. they don't want bitcoin futures in the portfolios. >> it's insane to tell people to buy bitcoin. it amounts to malpractice. there's nothing behind the dollar, full faith and credit, what is that? a dollar is worth something because of the things you can buy in the united states with a dollar that are made here, and worldwide -- because the dollar is accepted for payment. bitcoin is hardly accepted for real payment in most places and circumstances. it really isn't the a currency. block chain is an interesting concept. it has applicabilities which i think are going to be enormous and transformative. but bitcoin itself, this is tulip, the tulip bulbs without the flower. it's insane. [laughter] stuart: good line there, peter. [laughter] good line. now, i want to talk about tesla. it's a technology company. the technology stocks all over america have gone straight up, but the tesla today is down just over 1% there. it's down because they've got more production delays for that tesla model 3. we've seen this headline before, john, and the stock usually bounces. will it this time? >> i'm not waving the white flag yet on elon musk. the miss was huge. elon musk said they'd hit 5,000 per week production, and he had 350 for the entire quarter. this is a huge miss. he had the spain problem with spacex -- same problem with spacex, he's doing his battery pack, the production backdrop, problem he's having. i think he ends up getting this thing fixed, but i would not be a buyer here. stuart: you wouldn't buy any more? >> not right now. >> i wouldn't buy. stuart: peter, you wouldn't touch tesla? >> no, i wouldn't. they have real production problems. one of the things we don't realize or investors have yet to grasp is how complex and difficult it is to make an automobile. i've been out to detroit, visited with ceos out there and so fort. it is very, very difficult to make an automobile. you don't just come up with a new design and say, hey, i'm going to manufacture this tomorrow. his problems are not design problems, his problems are execution problems on the factory floor, and he doesn't have the background to fix that. that place news a ceo -- excuse me, a chief operating officer like mark fields to go in there and straighten out that supply chain. until he brings someone in to do that and takes his hands off, hen we're not really going to get progress there. stuart: all right, peter, you are fired up, and is we're glad you're tenured -- [laughter] because if you weren't -- [laughter] thank you, peter. much obliged to you. john, you stay, please. thank you very much. check this out. three school districts in tennessee canceling classes for the rest of the week because of the flu. flu cases have doubled there in the last week alone. they haven't had school all week. that's the flu. this news broke this morning, the attorney general announcing he's rescinding a policy that allowed legalized pot to flourish in several states. we have a congressman from california where they just legalized recreational weed. he's on the show later this hour. look at this, keith ellison, the deputy chair of the dnc, promoting the violent antifa movement on social media. we are all over it. back in a second. ♪ ♪ ooooooh snap!! every truck guy has their own way of conveying powerful. yeeaaahhh boy. kind of looks like a monster coming to eat ya. holy smokes. that is awesome. strong. you got the basic, and you got the beefy. i just think it looks mean. incredible. no way. start your year off strong a new chevy truck. get a total value of over $9,600 on this silverado all star when you finance with gm financial. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. stuart: read this and smile. [laughter] the dow industrials are up 160 points. the dow stands at 25,083. right after the opening bell we zoomed past 25k and kept on going. i say this is giving president trump even more confidence. that's what i say. look who's here, doug schoen. he's the author of the book "america in the age of trump," and he's a fox news contributor. i'm told he's still a democrat. [laughter] so, doug, are the -- you've got sunshine behind you, you're in miami, aren't you? >> and i'm still in florida, oh, yeah. stuart: you can't get out and you don't want to get out. >> no. stuart: are the democrats, are you guys in november of this year, are you going to run against the emerging prosperity in america? >> i think there's going to be an election based on the need for change, a president who -- despite the good economic news, stuart -- has low approval ratings, who has had one signature achievement that itself is not popular, and i think the democrats will run against -- i'd feel better and i know the audience would if the democrats had a competition of ideas -- stuart: yes. >> but what i've seen so far suggests that the party and me once again will diverge in strategy and tactics. stuart: i think you've lost your own party. i think that's what's happened -- >> i think they've lost me. stuart: yeah, maybe so. but where's the positive ideas? where's the idea of adding to the prosperity which is now emerging? i mean, you're so yesterday, you're so based in, oh, let's tax it and let's spend some more. you know, come on. >> well, again, i think the democrats would do very well on both immigration and on infrastructure to seek a dialogue with the president both because i think it's good politics and good government and, most of all, good for the country. i think, yes, there are votes in just resisting, but there are more votes in cooperating and being a principled opposition. stuart: yeah, well said, doug. hold on for a second. john layfield with me. look, you're a market guy, a money guy. comment on politics for a second, will you? are the democrats going to run against this emerging prosperity? >> they are. they're going to run on emotion. the congressman you had on from ohio, when you don't have facts, you argue on emotion. you talk about the rich getting too much, you talk about the wealthy guy in the corner office, and you run on populism because i don't think they can run right now on the economy. >> didn't get al gore elected. stuart: good point. go ahead, doug, go ahead. >> you know, both lizzie and john are right. the democrats have this anowing and, i think, ultimate -- annoying and i think destructive habit of running on populism. when a president is unpopular, when the republicans in congress are even more unpopular, it provides a certain degree of resonance. but in terms of resuscitating and revitalizing the party, you need ideas, and john is exactly right. the democrats started as a free market party that had a more expansive social safety net than the republicans. that's where they should be, that's what they should get back to. but they need ideas to do that, not socialism. stuart: this is another one for you, doug. keith ellison -- and i'm sure you know him, he's the deputy chair of the dnc -- he tweets a picture of himself holding a book that promotes the antifa movement. i think that's a violent movement. what is keith ellison doing promoting that book and that group? again, doug, you lost your party. >> well, i'm certainly lost keith ellison, and i hope permanently. look, let's be very, very clear. keith ellison is somebody in the past who has associated himself with louis farrakhan, he's been associated with anti-israel ideas. the intifada is abhorrent, obscene and stands for everything i to not believe in. my best suggestion would be for mr. ellison to go away, but what i fear is he's going to run for senate in minnesota to replace al franken in the special election. candidly, i hope mr. ellison doesn't run. if he does, he loses. but he stands for everything i to not believe and i think is wrong about the democratic party and, indeed, people of his world view. stuart: there's still time to cross over to the the other side, doug. >> i understand. but, you know what? i'm firmly in the middle. i remain a democrat, i remain a capitalist, i remain in florida. stuart: doug schoen, you're all right. >> if doug is flying back anytime soon to jfk, because they just shut it. temporarily closed and expected to reopen at 3 p.m., at least that's what they hope. so that's going to create a huge backlog of flights. stuart that's that bomb cyclone for you, no joke when you close jfk. how about this one, too? the san francisco bay area rattled by an earthquake, struck early this morning near berkeley. no significant damage, but remember we did tell you yesterday that scientists expect more earthquakes this year because the earth -- the equator has slightly. >> is reduction. >> why? stuart: how about that? more "varney" after this. ♪ ♪ my "business" was going nowhere... so i built this kickin' new website with godaddy. building a website in under an hour is easy! 68% of people... ...who have built their website using gocentral, did it in... ...under an hour, and you can too. type in your business or idea. pick your favourite design. personalize it with beautiful images. and...you're done! and now business is booming. harriet, it's a double stitch not a cross stitch! build a better website - in under an hour. free to try. no credit card required. gocentral from godaddy. retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected technology that's moving companies forward fast. e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. stuart: yeah, keeps on running, that stk market just going straight up. right after the opening bell this morning we we hit 25,000, went up from there. we're now at 25,080 with a gain of 155 points. five dow stocks hitting all-time highs today. look at 'em. jpmorgan, american express, visa, dow-dupont, united technologies. all-time record highs, just made 'em. charleston, south carolina, getting hit with several inches of snow. that's one of the biggest snowstorms ever to hit that area. and our own jonathan serrie is right there in charleston telling us about the conditions. all right, how bad is it? [laughter] looks very sunny, actually. >> this is the most bundled up i've ever found myself in charleston. i'm walking at the intersection of church and broad. ordinarily broad is one of the busier surface streets going through the historic districts of charleston, but because of the icy conditions very few people are braving the roads, and those who are are driving extremely slow. now that the snow has stopped and the sun has come out, we're seeing a little bit of thawing going on. but take a look at this, these iconic palmetto trees, there's still snow on top of them. not the type of image you ordinarily expect to see on these plants that make you think of tropical conditions and warmer weather. 5.3 inches of snow recorded at the airport, the runways were closed this morning, airlines canceled early flights. but as you can see, the sun is back out and things are slowly returning to normal. stuart? stuart: i never thought i'd see snow on palm trees, but you just showed it to us, jonathan. jonathan serrie, thanks very much. now, the winter storm is moving up the eastern seaboard. janice dean's going to be here in a moment to tell us much more about the snow and how cold it's going to get after the storm passes. big story, coming right back. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. hallucinations and delusions. the unknown parts of living with parkinson's. what plots they unfold, but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. if your loved one is experiencing these symptoms, talk to your parkinson's specialist. there are treatment options that can help. my visitors should be the ones i want to see. stuart: well, we were up is -- up 160, and flow we're only up 138, but we'll take it because the dow is above 25,000, 25,061, to be precise. here's or a big number. since november the 8th, the election day, since the close of trading then, the wilshire 5000 has gained $6.9 trillion. in other words, the value of all publicly-traded stocks is up nearly $7 trillion. that's a milestone we may pass soon. our so-called blizzard stocks are doing well, green arrows for look at general rack. toro, alamo group, all of them on the upside. we call them blizzard stocks. and there's some more for you. only one is down. interesting. happening right now at the white house, president trump meeting with republican senators. the issue is immigration. they've just started the meeting. we'll bring you any headlines that we receive. almost the entire i-95 corridor slam ared by this winter -- slammed by this winter storm. janice dean at the fox news weather center. janice, where is it now, and what's happened? >> reporter: well, it's at its peak and strengthening across the atlantic, and we're seeing blizzard conditions all the way up towards maine. we saw snow across the southeast in georgia and south carolina, impressive snow totals, and we're going to see some more across the northeast. there's our peak blizzard right now, our nor'easter bringing snow from delaware all the way up towards maine. we're going to see upwards of maybe a foot or more for eastern long eye hand, cape cod and the islands as well as boston. snow reports, foggy in atlantic city with some snow, heavy snow for providence, heavy snow in boston right now. the storm is cranked up across the gulf stream, and that's why we're seeing such an intensification of the -- go ahead, my friend. stuart: no, i just want to ask you about -- i'm looking at weather forecasts because i'm interested in this. it looks the me like we've got arctic cold temperatures, i mean, 0 degrees and minus degrees directly following this blizzard all the way up to the eastern seaboard. >> reporter: yes, the snow is not going to melt anytime soon when we're talking about over a foot of snow. and the problem is, stuart, we're going to see some of the coldest temperatures of the season, and historic lows as we get into saturday and sunday. so folks who are without power, and that's going to happen with 70 mile-per-hour winds right along the coast, we're going to see power outages, we already have. if you don't have heat, this could potentially be a deadly situation. these are your lows on sunday, -2, i mean, that's not wind chill, that's actual air temperature. that's my concern, is the snow's not going to go anywhere fast, and the potential that if you don't have power, you're going to have to find somewhere with heat. stuart: yes, indeed. janice, thank you very much, indeed. i'm sure you've got your work cut out for you for the next three, four, five, six days. >> reporter: you're right. i'll be here. [laughter] stuart: there's an opinion piece in the "wall street journal" today, it reads: make iran great again. with us now is the man who wrote the story. he writes that kind of story every thursday in "the wall street journal." he's the deputy editorial page editor dan henninger. make iran great again, what on earth are you doing? >> doesn't that sound familiar at all, stuart? stuart: it has a ring to it. [laughter] >> make america great again. stuart: sure. >> well, iran, yes, they're protesting in the streets all over iran, not just in tehran, but in cities and towns all over the country. and this was, of course, the highlight of the iran -- of the obama foreign policy, right? the iran nuclear deal. stuart: yep. >> and now this is not one of the goals of the iran nuclear deal at all, is to have these kind of protests taking place. and in my column, i make what we like to call invidious comparisons -- stuart: oh, go ahead. >> -- between people running iran and when obama was running the united states. which is to say obama and hillary clinton lost the election because they ignored working class people in the midwest. those protests in iran are are being led by working class people around iran who are really angry about the state of the economy over there. normally it's led by students, but these protests are being led by working class people. stuart: so it's not a political revolt, it's not a religious revolt, it is an economic revolt. that's what's going on there. >> it began as an economic revolt, it has built into something larger. stuart i'm going to interrupt because i don't see what they can do about it. because if you've got a corrupt, neo-socialist islamic government system, i don't see how you can suddenly return to prosperity no matter what you do. >> well, one of the points i make here is that this revolt is connected to the sort of -- as well as what happened in the united states in 2016. there is a wave of economic populism sweeping the world in france, working class people and underemployed college graduates put emmanuel macron in power leading a party that hadn't existed before. this sort of thing is happening everywhere right now. saudi arabia, mohamed bin salmon put those reforms in because he knew that the saudi economy was underperforming for most of the people in that country. the message for these governments has become perform or you will be shoved out of the way. and i think a force of that strength is beginning to build inside iran, and it has to do with economic performance just as it did in the united states in 2016. stuart: that's fascinating, dan, because we were told that maybe populism was in decline, that it's fading, it's not going much further, becoming unpopular in various places. but you're saying, essentially are, populism and the working class people have a voice, and it's not going away. >> and it's rooted in economic need. not so much nationalistic fervor. that's part of it, but at the root of it is the idea that the these people who have been running their economies in ways that have caused them to underperform, people are just saying i will not accept what some of the obama people called the new normal, low growth. you're sitting here talking about the stock market going to record highs, right? in the past year. that's what people voted for in 2016. they didn't want a continuation of 2% growth in the united states. stuart: henninger, you're all right, and that was a strange title, make iran great again. i thought i'd misread it to start with. [laughter] thank you, dan, see you soon. now, this was really a shocking report that we got this morning. i was shocked by it because it seems like they're moving against the tide of history. attorney general jeff sessions says he wants to end the obama era policy that let legal marijuana flourish in various states around the country. he wants to reverse that. joining us now is congressman dana rohrabacher, republican from california, the state which just legalized recreational marijuana. how do you feel about the attorney general saying, huh-uh, it's against the law at the federal level, and we're going to impose that law on you guys? >> well, i think it's sad that the attorney general is veering so far off of what president trump campaigned on. during the campaign he said that he believed that medical marijuana should be legal and that actual personal use for adults -- as we have here in california now -- should be left up to the states. and so we have now an attorney general that does not seem to be reflecting what his boss was promising in the elections, plus he's thwarting the whole idea -- i've known jeff sessions for a long time. i thought he was a constitutional conservative. we have over 40 of the states now that have legalizedded medical marijuana or some use of private use of marijuana. and they think it's a waste of time and a waste of resources and giving money to the drug cartel to keep it illegal. but we have now the attorney general saying, no, no, the federal government is going to make all the decisions for us on this issue. it's totally contrary to the tenth amendment and everything supposedly conservatives believe in. stuart: okay, got it. hold on a second. i've got one more for you. i want to ask you about the republican tax reform plan. californians, especially upper income californians, get hit really, really hard. now, you're a republican. you're in california. are you worried about your re-election in 2018 because of what the impact on california from the tax deal? >> i voted against it. stuart: why? >> well, i voted against it because in my district i analyzed exactly what the impact would be on my individual homeowners and families throughout my district, and i -- tens of thousands of the families in my district were going to have a very sizable tax increase in what they were paying out. so i've always run as a low-tax, pro-freedom person, and the last thing -- my voters didn't vote for me to raise their taxes, so i had to vote against it. stuart: now, are you expecting an exodus? we've had a lot of reports that upper income people will exit california and go to nevada, upper income new mexico januaries and new yorkers will -- new jerseyans and new yorkers will uproot and go to florida or texas. you concerned about this? >> well, we have such an irresponsible government here, the liberal left-wing of the democratic party controls our state government, and they're just raising taxes and regulations. they are driving people out of the state. and having the writeoff that the federal government does for state and local taxes has actually helped a little bit. but now that the federal government's saying, no, no, no, you've got to abide by state law, that's basically going to drive a lot of people out of california. stuart: is it a disaster for california, new york and new jersey? do you think? i mean, that's a loaded word, "disaster." >> well, the disaster is the state and local governments that are controlled by the liberal left that have so swung their states, made them so vulnerable that they can't be treated like every other state in terms of their state and local taxes. i, you know, this is not to blame the republicans. the republicans doesn't make this happen. -- didn't make this happen. stuart: that's true. >> the guys in sacramento were the ones who did this. stuart: quick word on withdrawing a quarter billion dollars in aid from pakistan. do you approve? >> i think the president of the united states, again, he is fulfilling his promise to the american people. no longer are we going to be patsies for dictatorships like that in pakistan. i am proud of president trump, and we all can be proud of president trump for what he is doing to make sure that the american soldiers who are overseas fighting radical islam are not actually being killed by a government like pakistan that provides aid for radical islamists in afghanistan. the last thing we need to do is have our president not be able to -- and now we're proud of the president -- for saying we're no longer going to give pakistan the money as long as they are aiding radical islamists and lying to us, which they've done for. and, by the way, they gave safe haven to osama bin laden for years, the man who slaughtered 3,000 americans. and then to the rub it in our face, the pakistanis still have the man who helped us get osama bin laden, he was him in a ton john. is i'm proud of the -- in a dungeon. i'm proud of the president for standing up to this type of arrogant mistreatment of the people of the united states. stuart: well, dana rohrabacher, thank you very much for joining us, sir. a republican from california. okay, we got it. dana, thank you very much, sir. we have headlines from the president in that immigration meeting at white house. we've got those headlines for you after this. ♪ ♪ >> i'm nicole petallides with your fox business brief with. the cold weather bomb up and down the east coast wreaking havoc and dumping snow. we're watching some of these airlines, we know that over 3,000 have done some cancellations. all the airlines, despite dow 25,000, are to the downside. you can see they are under pressure today. when we talk about flight cancellations, about 3300 plus flight cancellations in the u.s. the storm is up and down the east coast from florida to maine. and you can break it down from each airline to see how they are canceling. many are offering vouchers and rescheduling, but big picture the ice, the freezing rain, the snow, the wind boosting system of the blizzard stocks. those are names that make snowplows and generators. you can see names like douglas, generac, toro, alamo just a but moving higher. whoooo. when it comes to travel, i sweat the details. late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. stuart: we've talked a lot on this program about the impact of the tax deal on blue states like california, like new jersey and like new york. from the out, it's a -- flat out, it's a disaster for many of those states because many of those people who earn good money will end up paying a lot more in tax. no tax cut for them. come on in please, alfredo ortiz, he is with the job creators network, i believe. now, you think -- >> that's right. stuart: i think you believe that this tax deal is going to force an exodus of people out of california, new york and new jersey, and it might even force those states to lower their own taxes. is that accurate? >> stuart, i think we have an example of really almost the emperor has no clothes here. for years and years, these high tax cut states, these blue-liberal states' tax and spend agenda, they are taken advantage of the federal code, the tax code to really hide from the real story here which is just a lack of fiscal discipline on their behalf. you just heard from the congressman from california, you know, he voted against the tax cut. but, frankly, you know, he should be uniting with these other representatives like himself who did vote against it and work with the state legislators and local legislators to actually apply fiscal discipline in those states and localities. stuart: yeah. oh, agreed entirely, that's what they should do. but you don't really believe that legislatures in california, new york and new jersey will ever lower taxes? you don't really believe that, do you? >> well, you know, it's -- you know, it is a new year, so i'm hopeful that maybe they'll start seeing -- stuart: yeah, but you're realistic. alfredo, you're a realistic guy. [laughter] now, do you really -- are you going to tell me that this year, next year, any year -- you pick a year -- you gonna tell me that california, uber-liberal, is going to lower taxes? i flat out, i don't believe it. i'm sorry, i just don't believe it. >> yeah. yeah, no, stuart, here's one of two things that will happen. voters are either going to vote their representatives out, their legislators out, or they're going to vote with their feet and leave those states. we're already seeing some of the mass exodus that has happened that's cost about $200 billion in lost revenues for some of these high-tax states already. again, it's a new year, i like to think i can be a little bit hopeful. stuart: well, we like optimists. [laughter] i am an optimist, but not in this particular case. alfredo ortiz, come on back when we've got more time more you. >> all right, thank you, stuart. stuart: we're just getting headlines from the president's meeting with republican senators. they're talking about immigration. president trump says chain migration is a total disaster, and the visa lottery is bad for the economy. he also says we're going to have a border wall with. that any legislation on daca, that's letting the dreamers stay, must include a wall, must end chain migration and must end the visa lottery. he says that lottery system has to be laughed at by other countries. >> he also was asked about the stock market, and he commented, saying: i guess our new number is 30,000. [laughter] stuart: really? okay. we're up 122 points at 25,000 as of now. [laughter] long island, new york, hard hit -- one of the hardest hit areas, by the way, of this snowstorm. laura ingle is there. tell me how are conditions right there? laura. >> reporter: in fact, the conditions have gone from really bad to a lot worse just in the last few hours. we have been out here since the very early morning hours, and the people of long island, the people that use the train station on the long island railroad have heeded the warnings. take a look at this platform. i'm going to show you how high these snow drifts are, they're super -- two feet right now. look what you have to do to get to the train platform if you wanted to take the train. the trains are still running, however, people are staying off the roads because they have been warned to do so today. it is, obviously, very dangerous. it's whiteout conditions right now. we've been hearing all day long that this massive storm is going to dump several inches of snow, maybe up to 12-18 out here where we are, and it's going to pass. however, it's going to remain cold. the temperatures are going to dip down, and people then have to start being worried about power outages, and that is something we're keeping a close eye on. you've got flights that are canceled, and we've got word that things are really a mess out at jfk and all the area airports. governor cuomo has declared a state of emergency out here on all of long island, westchester county and new york city. so the storm, as predicted and as promised, has really given this area a wallop. we'll continue to bring you the latest from this location. back to you. stuart: right in the middle of it, laura. thank you very much, indeed. all right, i want to get back to what is a big political story, steve bannon versus president trump. if you heard my take, my opinion at top of the hour, i called it mainstream media speculation, a distraction from what's really going on with the russia probe. come on in, please, keith koffler, author of the book "always the rebel." this is a book about steve bannon. keith, can you tell me what you think steve bannon is up to here, suggesting that donald jr. is engaging in treasonous behavior? is this kind of sour grapes because he's out of the administration? >> well, you know, what he's up to, i think the point you just made is probably just about accurate but not because he's out of the administration. panel, these statements were made -- apparently, these statements were made in july, august after he left. look, we who analyze political issues, we try to think there's a reason for everything. sometimes there's just not. and i think that bannon made this statement at a peak for a couple of reasons. one is, you know, i spent ten hours interviewing him over the summer at about the time that he made this statement. he's one of the four or five smartest people i've met in washington. there are a lot of smart people here. extraordinarily intelligent. he hates dumb. he thinks this meeting was just dumb, meeting with a russian attorney who is obviously connected with the russian government was a stupid thing, so he was angry about that. the other thing though is that in july or so, he was, i mean, i would say his head seemed like it was about to explode. he had a lot of frustration with people within the white house, he was constantly under attack there, and if it happened in august, he had just left. so i think it was just like you saying, just sort of out of pique and frustration. there was no real plan to it, and honestly i think he would probably take it back now, if he could. stuart: really? that's interesting. he hasn't yet. there's a cease and desist order on the guy. >> right. stuart: my question is, look, where is he now in the republican party? how much support does he have within the republican party? the man seems to be totally ostracized to the outer, outer fringe. am i right this. >> right. well, that's where we are now a little bit, but remember how quickly things change in washington, you know? steve ban nonis still a rock star with trump's base. he still has an enormously popular web site where he can promulgate his ideas. i think right now he's playing nice, being friends. if he feels that trump strays too far from the nationalist populist ideology that helped elect him, i think bannon will go after him. look, trump is the key to the base. he will win that war. but if -- his margin was so close in the election that even if bannon is able to just damage him with the base, i think that could be very difficult thing for trump because bannon's still very influential. stuart: hold on a second, keith, because president trump just addressed the bannon issue in this meeting in the white house, and i think we've got some information. >> he said, you know, do you regret getting him into the administration? he said, hey, last night he called me a great man, so he's obviously trying to diffuse it a little bit. no hard feelings here. stuart: you think, keith, you think he would take it back if he had the chance today, bannon would just take it back? really? >> i think it's hard for bannon to just -- especially having that sering criticism from the president to say, oh, i'm sorry, i was wrong. it makes him look very weak. there could be a rapprochement. the president has done that many times. he brought reince priebus into the administration even though priebus was trying to get him out of the race and sean spicer as well. so trump could warm to him. trump likes flattery, bannon knows that. we just had a little flattery there. [laughter] i think that anything is possible and that bannon could end up back in his good graces. [laughter] stuart: my head's spinning, and that's a fact. keith koffler, thanks very much for joining us. >> my pleasure. stuart: now, in just a moment we're going to bring you tape from the white house of the president's meeting with republican senators about immigration. we're about 30 seconds away from that. i'm going to tell you right now, we've been on the air now for two and a half hours. right there at 9:30 when the stock market opened, boom with, we went straight to 25,000 right from the get go, and we've stayed above 25,000 for the entire trading session thus far. right now we're up 125 points, 25,047. the president was asked about immigration and steve bannon. we just got the tape. here's what he hate. >> mr. president, your message to dreamers, mr. president? >> hopefully, everything's going to work out really well. we really want to -- want it to work out. if we have support from the democrats, i think daca's going to be terrific. we have people that have been working on this issue for a long time, as lindsay said, others have said, we really are at a point where i think we could do something spectacular for the people on the border, people coming through. we have to be careful because there's a drug epidemic like, the likes of which we've never seen in this country. we need protection. we need the wall. we need all of those things. and, frankly, i think a lot of democrats agree with us when they see what's happening, when they see the kind of problems we're having at the border. they really understand it. whether they'll vote that way is another situation, but they really understand it. so we want to thank you all for being here. we have a great spirit going in the republican party. i think it can be bipartisan. i hope it's going to be bipartisan. and we can take care of a lot of problems, take care of a lot of problems. it would be really nice to do it in a bipartisan way. okay? thank you all very much. [inaudible conversations] >> steve bannon betray you -- [inaudible] >> thank you very much. i don't know, he called me a great man last night so, you know, he obviously changed his tune pretty quick. thank you all very much. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. that's just a misnomer. thank you. stuart: we were waiting for a little bit more there, didn't come. but, you know, i think i missed it where he was talking about -- the president was talking about the wall and the democrats. fill me in. >> he said democrats effectively see the need for a wall given the problems south of the border with drug gangs and the need for border security. it should be noted 26 democrats in 2006 voted for a stronger border fence including barack obama, hillary clinton and joe biden. so that's the hidden story here, that democrats secretly see the need for border security. stuart: and the president just said that. >> yes. stuart: democrats see the need for border security. >> and the fact the obama administration, loretta lynch said you pull back federal grants for sanctuary cities. she said that in february 2016. stuart: so the groundwork has been laid, john, for a deal. build the wall, get rid of chain migration, get rid of the lottery system, and in return the dreamers can stay. >> many things they agree on. the wall's about nomenclature. every president since reagan has said something about border security. the wall is a polarizing term that democrats choose to run from. >> but that could anger the base, the dreamer teal. >> some people are saying no way regardless. stuart: there's always going to be that base. that's always going to be the case. >> the dreamer deal would lead to 10-20 million people here illegally. >> that's the point. >> and how you handle that. >> that is the issue. stuart: would the base screw upper an immigration deal if you get the wall and no chain migration and no lottery? >> the midterm is usually jo thg story of the day immigration issue, will dominate politics in 2018. partly dominate. we had other stories like the stock market rally. glad you're with us, john. never seen anything like this. >> my 401(k) is very happy that president trump was elected. market was flat two years before the president was elected. to say this is not trump effect is disingenuous. stuart: i'm older than all of you put together. i haven't seen anything like this in my entire life. the extraordinary blizzard from northern florida, carolinas, virginia, into massachusetts, some of these cities, they're just shut down. they're getting hammered and shut down. airports all up and down the eastern seaboard closed. yes it's a blizzard. it is bomb bow again -- bombogenesis, there is intro, neil. neil: apparently it can move around. apparently there is a window here. they put me in front of the snow to see. much, you have a window in your studio, right? stuart: no. neil: we'll forget that. stuart: we can't afford a window. neil: i understand. with this rally you should be able to make a plug for one. going crazy here, buddy. thank you very, very, much, stuart varney. we'll try to pick up the torch or the snow shovel. this is out of -- i become a expert on the "bomb cyclone" stuff. there

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