The year, will we hit 24,000 on the dow by christmas . The dow up 41 points at this hour. By the way, more bad p. R. For uber, the new ceo knew about that massive data hack for months before disclosing it. So plenty to go at. If youre at home enjoying that postturkey glow, settle in and buckle up for the next three hours. Varney company is about to begin. Ashley its hard to believe, but black friday may no longer be the hottest shopping day of the year. A new study shows only 35 of consumers plan to do their Holiday Shopping today. Amazingly, thats down 24 from just 2015. Interesting. Lets go to jeff flock. Hes live on chicagos Michigan Avenue. Jeff, i know its a little early, and i was going to say a lot of people out there . I dont see anyone behind you. [laughter] reporter you know, i always look to challenge these surveys because i sometimes think they dont make sense. Well, ive got to tell you, if you look at the magnificent mile right now, ashley, there are not throngs out here, and i have been on black friday when there have been a ton of people, and right now that is not the case. Yeah, its kind of early but, you know, a lot of people start early on black friday. I know they have in other parts of the country. But i dont know, it doesnt seem to have the same punch, to me, as it did in the past. Ashley thats interesting, jeff. Youre going to be there all day, and you mentioned the past. Where were they crowded into, were there long lines waiting for the doors to open . Reporter in fact, at this store here well, theres two here. This is one of the reasons i think also. This is h m, they said, oh, yeah, black friday collection, but it starts on november 24th. And right next door this is a store, a japanese retailer, and there were big lines here just a year ago. But you look at this, their promotion,11 24 through 11 27, good deals but, again, not just on black friday. Maybe people are buying just as much but not all at once like they used to on this crazy day. Ashley i think youre exactly right, jeff flock. I think theyve already done their big purchases or waiting until the very last minute which has been my strategy for years now. Reporter me too. Ashley jeff flock on Michigan Avenue in chicago, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Not exactly a great picture of commerce going on there. Lets bring in the author of six billion shoppers. Pretty dismal scene in chicago, no one really around. Is black friday dead as we once knew it . Yeah, i think this is the year thats sort of the beginning of the end of black friday. As you mentioned, people were shopping really all month because everyone, all the retailers have moved up their promotions earlier starting sometimes at the beginning of the month. So people are beginning to say its no longer black friday, its black november. Ashley thats interesting. So is everyone staying at home and doing it online . We know those numbers will probably go up again. Whats this season going to be like, do you think, for the brick and Mortar Stores . Well, overall it looks to be pretty good. Consumer confidence is high, the economys doing well, wages arent as good as people were hoping, but, you know, what people are doing instead of going to michigan mile now is that theyre using their mobile phones. So i think the mobile phone has changed everything. Now everyone has a Shopping Mall in their pockettings. And so even pockets. Even at my own family thanksgiving last night after the pumpkin pie was finished, we found people in various rooms in the house kind of secretly going through the deals on their smartphone. So i think now what youre seeing is that people do their Holiday Shopping on their smartphones, finishing as soon as the final pumpkin pie is eaten. Actually, it turned out last year the 24 hours right after thanksgiving dinner was the Biggest Online shopping period in the cup. So not only in the country. Cyber monday is dying, and its the moving ahead now. Ashley its all moving at such a fast pace. Getting back to those brick and Mortar Stores, the Department Stores, what can they do to get more people to actually come through the doors . Well, i think one thing theyve done, which is good, is theyve moved made it sort of a black friday week now. So their still getting the theyre still getting the traffic, its just people arent having fistfights over tvs outside the front of Shopping Malls anymore. Theyre getting people to come in and linking mobile phones to shopping. So it now happens if you show up in a store and youre on your mobile app, you can instantly be, you know, alerted to a deal that the store has locally. So tying online to offline, brick and Mortar Stores are doing more of that. And then the smart ones are tying sort of mobile promotions so when someone checks a price inside the store, theyve got the customer right there, and they can make a deal with them. Ashley i mentioned my strategy is always leave it to the last minute, typical guy thing to do, but there are people who believe that strategy works. In this age of all of these amazing deals online, is that really a good strategy, or you know, because its a very stressful one as well. Well, its very stressful. Its always been my strategy [laughter] and it usually ends in me giving a coupon book to do the dishes or take out the trash, which actually seems to be a more wellreceived present than the g. I. Joe with the kung fu grip or something. [laughter] thats a good strategy in a way because consumers have gotten more savvy now. They realize that after black fridays gone and after a lot of the shoppings done, there are even better deals online. You may not get exactly what you want. Ashley fascinating stuff. Thank you so much for joining us on this black friday. And as we saw in chicago, not many people out there. Porter, thank you very much. Lets take a quick look at the futures ahead of the opening bell in about 25 minutes from now, the dow up about twotenths of a percent. Abbreviated trading session, the markets will close at 1 p. M. , but trading will be going on, and well be following it every step of the way. Checking on amazon, of course, thats a big topic today, americans rushing to catch those black friday deals. Up slightly, i say slightly at 6, 1162 a share on amazon, up half a percent. Lets check on walmart, probably amazons biggest competitor. Its web site, by the way, ran out of sale items last night. Thats not good. The stock moving higher at 96. P 96. P 96. 75 for walmart. The latest allegations against senator al franken, two more women accusing him of inappropriate touching. That brings the total to four. Franken issuing a statement saying, quote ive met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations. Im a warm person. I hug people. Ive learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters i crossed the line for some women, and i know that any number is too many. Thats from al franken. All right. Joining us now, Washington Examiner chief Political Correspondent byron york. Byron, whatd you make of this latest statement from al franken . Well, i think its kind of striking that senator franken found it necessary to issue ap apology on an apology on thanksgiving day. Stuart yeah. I believe its his fourth so far since the educations against him allegations against him began. But i think thats clearly an indication of his level of concern. Coffining, hes back home in minnesota of course, hes back home in minnesota trying to take the temperature there k and hes clearly concerned. Ashley should he quit, do you think, byron . I think we have a different situation with the franken situation and also with representative john conyers. I think their situation is different from some of the other cases weve seen because they are elected by the people, and they dont have bosses. So charlie rose had a boss who fired him, and Mark Halperin had a boss who fired him. In this case, the bosses are the voters. And in most cases, the way that voters deal with their unhappiness with a lawmaker is to vote them out the next time around. So john conyers is up next year, as all members of the house are, and al franken is up in 2020. So i think what youre seeing with both of them is these harassment allegations are moving so quickly that i think they think it would be better to hang on, see what happens, dont do anything in a moment of panic. Ashley well, franken and others have said, look, im quite happy for an Ethics Committee to look into this, but what power would the committee have if they get to the conclusion, yes, you behaved inappropriately . What can they do . Well, the Ethics Committee is kind of a black hole. Its where allegations go and theyre never heard of again. [laughter] conceivably, and weve heard this mentioned with, about roy moore, should he be elected senator from alabama. The Ethics Committee can investigate, and they can recommend punishment up to the expulsion of a senator. But remember, these take a long time. Senator bob packwood who got in big trouble in the 19 is 90s ashley i remember. His investigation began in the Ethics Committee in 1992 and finished in 1995. So these are long, involved processes. Ashley but at what point does it become unmanageable for these lawmakers . It seems like a couple more women have come out talking about instances involving franken. Does there get a point when its just unmanageable, do you think, byron . Well, that is true. You wonder whether there is some sort of Tipping Point where theres so many against him that the voters simply dont believe that each one of them has an innocent explanation. Ashley right. So, and also you have to remember there are gradations of offenses here. I mean, i think people look and see what charlie rose or louis c. K. Did, and i think that is really, really bad. Ashley yeah. And they look at what al franken did, and say, i dont know, i need to know more about this. Ashley yeah. So each voter in minnesota, in the case of senator franken, is making a decision, and i think they probably dont feel they know everything they need to know to make that decision right now. Ashley i think youre exactly right. Byron york, thank you so much for coming in on this friday and talking to us. Appreciate it. Thank you. Ashley militants are suspected of an attack on a mosque in egypt. State tv in egypt reporting 184 people dead, more than 80 injured. We, of course, bring you updates as more information becomes available on that story. All right, now this call it a sign of the times. New York City Police officers forced to hide while going to the restroom at one college. Find out why next. Also, another check of the market futures for you, about 20 minutes away from the open on wall street. The dow futures showing we will start the day up by about 38 points. Well be right back. Zar one of our investors was in his late 50s right in the heart of the financial crisis, and saw his portfolio drop by double digits. It really scared him out of the markets. His advisor ran the numbers and showed that he wouldnt be able to retire until he was 68. The client realized, i need to get back into the markets i need to get back on track with my plan. The Financial Advisor was able to work with this client. Hes now on track to retire when hes 65. Having someone coach you through it is really the value of a Financial Advisor. Ashley well, markets back in record territory according to the futures, you can see the dow up 42 points. At least thats where we think were going to be when the markets open in just under 15 minutes from now. Ge announcing its going to slash even more jobs beginning next year. This stock had been down in the 17 range, now up a quarter up at 18. 38, up 1. 25 in the premarket. Well keep an eye on ge for you. Now this, a judge in seattle ruling that the citys controversial tax on the rich, its illegal the judge says. Deirdre bolton here. God bless her, for the next three hours. [laughter] pleasure. Ashley thank you for agreeing to join now. To join us. It is illegal to tax on income, so the lawmakers who passed this last summer trying to do just that, they knew they were going to go to court. They were ready for the fight, but just to give you some of the metrics involved, basically, if you make over 250,000 a year, the city of seattle wanted to tax you at 2. 25 . However, the courts, as widely anticipated, slammed it down. So for the moment, no go. But the point is the lawmakers who do want to tax the rich have begun the conversation. And if you look at it ashley theyve opened the door. Thats all they wanted to do, was make the point rich people should be taxed. Ashley and theyll just move somewhere else. They forget that yes and no. When you have kids in schools, i mean, sometimes youre just cranky and complain for a year or two, but, yes, longer term. However, the way that this Court Decision goes, this is a much longer fight ashley but the fight, you think, will go on. The fight will go on, but i do think for the people who make over 250,000, they have a few more years to not pay that additional high tax. Ashley thank you very much, deidre. Wait until you hear this one. Brooklyn college is asking Police Officers to hide while using the restroom. Strange but true. Joining us now is a Program Manager at campusreform. Org. Okay, hannah, explain to me whats going on on this brooklyn campus. What are the Police Officers being made to do . So the nypd, theyre asked to use campus bathrooms that are on the other side of campus, dirty, out of order bathrooms because their mere presence makes students feel uncomfortable, and the Public Service director says it makes safe spaces feel less safe. This is not only degrading and dehumanizing, this is a regressive form of activism. I think these students seem to have forgotten on 9 11 hundreds of the men and women of the nypd died saving lives. And just a few weeks ago they thwarted what would have been the 23rd terrorist attack on new york city since 9 11. So these students should be very careful what they wish for by demanding cops leave campus and use separate bathrooms. Ashley we sent a reporter out there to speak with some of these students, and they said they didnt want the police on campus because it makes safe spaces feel not so safe, another student said, you know, your first instinct when you see a cop is to be care ised. I mean is to be scared. Whats going on . This is antipolice rhetoric that weve been seeing across the nation especially on college campuses. It was reported recently students at the university of pittsburgh demanding the disarming of all police. And at the university of wisconsin, students sold antipolice hoodies and released a promotional video depicting Police Officers as bloody pigs. And its just terrible. And were seeing a glorification of this Resistance Movement towards Police Officers and towards law. And, you know, we see this with look at colin kaepernick. He was awarded citizen of the year after wearing socks at nfl games that depict Police Officers as pigs. Were seeing an entire generation not only disdain the rule of law, but actively engage in civil disobedience and learn to hate and resist anybody who represents or stands for it. Ashley now, youre with campusreform. Org. What exactly is that about . Were a project of the leadership institute, were kind of a watching to of higher education. Watchdog of higher education. Aaron ash bet youre busy, respect you . Oh, yeah. Very busy. Ashley the one thing we hear a lot is anyone who doesnt have a liberal point of view, they get shouted down or they have to call security, theyre so afraid of hearing another point of view. Is that still prevalent . Absolutely. And this is why its so important for us to expose stories and to stand by them. With this antipolice rhetoric, for example, this is just one example of the many biases and abuses we see on college campuses. If we continue to teach our College Students to hate Police Officers and shut down ideas they dont like, we can only expect another city like chicago where, im sorry, crime rate has skyrocketed because police are standing down, theyre afraid to do their jobs because the community is learning and theyre encouraged to engage in civil disobedience. And, you know, if this happens to new york city, its dangerous because terror is on the rise. We need to start teaching our next generation to respect law and order, respect authority and act with decency. Ashley couldnt have said it any better. Heather, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Ashley another hit for ubers image. Were now learning that the new ceo brought it in, brought in, he was, to clean things up. Apparently, he hid the news of that massive hack for months. Were on that story, you can bet. But first, it is a shortened trading day but any boost to the dow would give us another record. Up to 23,532. Well be right back after this. Ashley we have a headline for you on uber. The massive hack attack we told you about a couple of days ago happened under the previous ceo, but the new see you knew about it new ceo knew about it and didnt say anything for months. Yeah, he took the job and two weeks later learned of this hack that affected 57 Million People, drivers licenses taken, names, addresses. So this new ceo has so much work to do ahead of him with uber, but he may run into i mean, new york a. G. Eric schneiderman has opened an inquiry ashley yep. So this is not going to go away. This company is beleaguered, lets just say that. Ashley stumbles from one scandal to the next. It certainly does. Ashley could he get in trouble for this with the federal trade commission maybe . Yeah. Normally, when you learn of a hack, you are supposed to contact the ftc and the a. G. In your state with the hopes of prosecuting the person who hacked, not just pay that person 100,000 to be quiet. Ashley dont say anything, delete it all. All righ