Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Shepard Smith Reporting 20161226

That and the rest of the days top news just ahead this hour. Hello, im greg jarrett in for shepard smith. We begin with the fight over the president elects foundation and his plans to shut it down before taking office. President elect trump says hes told his legal team to begin dissolving the foundation. Hes also defending its work saying 100 of the money has gone to charity. He wrote this in a statement. The foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to count less worthy groups including supporting veterans, Law Enforcement officers and children. Because i will be devoting so much time and energy to the presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world, i dont want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest. Well, democrats are saying thats not nearly enough. The new York Attorney Generals Office has been investigating that foundation. There were reports that some charitable money went to trumps campaign. Even for personal purchases like, well, a sixfoot painting of himself. The spokeswoman for the a. G. Says the president elect cannot close the foundation until the investigation is concluded. Democratic Party Officials call trumps move a wilted fig leaf. Those are their words. The coverup of other conflicts of interest, they said this in a statement. The Trump Foundation also has a pitiful record of service and instead has served as a slush fund for trump to bribe elected officials, attack his political enemies and buy portraits of himself. We are glad that he is shutting down this corrupt enterprise. Though questions remain about how this shutdown will accommodate the investigation into the foundation. And they also called for the president elect to put all of his assets in a blind trust. Peter doocy is live in west palm beach, florida, where the president elect is spending the holidays. Peter, whats the latest from this . Reporter gregg, as you know, theres been a lot of pressure from democrats and liberal groups for the president elect to untangle the financial obligations he has with charity work and his business dealings. Now, the Transition Team continues to insist that at some point in january, before the inauguration, the president elect is going to have a formal press conference where he lays out the plan for withdrawing himself from the trump organization, from all of his Real Estate Holdings and any other investments that he has. So thats still upcoming, but now he is doing kind of a slow process of withdrawing from some of these Charity Organizations and something that is notable about his statement about his own charity, he points out all the good work that he thinks they do which is the same kind of thing that he said about his son, eric trump, on friday when eric trump announced that he was going to also step aside from fundraising work from the eric Trump Foundation. However, on friday, mr. Trump said he thought it was a ridiculous shame that outside pressure, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, was going to get his son out of the charity business, basically. He did not use any of the similar language calling this rick d ridiculous. He did just say he wants it to eliminate the possibility there is a conflict of interest and does plan to pursue his philanthropy just in different ways now. Gregg . Peter, what kind of contact did mr. Trump have with Vladimir Putin over the Holiday Weekend . Reporter it was indirect, gregg, but the president elect took to twitter to say that he heard about something the russian president commented on about the way that democrats have been behaving themselves since the election. Since Hillary Clinton lost the election. So mr. Trump went on twitter to say this. Vladimir putin said today about hillary and dems, in my opinion, it is humiliating, one must be able to lose with dignity. So true. That tweet does come after the trump Team Released a warm Christmas Card from putin at the end of last week where he talked about working with the u. S. To avoid any sort of serious conflict which there were serious concerns about as trump and putin both made public statements last week about their countrys nuclear arsenals. Peter, do we know if the trump team is trying anything different for his inaugural address other than, you know, what they talked about during the campaign . Reporter no, in fact, the same speechwriter who helped mr. Trump organize the points that he was trying to make at campaign rallies, and at the thankyou tour, is going to be writing the address delivered on january 20th. His name is steven miller. Hes 31 years old. Formerly of senator Jeff Sessions office. Going to be a Senior Adviser for policy in the next white house. This is just a big assignment before that. Miller was also the warmup act for mr. Trump at a lot of large rallies in arenas and big fields over the last year or so. So miller is working on that for the next few weeks before he joins the trump white house, but that is a sign that mr. Trump is still sticking in just about every noticeable way publicfacing way, with many of the people that have been with him for the last several months or years. Gregg . Peter doocy live in palm beach, thanks very much. Lets talk about trumps first 100 days with our political panel. Democratic strategist robin byro who used to work for the obama campaign. Republican strategist Ford Oconnell joins us as well. Good to see you both. Ford, you think, you know, the first 100 days in the collision course that seems to be heading our way is going to be mustsee tv. Why . Well, because the democrats are going to have their knives out, their brass knuckles, anything else you can think of because they want to confront trump at every turn, they want to delegitimize his presidency and basically argue hes bad for america. Theyre not going to let him up over the next 100 days and do Everything Possible to minimize his influence in washington because theyre out in the wilderness. They dont have any good ideas and they were looking for any way to get power back. Robin, you know, among the ot his cabinet picks approved to the u. S. Senate. Rex tillerson, scott pruitt, steve mnuchin, Jeff Sessions to some extent. The new republic said democrats should oppose all of the cabinet picks en masse. New republic, of course, a liberal magazine. You have to consider that. What do you think of that strategy . Good idea bad idea . I think its a terrible idea personally. We as democrats have decried the gop of being the party of no the last several years. We cant become what we hated and decried. Donald trump rose to power because he was sort of the anticandidate. We have this cabinet picks were trying to basically find a way to fit these square pegs through the round holes of the political system. Its going to be tough but we got to find some way to Work Together because like i said, you know, we cant become what we have been shouting tooth and nail, fighting for for the last six years. What are the other challenges is obamacare and its repeal. Ford, how are they going to go about that . A full repeal or are they going to let part of it stand, phase it out and replace it with something and by the way, how are they going to do that to beat a 60vote filibuster with only 52 republicans in the senate . I think youre asking a couple trillion dollar question that actually involves about onefifth of the u. S. Economy. Look, they can repeal obamacare through budget reconciliation, only going to require a simple majority of votes. The problem going forward, as you noted, is going to be to replace because once they repeal it, if they dont replace it with Something Better than we currently have, theyre going to own it. My advice to president elect trump and republicans in congress is very, very simple. We got to get we got to scrap obamacare, got to pull it off completely but we got to make sure we put Something Better if place because if we dont, were going to own it for the next 20 years. What do you think of that, robin . You know, i agree with ford on that. As far as obamacare goes, we know that premiums are rising but at least 25 . So, you know, i dont think that a full repeal is the answer. I think ford was right on that. That weve got to a better option immediately in place for americans because theyre going to be the ones that are hurting if we immediately repeal it without having a better option. So, you know i still dont know how youre going to do it with 52 republicans. I dont think you can do the full thing under reconciliation process. I want to move now to tax reform. Ford, you know, president elect donald trump while he campaigned he promised that the Corporate Tax would drop all the way down to 15 . Which is a huge reduction. Tax cuts for individuals, three brackets. Cap rule, gains, dividends will be cut as well. How is he going to do that . Thats going to be the challenging part for president elect trump because what he wants to do is basically say tax reform is going to help put america back to work, but in doing so, in a lot of cases, he may need 60 votes. What hes got in his back pocket, if he can Show Congress that hes got a plan forward, there are ten democrats up in 2018, particularly in states that donald trump won, from florida, to missouri, to indiana, and if they can show themselves to be willing players, they may actually think that they may not lose reelection. Robin, the tax policy cente , says this is going to cost 10 trillion, the more conservative Tax Foundation says 5. 9 trillion over a decade. I mean, how do you do this without just ballooning the deficit . Thats my concern, gregg, and i really dont think that Middle America is buying that theyre going to receive the benefits of basically this trickling down theyd like more money in their pockets. Upper echelon. They want more money in their pocket. Absolutely. Spend more money, right . Save more money. If he if donald trump implements go ahead, robin. Gregg, the problem mr. Trump those people want money in their pocket and want to get back to work. Believe it or not the federal deficit or the lower down the debt to 20 trillion, they dont seem to care about because thats going to require a longterm fix of both parties. Understand the democrats balloon this from 9 trillion to 20 trillion. The democrats dont have a leg to stand on here. Whats key for trump is make the case that his vision for tax reform and for jobs is whats going to put america back to work. If he can do that, Everything Else is secondary. Robin, you totally got coopted by ford. Your guys are coming back. Im going to make it up to you in just a moment. Stick around. Got it. Dont go away. The israeli Prime Minister blasting the white house for allowing the United Nations to pass a resolution condemning israels settlement. And the Prime Ministers office saying he looks forward to negating the effects of that resolution with help from, guess who, donald trump. Is that even possible . Thats next. The israeli Prime Minister is furious over fridays vote at the United Nations opposing israeli settlements in the west bank, and at the white house for abstaining from it. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling his cabinet, from the information that we have, we have no doubt that the Obama Administration initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated it, on the wording, and demanded it be passed. The white house says, hey, thats not true, and president obama always put highest priority on israel and its security. Kevin corke joins us, hes traveling with the president. He is live in honolulu, hawaii. Kevin, what else is the white house saying about this . Reporter well, i think you made a very important point there, gregg. Listen, they have said repeatedly and consistently that they have supported the state of israel throughout the entirety of the obama white house, but the truth is, this is seen as a major break from tradition, but the white house is bristoliling that they were behind the coordination of this vote. I want to share with folks at home, what eric schultz, Principal Deputy White House Press secretary, had to say about this. Hes not mincing words, my friends. He said the u. S. Didnt draft this resolution nor did the u. S. Introduce the resz loose. The egyptians in partnership with the palestinians are the ones who began circulating an early draft of the resolution. Heres where it gets a little in the weeds. Watch this. The egyptian are the ones who moved it towaforward on friday we took the position we did web it was put to a vote. Still akuzing the administration, orchestrating that resolution that condemns israels settlement reconstruction. We have rather ironclad information from sources in the arab world and internationally that this was a deliberate push by the United States and, in fact, they helped create the resolution in the first place. And so its deeply disappointing that this has been the path of president obama. Reporter now, many in the administration, frankly, are frustrated because they would say, listen, bibi already pub c publicly announced he received Strong Security and Material Support from the administration throughout president obamas presidency and yet thats not the story line here and i think theres no question about this, gregg, its a very good reason why thats not the big story line here. Gregg . Kevin, what about the potential effect on u. S. Relations with israel . Reporter okay, i want to look at this a couple ways. First of all, the administration would say to you, were going to be fine. Rough patch, well smooth over it. I think a lot of people are wondering, frankly, gregg, what will happen under a trump administration. I want to show you a tape of a guy you may not have heard of. You may have. Hes a bankruptcy lawyer. Son of an orthodox rabbi. Guy by the name of david friedman. He is president elect trumps selection to be the ambassador to israel. Now, heres why this is relevant. At least from a policy position, he is seen as fairly hawkish, someone who is against statehood i should say a joint statehood between the israelis and the palestinians. Hes against palestinian statehood. Were also told hes an unrelenting defender of israels government and fervent supporter of the israeli settlement. Heres why this is so important. If thats his position, that should give you a window into how the new administration feels about this issue which has obviously been a very, very hotly contested one at the United Nations, gregg. Kevin corke live in honolulu, kevin, thanks very mumch. Lets bring back our political panel, democratic strategist robin biro, republican strategist, Ford Oconnell. Robin, israel says it feels deeply detray deeply betrayed by this. Netanyahu, himself, says its shameful. He blames president obama. Said obama was behind it. Initiated it. Coordinated it. Wrote the wording of it. And our reporting suggests the very same thing that president obama made this decision, himself, while on vacation. I mean, if so, what does that say about his views on israel and netanyahu . You know, gregg, i honestly dont think that abstention in this case is a bad thing. I think its a moderate approach that republicans have been calling for for a long time. So im actually pleased that president obama has taken this approach of abstention. Its tantamount of the same policies of recusal we use in other branches of government so i dont think its going to be a problem and i think right now this is more republican rhetoric trying to paint his administration in a bad light saying that its going to tarnish in some ways how history will look back at his presidency. But, i think i dont know how you spend eight years taking one side on those votes then suddenly with a month left in your presidency, you take the opposite side. I mean, thats sort of hard to understand. Ford, does this just underscore how ugly and acrimonious the relationship has been between the Prime Minister and president obama . Well, absolutely. This is the proverbial middle finger to israel. Theyve had eight years of bad blood. From the iran nuclear deal, to even president obama using 350,000 of u. S. Taxpayer money to interfere in netanyahus reelection. This just further shows that the Obama Administration does not care for our best ally in the middle east, israel, and theyre going to wind up putting more obstacles in the way for president elect trump. That has been the obama modus on ren day. How does this between israel and palestine, because i dont think it does. It may do the opposite, robin, which is fords point, right now apparently the reporting out of israel is theyre planning, because of this, to accelerate the construction of 390 new settlement units, so isnt this having the opposite effect . I can see your point. I still think that moderate that this is a very moderate position and its the one that we need to be taking right now at this point in time, and i just i just i agree with the president on this. I think hes making the right call. Yeah. I can understand, though, when you take into account that president obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for middle east relations, you know, i do see the concern there. Robin, if youre going to almost before he was sworn in, barely. Thats exactly right. Thats exactly right, though, but if youre going to have a peace solution between palestine and israel, its going to be because those two direct actors want it. They dont want it. My problem in the u. N. Is, weve been basically putting down 40 settlement resolutions, vetoing them since 1980 because the u. N. Has antiisraeli sentiment rife throughout and the problem is the u. N. Is not world government. It is a puppet for basically pushing tyrants and dictators to control the world agenda and lecture western democracies on how it is hes fired up. Absolutely ridiculous. Things are likely going to change because trumps choice to the ambassador to israel is an Ardent Supporter of settlements. Ford, robin, good to see you both. Thanks very much. Were going to pause, take a quick break, settle down after ford, and well be right back. Welcome back. Russian intelligence Officials Say they have not found any signs of terrorism or sabotage in the military plane crash on Christmas Day. Divers still searching for wreckage and remains in the black sea. All 92 people who were onboard are pruesumed dead including members of the Russian Red Army choir. The military passenger jet was on its way to seyria but crashe within minutes of taking off from russias resort city of sochi. Pope francis has led thousands of people in a silent prayer for the Crash Victims during his Christmas Day message at the vatican. Kitty logan is tracking developments tfrom our london bureau. Hows the search and recovery effort progressing . Reporter gregg, this is a huge effort, 3,500 people involved in this search now. Taking place just off the russian coast near the town of sochi. And Authorities Say that effort is expanding now. What we saw today is that one problem is this large search area, that much of the wreckage is still underwater. The Russian Defense Ministry Says its search teams today found two parts of the plane and specialist divers discovered 11 bodies. Now, there are still 45 ships searching that area. Recovery workers are also using helicopters, drones and submarines. An intense effort, but there is still no sign of those crucial black boxes which are likely to be on the seabed. Of course, gregg, investigators will need those night recorders to find out what happened to the plane. More what do we know as the investigation proceeds . We know that the plane crashed within two minutes of takeoff, but the crew didnt report any problems, but despite the speed of the crash, russian investigators are convinced that theres no reason to think that the plane was brought down deliberately. Translator we think that the reason for the crash could be a technical fault or pilot error. It will be clarified by the ministry of defense special commission. Now, one other theory is that poor fuel quality could have contributed to the crash, but gregg, this was a very old sovietera plane. This type of aircraft has crashed a number of times in the past. If your entire fleet is old, but how are the russian people paying tribute . This is an extremely c significant event for the russian people. Today russian president Vladimir Putin declared an official national day of mourning right across russia. What we saw with flags flying at halfmast, floral tributes and a minute of silence by russian officials. Of course, 60 of those onboard were members of that famous military choir, the alexander ensemble. Theyd been heading to syria to perform for Russian Troops there. Outside their moscow base, people have also been laying flowers and lighting candles. Also on the plane was a wellknown charity worker, some soldiers, and, of course, the crew. Russia is going to be mourning their loss for quite some time, gregg. Such a sad story. Kitty logan live in london with the latest. Kitty, thank you. President elect donald trump could have a whole lot of power over the future of the american judicial system and not just by picking a u. S. Supreme court justice. Hell also have more than 100 seats to fill on the District Court and the circuit court. Much more than president obama did eight years ago. Well look at what all of this could mean for some of the biggest issues facing americans. E kids to get a repair estimate. Liberty did what . Yeah, with Liberty Mutual all i needed to do to get an estimate was snap a photo of the damage and voila voila sigh i wish my Insurance Company had that. Wait hold it. Hold it boys. Theres supposed to be three of you. Wheres your brother . Wheres your brother . Hey, wheres charlie . Charlie . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance donald trump could have a lot of power to shape the Nations Court system. Theres a Supreme Court seat to fill, of course. What you may not know is there are about 100 other federal judgeships with vacancies. Thats twice as many as president obama eight years ago. Many of them are Lifetime Appointments. Trump has said he wants to appoint judges in the mold of Antonin Scalia and could have a huge impact on issues like gun and abortion and immigration. Garrett tenny is live in washington with more on that. Hi, garrett. Reporter hey, gregg. As weve seen repeatedly over the last eight years, the president can pass policies and congress can pass laws but ultimately, the courts can decide whether or not those laws will stand and as you mentioned, these lower courts have a Significant Impact on our laws and the vacancy of the Supreme Court received most of the attention during the campaign, these lower courts are where decisions are made and precedents are set long before they end up in the highest court. The Supreme Court typically hears less than 100 cases in a year. The federal judges on the lower courts, though, they will decide tens of thousands of cases in a year, and this year there is an unusually high number of federal judge vacancies for the Incoming Administration to fill. There are currently more than 100 across the country including 14 of the u. S. Court of appeals, and 84 in the u. S. District courts, alone. A former u. S. Deputy assistant attorney general recently told fox news those Lifetime Appointments can have an enormous impact on the country for years to come. Hes going to be filling the lower courts. There are dozens of District Court vacancies, federal court of appeals vacancies. These are courts that actually decide the vast majority of litigation in the United States. When we look ahead to the next four, possibly eight years, President Trump is going to have a massive impact on the judiciary in the United States. And youll remember throughout the election, the Supreme Court was a central part of president elect trumps message and one his Transition Team to working hard to fulfill now. Gregg . What is Donald Trumps timeline for these appointments . As for the vacancy on the Supreme Court, during the campaign mr. Trump released this list of 21 individuals he said hed choose from for his nominee. Reince priebus has since said that that announcement will likely come around the inauguration, so in a few weeks. As for the more than 100 lower court vacancies, those nominations are typically headed up by the Justice Department and with the new administration coming in, those will take a little while longer to get together. With all of his judges, though, mr. Trump has said in the last that he plans to nominate those who are in the mold of the late justice, conservative icon, anto Antonin Scalia. Theyre cheering that for sure. Kimberly adkins, columnist at the boston herald. Kimberly, good to see you. You may have heard the sound bite from the legal experts, said, look, the majority of these are the District Court judges, bread and butter of decisionmaking in america in terms of litigation. So what kind of issues, important issues, are we talking about here . There are going to be really hotbutton issues that can that take the attention of americans, for sure. There are issues like abortion, about voting laws that have been passed in the country in the wake of Supreme Courts decision, striking down a bor portion of the Voting Rights ac gun control, the death penalty, immigration issues. Were talking about very, very substantial issues. And federal regulatory power. You know, remember, donald trump has talked about how hes going to use an executive order and hes also going to get rid of a lot. 70 of federal regulations. So, so those judges will be weighing in on that. Certainly, and if he does get the opportunity to appoint the kind of conservative judges that he talks about, there is a lot of theres a thought among conservatives that the government engages in far too much regulation, that thats not really the role of the executive branch to really encroach on the congressional aspects of the government and really by doing this kind of rulemaking, they may really roll it back. The one area that the conservative judges may rule against donald trump is the issue of executive order. You recall, there was a lot of challenges to president obamas executive orders. Yeah, i mean, immigration was the most controversial of all. Right, that was struck down as well as the epa one, but donald trump wants to rule by executive order as well, so he may run into some trouble there. All president s do. Its a lot easier than working with congress. Yeah, sign it off then do it. Look, am i correct in assuming that for the most part, in terms of the District Court judges, theyre dominated by democratic appointees, right . Yes. Yes. Right now in the District Court, about twothirds of the judges, they are appointed by democrats, but we will see more vacancies emerge as we see retirements from folks who are appointed in the clinton administration, for example, that will give donald trump even a bigger opportunity to sort of swing that to the right. But on appellate level, as well as the Supreme Court, its a pretty even split between republican and democratic appointees. So as donald trump makes those appointments, it will be a much faster and much clearer rightward shift on the appellate level. Over the last couple years, of course, republicans have been able to stop the seating of many of obamas appointments to the judicial bench, circuit court, as well as the District Court. Republicans now have a 52 majority in the u. S. Senate and besides that, is harry reid going to regret that he introduced the socalled Nuclear Option which makes it even easier for republicans to seat these judges . Thats absolutely true. I mean, because of harry reid, rather than a 60vote majority, which would encourage a president to find consensusbuilding candidates, nominees, that could get both republicans and democrats behind them, that Nuclear Option just means 51 will confirm a judge except for on the u. S. Supreme court. So that gives donald trump a big leeway with 52 republicans in in the senate right now, and what could happen is if the democrats try to filibuster one of his Supreme Court picks, the gop leadership can do their own Nuclear Option and change that rule as well. That would give the president only 51 votes needed to support Supreme Court nominee. That would be a pretty extraordinary, but its possible. You said one of his Supreme Court picks. Youre thinking theres going to be more than one . I think if you look at the court the way it is now, actuarially, you have several justices who are over 80 or approaching 80 quickly. I think thats a pretty safe assumption that that could happen. So the first appointment will replace a conservative. It wont change the court that much. Its the second one that people are really keeping an eye out for. Ginsburg, breyer, kennedy. Kennedy. Theyre getting up there. And who knows what could happen. All right. Kimberly atkins, kimberly, great to see you. Thanks very much. Good to see you. The Holiday Shopping season may be getting a little less busy according to analysts. They say spending dropped by about 70 billion last year. Americans are still shopping, of course. But theyre spreading out purchases over the entire year. And changing what it is they buy. Rob schmidt live at macys here in new york city. When i opened the New York Times this morning, theres a big, big fullpage ad, i think it said, like, 70 off, oneday sale at macys foetoday. I was expecting the place to be jammed. Is it . Reporter it is jammed, all the stuff nobody wanted, gregg, if you think about it. Still a lot of good deals in there. When you walk inside, everything is half off, the whole store is half off. Clothing is a big gamble, if you ever bought gifts especially for a woman in your life, the hardest thing to buy is clothing to get it right. The National Retail Federation Said 40 of all clothes bought as gifts get returned. So that might scares you a little bit, might be surprising as well. Thats more than stuff thats bought online which is returned at a rate of about 30 . Lets give you look behind me at macys which has gotten packed in the last few hours. I mean, really the doors, its so hard just to get inside. The restrooms have lines around the corner inside. Its incredibly busy. Ma macys opened very early, staying open very late tonight. All about returns and bargains today. We just spoke to a few people including one man whos looking for a deal on a diamond for his wife. This is our postchristmas shopping. Were going to hopefully get some good bargains when were in there. See something she likes. Were trying to find a winter coat, so unfortunately they didnt have the one we want, so now were going to more stores. I am actually waiting for the afterchristmas specials here, and im looking forward to it. So we came from washington, d. C. We arrived today. And we look forward to the next few days of shopping, shopping, shopping. Reporter it is fascinating, its the day after christmas, i say its one of the busiest shopping days ive seen of the season so far, gregg. A lot of deals to be had. Yeah, you know, i know my daughters will just take back whatever i buy them so i take them out in advance shopping so that they get, they select what it is they want. That way i avoid all those people behind you there doing the returns. Look, as we mentioned, Shopping Habits are changing, arent they . Reporter yeah, they certainly are. You know, not as much money is being spent during these two months. November and december. As was before. Its about 21 of the annual retail comes from november and december. That used to be more like 25 . People now looking for bargains year round. Everybody wants a deal. Nobody wants to pay retail anymore. They all want a sale. Youre seeing that trending and a lot more gift cards are being sold as well. Gregg, youre very smart, get them what they want, dont want to send them on an errand to return things. Im nobody as daddy credit card. Rob sh mit, thanks very much. A billionaire businessman as president elect, it is no surprise when money and politics mix. We saw a lot of that this year. Fox business anchor Maria Bartiromo has a look back at 2016. Reporter 2017 kicks off with high expectations. The promise of more and better jobs. Tax cuts. And a simplified code, less regulations and border security. All this because 2016 was the year of trump. Donald trump set to become americas 45th president , after outlasting 16 republican challengers then Hillary Clinton in the general election. The 2016 race was all about the economy and jobs. We have a serious problem and we cant be the stupid country anymore. Reporter but the discontent on the economy and call for change was on both sides of the aisle. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and his message of economic socialism resonating among disenfranchised millennials. It really does sicken me, you know, it really does. This really sickened me to see in this country billionaires buying elections. Reporter and the signs of discontent were not confined to u. S. Borders. In june the United Kingdom stunning the globe by voting to drop out of the european union. Experts universally predicting england would not vote for socalled brexit and if it did, the market would crater. They were wrong on both counts. Shortly after the vote for independence, the stock market soared. And as the man best known for the art of the deal gained momentum, actual deals were setting records. Record mergers making headlines all year as companies leveraged low Interest Rates and looked to acquire growth. One of the biggest deals of the year, at t trying to acquire time warner, still in limbo. President elect trump as candidate trump putting the deal in doubt. Meanwhile, the Technology World stood firmly against donald trump throughout. During the election as well. But it had its share of controversies in 2016. Apple and ceo tim cook refusing the fbis request to unlock a phone used by the San Bernardino terrorists. And samsung rocked when its signature galaxy note phone had to be recalled because it was catching on fire. Even airlines stopped allowing the phones on board. Meanwhile, just like brexit, the socalled experts not only got the Election Results wrong, but completely botched up the market predictions if donald trump were to win. In fact, minutes after trumps victory, an historic trump rally kicked off as investors reacted to trumps economic plan and republican sweep. By year end, new trump cabinet members promised Economic Growth and jobs would come from changing growth policies. We think theres going to be hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars, thats going to come back and thats going to create infrastructure and create jobs. Reporter 2016 ends with a businessman preparing to enter the white house and already making his mark on business in america. A deal to keep jobs in the u. S. With air conditioner company, carrier. A threat to pull a government deal with boeing if their costs didnt come down. And a japanese businessman pouring 50 billion in investments in the u. S. Because donald trump won. 2016 began with the worst stock market selloff ever. Trillions lost in the first two weeks of the year. But it is ending near alltime highs. Business was big in 2016. Maria bartiromo. Marimaria, a powerful winte storm causing trouble in the northern great plains. Emergency officials telling people to stay off the roads. Too dangerous out there. A lot of folks have already lost power. It could be a while before things get back to normal. Well have an update coming up next. Welcome back. Folks in the northern great plains got a White Christmas to be sure, but it was also kind of a messy one. Heavy snow hit parts of the dakotas and minnesota. High winds knocking out power lines. North dakota and south dakotas Transportation Department shut down hundreds of miles of highways. Airlines have canceled or delayed hundreds of flights. Mostly in and out of minneapolis. Forecasters say the travel problems could extend well into tomorrow. Lets turn to Regina Miller from accuweather. Hi, regina. Hi, gregg. I tell you what, living in the dakotas in the winter, it aint for the weak. I mean, we saw snow amounts 10 to 16 inches to the west of grand forks, but beyond that, we had the winds and theyre still gusting. Now, as we take a look at it, the good news is that most of that is dying down. We still have a little bit of light snow around duluth, minnesota, a little bit around minneapolis. Just flurries back into the dakotas. You notice we still have blizzard warnings in effect here. These will gradually start to come to an end through the evening hours from west to east. As those winds start to diminish. Because we still have winds gusting 40 to 45 miles per hour. And those will start to shift a little bit farther eastward. The current temperatures are cold as well. For example, 13 in bismarck. 20 in minneapolis. 20 in sioux falls which doesnt sound too bad, but when you factor in a steady wind over 20 miles per hour, it feels like its minus 7 in bismarck, feels like its only 2 degrees in minneapolis and sioux falls. And when those winds gust up to around 40 miles per hour, it feels like its in the minus teens in this area. In the meantime, across the rest of the nation, we have a front thats bringing rain from michigan all the way down into eastern texas. And its very warm right ahead of that, in fact, a big contrast in temperatures. You can see the rin rain back into western ohio, western pennsylvania as well. Look a the temperature difference. Right along and ahead of that front, 6 in columbus. Was 60 in pittsburgh earlier. 72 right now. Into charleston. 55 in detroit. If you are traveling anywhere for tomorrow, still lingering problems because of the blowing snow that we had into the dakotas. Back to the pacific northwest, the system coming in will bring some rain and mountain snow. Thats why were in the red zone in those locations. Gregg . And 56 tomorrow in new york. Im going to get out my board r take a picture. You dont want to see me in my board shorts. Trust me on that. Regina, thank you for much. All right. Too many music superstars have left us this year, we have lost prince, david bowie and now George Michael. Just ahead, remembering the latest artist gone too soon. That is one of his many big hits. Millions are remembering George Michael who died peacefully in england according to his family. Fans have been gathering outside leaving flowers and lighting candle. The british singer songwriter was only 53 years old. He became a 1980s icon as a member of wam and went on to have an incredibly successful solo career. Will carr has more on the life of George Michael. Will . Reporter hey, there. By all accounts, George Michaels death came as a major surprise. His publicist said he was healthy heading into christmas and his manager said he died from an apparent heart attack. His fans have created a makeshift memorial in front of his home in england taking time to remember the singer described as an 80s poster boy and a pop icon. It is very sad. I think hes had 11 hits, i think. And 1980s, you know, i grew up there and knew all his hits. Yeah, it is very sad news. Just completely surprised. I know it is really shocking to hear that hes passed away. Michael first found success in the 80s as part of the music duo wam and later launched his 1987 solo album that you just heard making him and international star. Over the course of his career he won eight grammys and two hits on the top 100 build boards here in the u. S. He used to play on some of his albums, all the musical elements, he would write the songs and produce the songs and perform the songs. He could do anything. But he also had recent health issues, didnt he, over the years . Reporter absolutely unique talent. Back in 2011 he had to cancel a Concert Series with pneumonia. He was in the icu and had to have a tracheotomy. They are memorializing his talent and charitable efforts since he donated a lot of money to organizations that fight both cancer and hiv. Greg . And we are, will, are we not seeing some pretty emotional reactions from other pop stars and celebrities . Reporter yeah, absolute lit. One of his good friends, elton john, took to twitter and instagram with the following message saying, im in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend, the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. Rip georgemichael. And ellen where, i just heard about my friend George Michaels death. He was such a sweet soul. Actress Carrie Fisher is in stable condition after having a medical emergency on board a plane. Carrie fisher had a heart attack on a flight from london. Someone gave her cpr. Fisher is best known for playing princess leia. Recently she was on tour promoting her new memoir. Just ahead, well show you what could be the tallest state Christmas Tree. This holiday, the real gift isnt whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give your loved ones ancestrydna, the simple dna test that can tell them where they came from by revealing their ethnic mix. Its a gift as original as they are. Order now at ancestrydna. Com. A new fake Christmas Tree record of 238 feet may be confirmed. Its twice as long as the rockefeller real Christmas Tree in manhattan. That one is only 94 feet tall. I like Charlie Browns tree. The scrawny little sapling with one or two ornaments. Your world is next. Have a great day. Who says christmas is over . Is the biggest tax break around the corner . Good morning, im trish regan in for neil cavuto. President elect donald trump is 25 days away from taking the oath of office ready to push a major tax cutting agenda. Supporters wanted him to go big and go bold, but there are some signs that there could be some resistance in congress. I want to go right now to steven moore, economic advise tore the president elect. Food to see you, steve. I know you want tax cuts and have wanted them forever, but lets be realistic here. And when could we actually see some meani