GA Lt. Gov. Duncan on upcoming runoff elections

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GA Lt. Gov. Duncan on upcoming runoff elections

Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan weighs in on the Georgia Senate runoffs and election integrity on 'Your World'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto" December 30, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  Stop the distractions, Georgia Governor
Brian Kemp ripping all of the distractions.

With the Senate run-off elections now just six days away, he says the
stakes are just too high, this as President Trump calls on the governor to
resign.

We are going to be speaking to Georgia's lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan,
about all that in just moments.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Sandra Smith, in for Neil Cavuto, and this is YOUR
WORLD.

We have got FOX team coverage for you, Steve Harrigan in Atlanta on the
governors warning ahead of that voting, and Peter Doocy in Augusta,
Georgia, on President Trump and president-elect Biden both heading to
Georgia to get their supporters rallying.

But we begin with Steve this afternoon.

Steve, kick it off for us.

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Sandra, it was expected to focus
today on the battle for control the Senate, which party will control the
Senate for the next two years, with these two Senate run-off races set for
January 5?

Instead, that was eclipsed, at least for one day, by a battle between
Republicans, by President Trump fighting with Georgia's Republican Governor
Brian Kemp. It began with tweets yesterday.

President Trump, angry over what he calls rampant fraud in the Georgia
presidential vote in November, said that a camp should resign. The
president tweeted the following: "I love the great state of Georgia, but
the people who run it, from the governor, Brian Kemp, to the secretary of
state, are a complete disaster and don't have a clue, or worse. Nobody can
be this stupid. Just allow us to find the crime and turn the state
Republican."

Now, Governor Kemp refuse to engage directly in a fight with President
Trump. Instead, he responded the following:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA):  I mean, I have supported the president. I have
said that many times. I work as hard as anybody in the state on his
reelection through November the 3rd. I have supported the legal process
that him or any other campaign can go through in this state.

But, at the end of the day, I also have to follow the laws and the
constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIGAN:  As far as the Senate run-off races go, 2.5 million people have
voted early. They're sorting some of the early votes behind me.

That early voting ends tomorrow. More than $800 million has been spent by
the four candidates so far, setting all kinds of records for Senate
campaigns. And the secretary of state of Georgia has come down hard on
what's called line warming.

That's when small items, food drink, or a small gift are given to people in
line to vote by political parties. He's trying to make sure that stops
immediately -- Sandra, back to you.

SMITH:  OK, Steve Harrigan live from Atlanta for us, thank you.

President Trump and President Joe Biden both expected to make appearances
in Georgia on the eve of the election.

To Peter Doocy now in Augusta, Georgia, for us on that -- Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Sandra, the Republican candidates
here are betting that people in this state who want to go and stick up for
President Trump can be motivated to go and vote for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA):  We're going to keep fighting for this
president too. But you know? What we can do two things at once. We can keep
fighting for this president. We can show America that Georgia is a red
state, and we can get this done right here in Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  Loeffler is also now incorporating accusations about her opponent
into her stump speech today.

Reverend Raphael Warnock, the Democrat, was accused last week of his wife -
- by his ex-wife of running over her foot with a car back in March. That is
something Warnock was never charged for. And he's been accused in recent
days of running a camp where counselors were abusive to minors.

But the other Democrat on the ballot, Jon Ossoff, doubts that will matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  Any concern that the allegations of wrongdoing against Reverend
Warnock could possibly be a drag on the Democratic ticket next week?

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE:  None whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  The Biden transition team does not have any strong concerns either.

They announced today Biden will be here on the eve of the election for an
event in Atlanta. And this weekend, Kamala Harris is going to host an event
in the Savannah area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, BIDEN TRANSITION ADVISER:  I think we're not naive about the
fact that this is a special election in early January, and we're going to
take no vote for granted. And, certainly, neither are the current means or
the candidates running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  Millions of ballots have already been cast.

But the candidates are all fanning out, trying to get people to go to the
polls right now, including an event that just wrapped up here with Kelly
Loeffler in Augusta, about an eight-minute drive away from the famous golf
course -- Sandra.

SMITH:  OK, and a lovely place that that is, and a lot of news that you
broke today. Thank you, Peter.

Meanwhile, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp lashing out at
distractions ahead of run-off elections on Tuesday, this after President
Trump called on him to resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEMP:  But I have got to stay focused on the issues of the day in Georgia,
not what somebody is tweeting or doing in some committee meeting in the
Georgia state capitol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH:  With me now, Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan.

Sir, good afternoon. Thanks so much for being here.

First off, what do you make of this back-and-forth that you're seeing with
the governor of your state and President Trump, President Trump, not by
name, but clearly calling out leadership in your state as a disaster? But
he did, by name, say that the governor should resign in a tweet today.

Your reaction?

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA):  Yes, unfortunately, the president has 100
percent decided how he's going to react to the -- to losing the election.

And, unfortunately, I don't think it's helping us here in Georgia on our
January 5 run-off. My hope is that enough Republicans hang on between now
and January 5 to make sure that Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue get
reelected.

Certainly, the governor continues to follow the letter of the law. Governor
Kemp continues to do a great job leading us through a pandemic and all the
other information and stuff that we're dealing with here in Georgia. But
it's not helpful.

And, certainly, I'm not encouraging the president or anybody around him to
continue this.

SMITH:  Will it be helpful for the president to visit there, as he plans to
do on the eve of the election?

DUNCAN:  Well, certainly, any time you can have a president in the same
party show up and help to get folks to show up to the polls, that's
important.

My hope, my encouragement, and my advice is to stick to trying to figure
out a way to get Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue back in and to steer away
from this misinformation. It's not helping anybody short term or long term.
I think it continues to hurt the brand of the Republican Party.

We have only got four years to figure out how to get back into the White
House. And I think there's an easier way to explain the loss. This is a
death by 1,000 cuts. This is not the greatest conspiracy in the history of
mankind that was a bipartisan conspiracy.

This was simply death by 1,000 cuts. I think folks woke up and didn't like
the first debate performance. I think there's folks in Arizona that didn't
like the way John McCain got unfairly picked on by the president.

We're going to -- we're going to need to spend some time analyzing it. But
we have only got four years to figure out how to get seven million people
to vote for our Republican candidate for president in four years.

SMITH:  And I hear you suggesting that it could still be a good thing for
the president visit the state, as I mentioned he plans to do.

Have you been invited to join him or do you plan to join him?

DUNCAN:  I'm going to stay focused on trying to get as many folks to show
up to the polls on January 5 down here, where we're at.

Certainly encourage the president to stay on -- stay on message, stay on
task, and continue to remind Georgians all over the place that, look, we
have got Republican leadership here in Georgia. All eight statewide
constitutional officers are Republicans. We have got majorities in the
state Senate and state House as Republicans.

I will remind everybody that 53.7 percent of Georgians voted for a
Republican state senator on the same election that the president is
contesting.

SMITH:  Lieutenant Governor, we had the former Speaker of the House Newt
Gingrich on our program "America's Newsroom" earlier this morning.

And he suggested, like your governor, that these distractions are not
helping the party and could take away from a Republican victory in your
state.

Here's -- here's the former speaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE:  I really am very worried
that, if he plays a clever parliamentary game, it may look good inside the
Senate, but it could cost us two Senate seats and control of the Senate.

So, I would beg him to bring up the $2,000 payment as a freestanding,
independent vote, and have people like Senator Loeffler and Senator Perdue
able to come back and vote for it.

SMITH:  Yes.

GINGRICH:  Take it off the table as an issue, because, frankly, if Warnock
and Ossoff could be in favor the $2,000 unit and can attack Mitch McConnell
for the next six days, I think it's very hard at that point to win the
race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH:  Do you share in those concerns, knowing that the two Republican
candidates in your state have openly now supported those $2,000 payments?

DUNCAN:  Well, I think it's important to talk about the big issues. Those
are big issues.

The part that I think is -- really hurts us here in Georgia for our January
5 run-off is to have conversations about misinformation. It's to have folks
like Rudy Giuliani walking around the Georgia capitol today just talking
about misinformation in every -- every syllable.

It's cringeworthy. It's like listening to fingernails down a chalkboard.

We're Republicans in Georgia. We have got majorities. We have got a winning
attitude here. Folks in Georgia support conservative leadership. We just
need to spend the time reminding folks all about it.

These folks that are trying to figure out ways to flip the election with
misinformation is not democracy. It's not American. I don't support it. And
I certainly encourage everybody listening here not to support any sort of
misinformation campaign to just flip an election.

SMITH:  And you have referenced that for weeks now, what you have
referenced as mountains of misinformation that have been spreading.

Lieutenant Governor, I think that we hear -- we hear you very frustrated,
and clearly. You have long supported the president, to be clear.

When exactly did all of this change for you, to be speaking out so fiercely
against his most recent actions?

DUNCAN:  I'm proud to be a Republican.

I grew up in a very conservative household. I have got three boys. I'm a
small business owner. I'm a proud Republican. And -- but, certainly, I'm
also a proud American.

And so, when I watched the first couple of days and weeks after the
election, where the misinformation started flying in and the death threats
started showing up just because folks wanted to flip an election, I
realized that, look, I got elected to do my job.

SMITH:  OK.

DUNCAN:  And, certainly, that's important to me. And I'm proud of the
governor. I'm proud of the secretary of state.

And this has been a difficult process for all of us. But it's one that, at
the end of this, we're going to be proud of the hard work we have put in
and the honest work that we have put in, regardless of the fact the person
we voted for didn't win.

Too many people are trying to focus their attention in the Republican Party
on trying to reform the system. I think it's time for us to start talking
about GOP 2.0. And what are the things that we can do to improve?

Like I said earlier, we have only got four years to try to win the White
House back. And we have got a lot of work in front of us to do that.

SMITH:  And a lot of that depends on what happens on Tuesday in your state.

A few seconds left. How do you feel about your party's chances in those
run-offs?

DUNCAN:  Well, yes, I like Republicans in Georgia. I think we -- at the end
of the day, we have got a great shot to win.

Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are certainly working hard. And we just
need to continue to remind folks what conservative leadership has done for
them here in Georgia.

SMITH:  OK.

DUNCAN:  And I think we have got a great shot on January 5.

SMITH:  Lieutenant Governor, I appreciate you coming on this afternoon.
Thank you.

DUNCAN:  Thank you.

SMITH:  The first $600 stimulus payments are already going out, but can
Americans bank on an even bigger check potentially to come in?

An update on the Senate showdown on Capitol Hill next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH:  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell today, as the battle in the Senate continues to heat up over
those $2,000 stimulus checks.

FOX News' David Spunt is in Washington with more on where things stand at
this moment -- David.

DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hi, Sandra.

About an hour ago, the Senate majority leader walked on to the Senate floor
to announce that the bill that the House passed earlier this week to
provide those $2,000 direct payments to needy Americans will not go far in
the Senate at all.

The reason is because the majority leader says he has his own proposal to
dish out $2,000 direct payments, but it comes with a catch, and that catch
involves some items on the president's wish list.

Specifically, he says that, we will give you the $2,000 checks, but you
have to vote to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which
protects big tech companies who censor speech online. McConnell also wants
a study of the integrity and security of the 2020 presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY):  The Senate is not going to split apart the
three issues that President Trump linked together just because Democrats
are afraid to address two of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPUNT:  Democrats called the election integrity and Section 230 parts of
the package poison pills. They want a straight up-or-down vote only on the
$2,000 direct payments to the American people.

Sandra, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tried yesterday to do this with no
luck. This morning, he criticized his counterpart's plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY):  It won't pass the House. It cannot become
law. A move like this is really a blatant attempt to deprive Americans of
the $2,000 survival check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPUNT:  Right now, by our count, there are five Republicans who are in
favor of direct payments without those additions from the president's wish
list, Senator Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, David Perdue, Kelly Loeffler,
and Marco Rubio.

Switching gears to a sad topic, Sandra, I know you have been following it,
making its way through the halls of the Capitol, 41-year-old Republican
congressman-elect Luke Letlow from Louisiana died yesterday after a battle
with COVID, this getting a lot of talk around Capitol Hill and the country.

He announced his diagnosis earlier this month, and many on both sides of
the aisle are stunned by his untimely death, including former Governor and
former Congressman Bobby Jindal, who was Letlow's boss. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R-LA):  I hope people remember Julia in their
prayers, their two beautiful children, a little boy and a little girl that
will have to grow up without their father.

I remember -- I remember he and I were in his truck once. We saw a bumper
sticker that says something to the effect of, God doesn't promise you
tomorrow, but he does promise you eternity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPUNT:  I know you lived in Louisiana. Same with me. It's a close-knit
community.

Our thoughts and prayers obviously with the Letlow family -- Sandra.

SMITH:  Absolutely. David Spunt, thank you for that.

SPUNT:  You bet.

SMITH:  So, with the first $600 check starting to go out, should Americans
still be banking on the full $2,000 check to come in?

Let's bring in GOP strategist Hal Lambert, Democratic strategist Jenna
Arnold, and The Hill correspondent Reid Wilson.

Thanks for joining us, everybody.

Jenna, to you first.

Will these checks eventually go out? And how much will be on them?

JENNA ARNOLD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST:  Fingers crossed that they will. And,
hopefully, it will be $2,000.

It's heartbreaking and an embarrassment that it has taken so long for this
government to be able to supply basic needs to Americans. Countries all
over the world -- Germany has provided up to 87 percent of an individual's
salary. The United Kingdom has followed suit; $2,000 is barely going to
scratch the surface. Everyone knows that.

And, consequently, eight million more Americans have fallen below the
poverty line -- that's approximately $26,000 -- since April.

SMITH:  Yes.

And what has changed a lot of this, Hal, has been the fact that we're so
closely watching these Senate races down in Georgia, and both the
Republican candidates down there have thrown their support behind $2,000.

HAL LAMBERT, GOP STRATEGIST:  Well, certainly, the $2,000 is popular, and,
therefore, that's why they have done that.

But I think President Trump also-called for repeal of Section 230 and the
election commission. So, Senator McConnell is simply saying, OK, fine, we
will put that out there. We're going to put all three together and do a
vote.

But, look, Nancy Pelosi, she -- as soon as she heard President Trump
talking about $2,000, within 24 hours, she was out on the floor doing a
vote, and they got this thing passed. Why didn't that happen in August? Why
didn't that happen in September?

We know why it didn't happen, because she didn't want to give a win to
President Trump before the election. But this could have been done months
ago. It's really too it wasn't done. And now she's just being opportunistic
about it and trying to do this here at the last minute going into a Georgia
election. That's what this is all about.

SMITH:  Reid, this morning, Nancy Pelosi held a news conference during our
hours. We covered it. She said the Democrats and Republicans in the House
have passed this legislation. Who's holding up that distribution to the
American people? Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans.

So, there's a lot of blame being thrown around right now. But there's a lot
of folks that still -- still need a lot of help. So what is the fallout if
this does not get done?

REID WILSON, THE HILL:  Well, we're going to see a lot of pain in the
American economy in the next six months, year. I mean, this could extend
several years down the line now, as this pandemic continues.

We have seen more Americans in poverty. We have seen more Americans falling
behind on their rent payments. We have even seen that the number of
students preparing to apply for colleges fall pretty dramatically. So there
is a -- this COVID recession is going to have a very long tail here.

And one of the things I'm paying attention to a lot is the debate around
money that would go to state and local governments. That's something that
Democrats want in their proposal. Republicans have held the line against
that. But those state and local governments, they're a huge part of the
American economy. Something like 13 percent of our GDP come out of local
governments.

And if that money is not there, they're going to have to start making some
really big cutbacks, which -- and those cutbacks, by the way, are things
that extended the slow pace of the last recovery coming out of the Great
Recession a decade ago.

SMITH:  It's a good point.

And Pat Toomey, who's been firmly -- he does not like the idea of almost
tripling the $600 checks that were approved of initially. He's saying
Congress should continue helping workers who have lost their jobs. He says
blindly borrowing more than $600 billion so that we can send $2,000 checks
to millions of people who haven't lost any income is terrible policy.

So, Jenna, why not look at some of these other ideas out there and helping
folks who need to find work?

ARNOLD:  I'm open to other ideas. But this president has had almost a year
to look at other ideas.

Hal, I really appreciate you bring up Section 230 and McConnell's desire to
put voter integrity in the center of the conversation. And both things are
desperately needed. Section 230 should absolutely go to committee. And if
we want to talk about voter integrity, there's 30 million eligible
Americans who were disenfranchised in this last election.

So, there's very legitimate additional conversations and topics that should
be put on the floor, but not attached to taking food out of American
babies' mouth. And this is -- $2,000, again, comparing this to so many
other developed countries around the world, is absolutely nothing.

As Reid pointed out, so many more Americans are in poverty because of
politics in D.C.

SMITH:  Hal, Jenna, Reid, we're going to have to leave it there. Thanks to
all of you for joining us. Appreciate it.

LAMBERT:  Thank you.

WILSON:  Thank you.

SMITH:  A Hong Kong businessman, meanwhile, convicted for his involvement
with a Chinese energy firm, this same firm connected to Hunter Biden.

We will have that story for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH:  California's governor says a case of the U.K. COVID strain has been
discovered in his state. It's in at least two states so far. So, how
widespread will it get?

We're on it after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH:  A Chinese businessman with ties to Hunter Biden has his federal
conviction upheld by the courts.

FOX News correspondent Leland Vittert is in Washington, D.C., on that
story.

Hey, Leland.

LELAND VITTERT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hey, Sandra.

There's no accusation that Hunter Biden was involved in the bribery scheme.
But Senator Chuck Grassley laid out quite clearly why this man's
relationship to Hunter matters. This is a letter he sent to the DOJ.

"Chi Ping Patrick Ho was charged and convicted of international bribery and
money laundering offenses stemming from his work for the CEFC-backed China
Energy Committee. After his arrest, his first call was reportedly to James
Biden. Hunter Biden reportedly represented Patrick Ho for a period of time
and received at least $1 million for his representation. According to
recent reporting, the federal government obtained at least one FISA warrant
on Patrick Ho, indicating he's a potential counterintelligence threat to
the United States."

This is Grassley writing: "Indeed, Hunter Biden was well aware of Patrick
Ho's links to the communist Chinese government, specifically, its
intelligence services."

Ho was sentenced last year to 36 months in prison and a $400,000 fine. He's
out of jail and back in Hong Kong. So, the court's decision, Sandra, may
not mean much practically. But it does reaffirm the government had enough
evidence for this conviction, and then also probably leaves more questions
in terms of what Hunter Biden was doing representing somebody of this ilk.

SMITH:  OK, Leland Vittert, thank you.

So, will this new development raise calls for a special counsel in the
Hunter Biden investigation?

Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker joins us now to discuss
that.

Matthew, good -- good evening, I should say. Good to see you.

So, bottom line, the question is, how does this overall affect the
investigation? And does it give more credit to calling for a special
counsel into the matter?

MATTHEW WHITAKER, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL:  Yes, I think it
does give a lot more credit to those calls for a special counsel.

And I think it is another fact that was probably not available to a lot of
Americans, that this CEFC company, a Chinese energy company, had paid
bribes in Uganda and in Chad, the countries of, and ultimately is -- was
corrupt.

The CEO who was negotiating with Hunter Biden has disappeared in China. And
I think a lot of people are afraid that this Hunter Biden investigation, if
a special counsel isn't appointed, will be swept under the rug when Joe
Biden is inaugurated on January 20.

SMITH:  Really interesting.

Also to this piece in The Wall Street Journal by Bill McGurn. He is digging
into China's influence and recently wrote a column highlighting just how
far China's reach goes, writing this: "Eric Swalwell and Hunter Biden are
only the tip of the Chinese influence iceberg."

The question would be, do people realize this, the more and more we talk
about the threat that China poses to this country, just how much they are
already here?

WHITAKER:  You're right.

And I saw this directly, both as chief of staff and as acting attorney
general at the Department of Justice, in -- for President Trump. And what I
saw was a -- the Chinese communists trying to not only steal our
intellectual property, but also influence American foreign policy, not only
in their own region, but worldwide.

You think about the Belt and Road investment program they have across the
world, including South America. And it's just -- it's really persuasive and
pervasive. And, as well, I think the Chinese are the superpower that we
need to continue to match and to cover from an intelligence standpoint,
because they're very dangerous with what they're trying to do to our
country.

SMITH:  Are you surprised we don't have more answers, whether it's the
Hunter Biden investigation, the revelations in the laptop, or with Eric
Swalwell? The suspected Chinese spy, she was able to just leave the
country.

Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers were briefed. We talked to members of the Intel
Committee who say they absolutely were not. Are you just surprised that
there isn't more of a hunger, more of an appetite to get to the bottom of
some of this by both sides of the aisle?

WHITAKER:  Yes, I think that the hunger to get to the bottom of it is
mostly the lack of desire of the mainstream media and our major papers and
news outlets to cover this and to investigate it.

The Department of Justice, it sounds like from all reports, are all over
this. They have seen the laptop. They have seen the communications. They
have interviewed Tony Bobulinski and others involved with Hunter Biden's
business dealings.

And so I think, ultimately, you don't have to worry about the Department of
Justice investigating crimes. It is really the question of why the
mainstream media just does not find this story interesting or worthy of
digging in, like they have for over two years that we saw in the Russian
collusion fable.

SMITH:  So many different elements to all of these stories, and including
the owner of the repair shop that that laptop was initially found.

WHITAKER:  Yes.

SMITH:  He's going to be joining me tomorrow morning on "America's
Newsroom."

WHITAKER:  Right.

SMITH:  We will ask him about him suing Twitter because they said he
hacked, and he said he did not. And now he's claiming defamation.

Matthew Whitaker, great to see you, and thanks for being here tonight.

WHITAKER:  Yes, happy holidays, Sandra. Thank you.

SMITH:  To you as well.

Next, we are live in Nashville, where investigators are searching for
evidence of a bomb that devastated the downtown area there.

New details about the warning that has some asking could all of this have
been prevented?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH:  Questions still remain as to what Nashville police knew about the
Christmas Day bomber and when, his girlfriend previously raising concerns
about what was happening inside this R.V.

Mike Tobin is at the bomb site in Nashville for us.

Hey, Mike.

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  And, Sandra, start out with some new
visuals we have from security cameras of businesses just before the blast
rocked downtown Nashville.

Business owners about a block away, even more, talk about their doors and
locks being blown off. Witnesses and 911 calls mysteriously talk about the
sound of gunfire before that warning was blared from the R.V. No one has
explained that yet.

Then you had the warning. You heard the broadcast or the blaring of Petula
Clark's 1964 hit "Downtown," and then the blast. We know now that police
did receive warning that Anthony Warner was building bombs.

And a report, an incident report from 2019, says a woman identified as a
girlfriend of Warner "made statements that her boyfriend was building bombs
in an R.V. trailer at his residence. The suspect frequently talks about the
military and bomb-making."

Police knocked on his door, didn't get an answer. Police saw the R.V., but
didn't see inside the R.V. Prior to discovery of this incident report from
last year, police said all they knew of Warner was a pot charge from 1978.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID RAUSCH, DIRECTOR, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION:  He was not on
our radar. He was not someone that was identified as a person of interest
for the bureau. And so we were not familiar with this individual until this
incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN:  Just a short time ago, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake says
he believes that his officers did everything they could have done legally.
Possibly, they could have followed up more. But he said hindsight is 2020 -
- Sandra, back to you.

SMITH:  Mike Tobin on that for us.

Mike, thank you.

So, did the FBI miss the warning? And could this have been prevented?

With us now, former FBI special agent bomb technician Barry Black.

Barry, good to have you tonight.

So, knowing what we know today, do you believe this could have been
prevented?

BARRY BLACK, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT BOMB TECHNICIAN:  No, Sandra.

The volume of information that state and local, federal law enforcement
gets on a daily basis is tremendous. From my understanding, Metro Nashville
actually went to the house to follow up on the information that the alleged
girlfriend had provided, didn't see any indications of anything nefarious,
but then took the additional step to contact the FBI, who I believe checked
their databases, along with DOD databases, for any kind of derogatory
information, and none was found.

They then, as I understand it, took the additional step to contact an
attorney representing the subject to request a consent search, as well as
an interview. And those were declined, because, in our country, under the
Fourth Amendment, probable cause has to be established for a search
warrant.

And individuals have a right to refuse to consent to search.

SMITH:  Barry, just obviously not having the expertise on this matter that
you have, I will maybe ask what's a very obvious question.

If the person who called the police -- and this is -- this is -- I'm
reading directly from the 2019 police report, in which this woman
identified as the girlfriend, she called, threatened to kill herself. She
told the officers -- quote -- that Anthony Warner "was building bombs in
the R.V. trailer at his residence."

Don't they have an obligation to go into that R.V. and look at what's
happening in there, because, as you just heard Mike Tobin report, they
didn't?

BLACK:  Well, again, as -- probable cause has -- is a very high threshold.

From what I have been told, the Metro Police did go to the house, did what
they could within the legal confines of a search, and then did the follow-
up to try to get an interview, try to get a consent search.

So, it's -- hindsight is often 20/20 in these events. And, sometimes, ex-
girlfriends or associates provide information which may or may not be
accurate. So, it's incumbent on law enforcement follow up on those leads.
And it appears that Metro Nashville did follow up by contacting federal
authorities and trying to receive consent to search from the subject's
attorney.

SMITH:  I'm sure we're going to likely in the coming days and weeks learn
many more details about this story. And we will see if there were any other
red flags.

But, Barry Black, always good to talk to you. Thanks for being here.
Appreciate it.

BLACK:  Thanks, Sandra.

SMITH:  Thank you.

That more contagious U.K. COVID strain you have been hearing about now in
two states. More on exactly where it is and how quickly it could spread --
that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH:  Twin storms threatening holiday travel plans, as parts of the
country could be ringing in the new year with some wicked weather.

Adam Klotz is tracking it for us.

Hey, Adam.

ADAM KLOTZ, FOX NEWS METEOROLOGIST:  Hey there.

Yes, we're tracking a couple of storms. And what's really going to be
important is where you are as far as these cold air masses are moving.
Here's what it looks like. As far as temperatures out there. This is our
cold front. And that's going to be -- play a big factor on if you see rain,
snow or ice over the next couple of days.

You see this warm air out in front of it. Right along the frontal boundary
is where we're seeing the significant weather as of right now, most of the
snow a little farther north, getting into New England. Running along this
frontal boundary, it's going to be mostly rain, because that is where the
warm air is.

But on the backside of this system, I take you in there a little bit
tighter, cold air just behind it. We're seeing freezing rain, snow and ice
happening just behind the systems. It kind of sweeps its way across the
middle of the country. Could cause for some hazardous driving.

Another system we're paying attention to, the Pacific Northwest, that's an
area where you're going to see snow, especially at higher altitudes,
anywhere from 12 inches to 18 inches of snow with this system.

So, we have winter watches, storm advisories from New England back down
across Texas, and again into the Pacific Northwest. Lots of spots to pay
attention to.

Future forecast, couple things to show you here. We have got this one round
that we were just talking about. That's going to be mostly rain as it works
its way into the Mid-Atlantic later tonight into early tomorrow morning.
And then pay attention to Texas, another round of snow and rain and ice
that's going to be lifting up into the middle of the country, so a bit of a
mess there also.

What are we talking about? Again, mostly rain across the Southeast, plenty
of spots with snow. It is going to be a little bit messy, Sandra, as we
talk about heading into the new year -- back out to you.

SMITH:  All right, we will be watching it very closely.

Adam Klotz, thank you.

And from wicked weather to a more wicked strain of the coronavirus,
California today reporting its first case of that more contagious U.K.
strain, and Colorado says a second person there may be infected with it.

So, just how widespread could this get?

Dr. Luiza Petre is with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She joins us
now with more on this troubling development.

Good afternoon to you. And thanks for being here.

Everybody's hearing about this and saying, no. What's coming next?

DR. LUIZA PETRE, MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE:  What do you tell them?

Indeed, Sandra.

We should have expected we're going to find more cases. And I guarantee
we're going to learn about more and more the following days as they come.
We have to assume that the strain has spread in the United States for a
while now. We just haven't identified it.

And one reason is, look at the first person identified. He has no history
of travel. So, that points out to the community spread. What we know, yes,
it's 70 percent more spreadable. However, it's not deadlier.

And both Moderna and Pfizer have confirmed that they are covering it.
However, we're far from mass vaccination to relax about it.

SMITH:  OK. And when you say covering it, you mean that the current
vaccines that have been approved that are on the market currently being
administered would be enough to fight off this new strain?

PETRE:  Yes, they're both confirmed to be effective against the new strain
that's called B117.

SMITH:  OK.

So, a couple other things to dig into there. You did say that it's
obviously more contagious. And that's why we're all hearing about it,
because we already know how contagious COVID-19 is.

More contagious, but not more deadly?

PETRE:  That's correct.

But if you look into perspective, more contagious is enough to be
concerned, because we already are at the peak of pandemic. And the number
of cases are growing every day. And having a strain that spreads faster, 70
percent faster, that means we actually add gas on fire and could make the
following few months even more dire than they are expected to be.

SMITH:  Could you leave us off with a message of hope, perhaps, knowing
that there are lines happening around the country where people who can get
the vaccine are signing up to do so?

What are we seeing so far on that?

PETRE:  It's true that we have seen a lag in the initial vaccination
rollout.

But this is the beginning. I expect the process will smooth out as we
identify the bottleneck areas. And looking at perspective, we're looking
for the next two, three months to vaccinate all those at high risk and
front care workers.

So, assuming that is being achieved, we're getting over the big hump and
protecting our most vulnerable people.

SMITH:  Dr. Petre, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

PETRE:  Thank you.

SMITH:  A safe and happy holiday to you.

Big tech companies, meanwhile, facing intense criticism over getting too
big in 2020, but find out how one market expert is saying it's time to give
breakup talk a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH:  Big tech CEOs Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk all saw
their wealth grow dramatically in 2020, drawing the ire of many of their
critics, who say big tech companies are just getting too big.

Our next guest sees things a little bit differently.

Joining us now, economist Steve Moore.

Steve, it's good to see you. And happy new year, as we quickly approach the
year-end here.

STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER:  You too. Hi, Sandra.

SMITH:  Hi to you.

So, as far as these big technology CEOs, wow, did they see their wealth
increase. And now President Trump and Republicans seem to be seizing on
this stimulus bill opportunity to repeal that Section 230, which provides
protections of sorts for those big technology companies.

You don't want that to happen. Why?

MOORE:  Well, there's a couple issues intertwined here, Sandra.

One is the issue of whether these companies are too big and whether these
CEOs have made too much money. And my response to that is, when in America
is it a crime to become rich when you provide a better mousetrap?

And that's essentially what these companies have done. By the way, they
have become rich, but think about the millions, tens of millions of
Americans who've gotten rich with them, because they have created these
incredible products. Google obviously revolutionized search engines. Amazon
has really revolutionized the way we get the products.

And think about this, Sandra. How would we have gotten through this crisis
of the last nine or 10 months of coronavirus if it hadn't been for great
technology companies and companies like Amazon, who brought food and
products right to our doorstep?

So, do I like these companies' politics? Not at all. I'm pretty
conservative and they're pretty liberal, but I love the fact that they're
American companies.

One last thing I'd say about this, Sandra, is, we should be proud of -- as
Americans that these are American companies. If we break up Google or we
break up Amazon or some of these other technology companies, the big
winners will be China and companies like Huawei and TikTok that want to
knock American companies off their -- off their top position.

SMITH:  Really interesting perspective on that.

But we know why Republicans and many conservatives take issue with some of
these big technology companies like Twitter, like Facebook, because of
their censoring of conservative thoughts, ideas and news.

MOORE:  Right.

SMITH:  We have seen many hearings over the course of 2020 that address
just that.

Speaking of 2020, you look broadly at this year, Steve, and, wow, what a
year it has been. The economic struggle and pain that we have seen for so
many Americans is still trying to be addressed to this very moment with the
debate over this stimulus bill, whether or not these checks should go out
for $2,000 or the current $600.

Where do you stand on that? As we look at the Dow, the S&P, Nasdaq record
highs, you have seen that wealth gap get bigger. The rich have gotten
richer, and those that have struggled, they're struggling even more right
now.

MOORE:  Well, look, I am not against people getting richer. I am against
people getting poorer.

And it is -- there's no doubt about this. And I wrote a piece on
FOXNews.com about this that got a lot of attention where I said, look, the
single policy in modern times that has led to the rich getting richer and
the poor getting poorer are these lockdowns in blue states like Illinois
and California, New York and New Jersey, where they're just shutting down
businesses.

And the first people who are getting laid off are minorities and the
lowest-income people, who are thrust into food lines and unemployment
lines. That's incredibly unfair.

And I don't think you're going to be able to make up for the damage that's
been done to the small businesses and the workers who have lost their jobs
by simply giving them free money.

Americans don't want free money. They want their jobs back. And the small
business men and women -- 15 million Americans, Sandra, 15 million
Americans are employed by bars and restaurants. Think of the damage that's
been done.

California won't even let people eat outside, which is crazy. So, I think
the first priority has to be to get our businesses reopened. And the good
news is, that's starting to happen because of the vaccine that's going to
be widely available in the next couple of months.

And I don't -- look, I don't like helicopter money. I don't like the
government printing money and just pouring it out of windows of
helicopters.

(LAUGHTER)

MOORE:  Wouldn't it be wonderful, Sandra, if we could make everybody rich
by just printing money and giving people free money? That's not the way an
economy works.

SMITH:  It just doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

I was talking to the mayor of a small town earlier who is basically just
suggesting that many of those businesses should just defy those shutdown
orders, it's just too much. And you talk about the outdoor -- the outdoor
dining. And he says that, my goal is always to keep people safe, but some
of this just goes too far.

With Dr. Admiral Giroir addressing the California shutdowns, you can't eat
outside and you can't serve people outside, he said, I don't even know -- I
don't know where they're getting that. The science doesn't say it's
spreading in that capacity.

And it just really makes -- as you approach the end of the year here, it
makes you just wonder what the next few months look like, what the next
couple years look like in some of these really hard-hit cities, how fast
they can, if they do, come back. Final thoughts.

MOORE:  This is my biggest worry right now, is what's going to happen to
America's great cities.

And, look, I love New York.

SMITH:  Yes. It's brutal.

MOORE:  I love Chicago. I love Los Angeles, San Francisco.

But, Sandra, you're there in New York. How long will it take for Manhattan
to ever get back to what it was, when you see so many of those stores
probably permanently shut down?

SMITH:  Yes.

MOORE:  And that's tragic for this country.

And, by the way, I will just say this, one really interesting thing.

SMITH:  Real quick, yes.

MOORE:  I have heard you reporting on this, what happened to that woman
with her restaurant in Los Angeles, that she retrofitted it so people can
eat outside.

SMITH:  Yes. Yes.

MOORE:  Then they changed the rule.

That's become a huge movement.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH:  It has. It has.

MOORE:  People should go to that Web site.

SMITH:  She changed a lot in all of this, yes.

MOORE:  I love it, yes.

SMITH:  Steve Moore, it's great to talk to you. It's been a while. Good to
see you.

Happy new year.

MOORE:  You too, Sandra. Take care.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH:  All right, that will do it for us here. Thank you so much for
joining us this evening.

And you can catch me on "America's Newsroom" each and every weekday
morning, bright and early, 9:00 a.m. to noon on the FOX News Channel.

Until then, I'm Sandra Smith.

And here comes "THE FIVE."

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