Can tax reform sell itself?

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Can tax reform sell itself?

Public opinion of Republican tax cuts in focus after President Trump signed the bill into law.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," December 22, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: All right, are you in a mood to spend? Well, good thing, because the president just signed a document that makes sure that you will, and soon.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto. And you're watching "Your World," and a whole different world, with a whole new tax bill that officially is the law of the land. And you will be seeing it soon enough in February in your paychecks, sooner than that when it comes to what Wall Street is cooking up to splurge on both its shareholders and its workers.

More of that in a second, but all of this at time when a lot of people are taking to the skies and they will be busy, in fact, record busy, not only trying to get off to grandma's, but trying to beat what could be a bad snowstorm.

We're all over it with Hillary Vaughn in Los Angeles, where that travel rush is on. We have got our meteorologist Rick Reichmuth on a winter blast that could be following suit, and Jeff Flock going shopping with the sending rush on at any store anywhere across the U.S. of A.

Now to LAX and Hillary Vaughn.

Hey, Hillary, how is it looking there?

HILLARY VAUGHN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

Well, it's pretty calm, despite it being what is expected to be the busiest travel day of the year -- 107 million people AAA estimates will travel this holiday weekend, with a record number of people heading for Christmas. Gas prices are higher, but still more people are hitting the road this year than ever before and a lot of people are flying.

Now, to deal with this thank rush, we have a K-9 officer Ornales Whitney (ph) with me with his dog Kira (ph).

And we wanted to ask him a quick question about how he's monitoring the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here to keep the traveling public safe and make sure that we're detecting all the dangerous items that could be dangerous to the public. So--

VAUGHN: Does the dog do better when it's a little busier or when it's more calm?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it doesn't matter. He works around people. He checks the bags, the vehicles that are left unattended out there.

VAUGHN: Neil, these are not -- Kira isn't the only dog working today. A lot of passengers get stressed with the delays, so I want to introduce you to some therapy dogs that we have here that kind of help travelers as they're working through the security lines.

Now, security lines are going to be longer because the TSA says they have more measures in place. Anything bigger than a cell phone needs to be taken out of your bag and put in separate bins, which means the lines are longer.

Also, if you're bring a wrapped present, you have to be prepared for the TSA to look inside if they see anything suspicious. Baked goods are allowed. But any liquids, including gravy or any spreads, have to be smaller than a snow globe.

But these are the therapy dogs that are working very hard. They are here to keep everyone calm. They also have business cards to keep everyone calm, the passengers happy. And they're of course in the Christmas spirit and very, very cute, Neil.

CAVUTO: Oh, man. I wouldn't mind waiting in line. Those are cuties. All right, thank you very, very much, Hillary Vaughn. Enjoy the wait, as they say.

Meanwhile, enjoy the deep freeze to come? Well, it could be a fact, starting in the Midwest, heading toward the Northeast and a whole lot of mess in between.

What are we looking at? Let's get the read from Rick Reichmuth at the Fox Weather Center?

What is this all about?

RICK REICHMUTH, FOX NEWS CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: We have a really big, kind of about a four- to five-day storm that we're watching across parts of the Northeast or at least a series of storms. A very active pattern.

Temperature-wise, you get the idea, cold air up across the North, but not that cold just yet. And then really warm here across the South. And this warm air is moving up toward the Northeast. So today we have got a snowstorm that is going on. But the warmer air is going to move in. And when it does, we're going to see some icing, a bit of an ice storm tomorrow, and then rain behind it, and then a new storm Sunday into Monday.

So a lot to watch. Right now, we have some snow behind the tail end of this storm down across parts of Texas, West Texas. East Texas, you have got the rain, very heavy rain moving right in around the Central Mississippi River Valley. And you get the idea here with the rain and the snow to the north.

This is the future radar. Watch what happens here. All of this moisture, this is tomorrow primarily, a major rainmaker across all of the eastern third of the country. Behind it, cold air moves in. But we will move in a little bit closer here toward the Northeast.

I want to point this out. So, right now, we have snow, and higher elevations are going to see maybe six to 12 inches of snow. Then, through the night tonight and into tomorrow, start to get a warmer air mass above following towards the frozen air mass below. That means we're going to be watching an ice storm here.

So, imagine, say, six inches of snow and then a layer of ice across the top of that, and then we have a brief period of rain behind it, before the cold air comes back in. So, by the time we get towards Monday, we're going to have just kind of a very solid, very dangerous sheet of messy ice, slush stuff here.

Then we have another storm that comes in Sunday and Monday, a coastal storm that is going to cause some more problems and bring eventually a very kind of white Christmas. This is a look at the precipitation forecast.

So, most of this current storm is far to the northern, northern parts of New England. And then the next one, Monday, Sunday into Monday, is for everybody. This is a look at your delays on Saturday, because of all that weather that we're talking about. There's going to be lots of delays in the airports tomorrow, Neil, across the Eastern part of the country.

Today, so far, we're looking really pretty good.

CAVUTO: All right, count our blessings, I guess, one hour at a time.

REICHMUTH: Yes.

Thank you, Rick, very, very much, Rick Reichmuth.

All right, meanwhile, the tax cuts, they're official. They are the law of the land. The president signing the paperwork today before he took off for Florida. But a lot of people have been pre-spending this dough, anticipating it anyway.

And doesn't Jeff Flock know it. He is at a mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, with the very latest from there.

Hey, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

I think we could use one of Hillary's therapy dogs here. Look at this line.

This is a line to get into a store, actually a jewelry store, at Woodfield Mall in the Chicago suburbs. What they do is, when there's too many people in the store -- and if Laurie (ph) spins, maybe we see this is the store. Too many people in there, they limit the number of people coming in because, well, there's just so many people.

And 126 million people expected to shop tomorrow, which is Saturday, what they call Super Saturday. And I tell you, I just buttonholed the manager of the mall, Kurt Webb, Simon Properties.

Are you ready for this onslaught?

KURT WEBB, SIMON PROPERTY: We are. It's a great time of year. A lot of magic. A lot of fun. We're excited about the weekend.

FLOCK: Yes, and tax cut, low unemployment, great economy. You have been in this business a long time. Have you ever seen these factors come together before?

WEBB: It's a great time. Customer confidence seems to be very high and we will have great traffic this weekend.

FLOCK: That's what he likes, Kurt Webb, the manager of Woodfield Mall. It's beautiful, Neil, all the decorations. And if you want Santa Claus, well, you are going to have to stand in line. Sorry -- Neil.

CAVUTO: So, Jeff, that line is to get into the store?

FLOCK: Yes. They have them in a couple different stores.

I'll tell you -- I'm not trying to do a commercial. But it's Pandora apparently very popular.

CAVUTO: Sure.

FLOCK: And they have got a huge Christmas special. So, look, I didn't even show you the whole line. Starts there. Look at that. Goes all the way around just to get in the doggone store.

CAVUTO: Oh, my God.

FLOCK: Spending in line to spend money. Wouldn't be me.

CAVUTO: I can see if it was Cinnabon or Hickory Farms, but holy cow.

FLOCK: Exactly. Yes. In fact, there's Hickory down there somewhere, yes.

CAVUTO: All right, I'll tell you what. Thank you, my friend. Have a merry, merry Christmas, Jeff Flock, FOX Business Network.

FLOCK: Merry Christmas to you, Neil. Thank you.

CAVUTO: He's been at that mall all day. Man. All right.

Meanwhile, a lot of people seem to be spending these tax cuts already. Something is going on here, because it's one of the busier Christmas shopping seasons we have seen I think in 12 years are the latest statistics. And now more companies are adding a little fuel to this financial fire here, promising all sorts of help with the money that they're getting back from Uncle Sam, too.

In fact, they're awash in so much of that dough that from PNC Financial, Sinclair Broadcasting, Wells Fargo, they're splitting it up. Not only rewarding shareholders, but paying a lot of their workers bonuses. In the case of AT&T and some of the other big names like Sinclair Broadcasting, $1,000 for every one of their workers.

Market watcher Gary Kaltbaum on what that means, FBN's Deirdre Bolton.

That's a lot of extra gravy, isn't it, Deirdre?

DEIRDRE BOLTON, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is, Neil.

And like you said, we're seeing this show up so far from what we have seen in these retail numbers, especially even right out of the gate in November. So, this anticipation of the tax reform, the fact that unemployment is at a 17-year low, and then let's not forget the stock market.

Looking at an S&P 500 with a year-to-date return of 20 percent. All of this adding up to consumer confidence. So some brick and mortar stores are actually doing pretty well, which is surprising, because we talk a lot about online. But Nordstrom -- I think this is worth noting -- actually had its best November same-store sales in something like seven years.

Some analysts just telling me, you know what? Sometimes, with clothes, people still want to go in. They want to feel the fabric. They want to try something on before they get it home. And then online retailers knocking it out of the park, I think up something like 25 percent even vs. this time last year so far.

And of course we haven't even hit Christmas yet. But it seems to be all of these incentives are really getting people to spend money. Kohl's doing well online. So is Macy's. So is Wal-Mart. And then, of course, Amazon, the 800-pound gorilla in the room just getting bigger, Neil.

CAVUTO: And bigger and bigger and bigger.

Gary Kaltbaum, what is interesting about the latest on the tax cut, we don't know how it's all going to pan out when all is said and done, I don't think a lot of people planned on what corporations are doing so quickly.

Most were of the opinion that they would just buy back stock, maybe increase their dividends. But they have got sort of a curse of riches here, given the money that they're going to get back from holding abroad. They can afford to do both, in other words, satisfy shareholders who want some more and satisfy workers who are getting more.

What do you think of that?

GARY KALTBAUM, KALTBAUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Look, at this point in time, Neil, the only thing that matters is outcome.

And just taking AT&T and Comcast, get this, 300,000 people getting $300 million to either save or to spend. We're now seeing other companies following suit, also some raising of the minimum wage to $15. More investments.

CAVUTO: That's right.

KALTBAUM: And the more and more people see this, the more and more people anticipate that other companies are going to do it and you get into what I would call a virtuous cycle.

Now, I must tell you, on Thursday morning, I'm trying into work. I hear Chris Van Hollen, the senator from Maryland, saying this is nothing more than a P.R. stunt by these companies. I say I will take all of the P.R. stunts these companies want to do for the next year.

It's amazing for me to hear a senator say that, 300,000 employees. This is great, great news. And I have to tell you there were a lot of doubters. I was thinking that maybe this wouldn't happen. But it looks like it's the shape of things to come.

CAVUTO: And who cares if it's a P.R. stunt?

KALTBAUM: Exactly.

CAVUTO: Who cares if it's their motivations? Who cares if AT&T is doing this to curry favor with the administration?

Say all the cynical stuff you want. They're doing it. And for the people getting their hands on that hot dough, the timing couldn't be better, right?

Deirdre, I'm looking at that and I'm thinking they're going to spend that. A good many Americans are going to spend that. Those who are seeing their minimum wage lifted, they are going to act on that.

BOLTON: They certainly are.

CAVUTO: So it puts Democrats in an odd position of opposing something heretofore they have wanted to correct legislatively.

BOLTON: Let's cheer everybody feeling a little bit better, everybody having a little bit more money in his or her pockets.

And also let's not forget from a macro perspective, consumer spending is two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

KALTBAUM: Exactly.

BOLTON: So the more we spend, the healthier it is, the more jobs are created. And I think obviously this would be the best-case scenario with the Trump administration's plan and what they have been talking about. This will spur growth.

So obviously we need to wait a little bit longer to see if this plays out. But this is the idea.

CAVUTO: And, by the way, Gary, you have reminded me of this, but there's no delays in a lot of this tax cut, unlike Ronald Reagan's or something, that had to be phased in over years.

Everything from the expensing to the corporate relief and everything else individually, it's all simultaneously. It's all immediate. So that is why the president is hopeful he will get a bang for the buck right away, right?

KALTBAUM: Exactly.

And by itself that is great, but you also have markets doing very well. It's the two words, wealth effect. People feel more wealthy. And if they feel wealthy, they are apt to spend more. If they spend more, businesses do better. If businesses do better, they hire more.

Those people that get hired spend more and then around and round we go. That's what makes great economies.

And all I can tell you is, speak to people now. They feel so much better about things, in spite of all the nasty rhetoric from both sides of the aisle. People feel better. They see what is happening. And guess what?

Dollars are dollars. You can talk all you want to.

CAVUTO: Absolutely. Absolutely.

KALTBAUM: But a dollar is a dollar. And $1,000 a person is pretty darn good. I can tell you that.

CAVUTO: Yes, I have always said it, guys. This is not about red or blue. It's about green. Get that green in the little hands.

KALTBAUM: Lots of it.

CAVUTO: Democratic, Republican, we shall spend it.

All right, thank you both very, very much.

Well, of course, we saw the whole drill this morning. Right? We saw the president sign it. But what if I told you it will not be up to the president to now have to sell it? I will explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't think I'm going to have to travel too much to sell it. I think it's selling itself. It's becoming very popular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, the president's point this morning, when he officially put his John Hancock on this generational development in tax cuts, is that, well, corporate CEOs will sell it, people will see it in their paychecks, they will pass it along, they will sell it.

Let's ask pollster extraordinaire Frank Luntz whether he agrees with that, what his dials are telling him.

What do you think of that? It will sell itself, essentially?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: No, you know what?

If I could wave a magic wand, what I would say is, the Republicans should do an ad over the next 72 hours that says, you don't want that sweater, you don't want those tube socks. What do you really want under the Christmas tree? More money out of your paycheck.

And that's what Republicans have done. And it's the gift that keeps on giving all year. And then after Christmas, you do one for the new year. What is the best New Year's resolution? To be able to keep more money.

I don't think the Republicans understand just how you have to be repetitive and how you have to be convincing and to assume that, with only 30 percent of Americans now supporting this legislation, that it's going to take a lot of communication, a lot of education, because people, Neil, just don't know what is in the bill.

CAVUTO: But won't they see it themselves?

The president seemed to be intimating once they see it in February, when the tax tables are out and your companies have been able to adjust their schedules, and you will see it in your paycheck. But that might not be enough, right?

LUNTZ: Well, it's -- you have to remind people, because we have a very short memory.

Now, I know that you're showing Donald Trump there. I have brought with me two dial results that I think you are going to enjoy. And the first one is the only time in this entire tax debate that I have found an ad that actually communicates effectively, where the public says, you know what, I understand the benefits of corporate tax cuts because it's going to affect me positively.

Remember, Neil, the higher the lines climb, the better the ad. Let's take a look at the most effective tax cut ad of this election season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Under our framework, we would dramatically cut the business tax rate, so that American companies and American workers can beat our foreign competitors and start winning again.

We will cut taxes on American businesses to restore our competitive edge and create more jobs and higher wages for American workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Boy, that went up for both Republicans and Democrats. Right?

(CROSSTALK)

LUNTZ: Exactly.

And the reason why, American workers, American businesses, American competitive, essentially, he's communicating that Americans will win by this.

And that is incredibly effective, because it's the one thing that unites us, Neil. We're so divided as a country. But the idea that American businesses and American workers are going to get more out of this is something that every American wants.

And I got one more dial for you. And I haven't done this all year. This is the best congressional exchange of 2017. I don't think your viewers have seen it. We dialed it.

And it's with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch. Orrin Hatch kicks butt, if I can say that on television.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ORRIN HATCH, R-UTAH: I come from the poor people.

And I have been here working my whole stinking career for people who don't have a chance. And I really resent anybody saying that I'm just doing this for the rich.

Give me a break. I think you guys overplay that all the time, and it gets old.

(LAUGHTER)

HATCH: And, frankly, you ought to quit it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: I remember that well.

LUNTZ: People say -- oh, it was awesome. And people said that Hatch, he's been around for a long time.

In our dial testing, we went to Cleveland, Ohio, to do this. They didn't like what Sherrod Brown had to say and they loved what Orrin Hatch had to say.

CAVUTO: So, bottom line, when it comes to espousing a tax cut that is for everybody, not just for the rich, obviously, the proof is in the pudding. But how do you keep pushing that it's pudding for everybody?

LUNTZ: One fact, Neil, that if you're a typical family of four making $55,000, you won't pay a dime, not a dime in federal income tax.

If people know that, they know that the tax cut is good for them and they know the tax cut is good for America.

CAVUTO: That's very said. Frank Luntz, thank you very, very much. Good seeing you, my friend. Be well.

LUNTZ: Merry Christmas.

CAVUTO: To you as well.

All right, the next stop, infrastructure spending. And the impetus for it? A fire at a major airport and other problems, like an Amtrak train derailment -- why these type of situations make the case for more bipartisan cooperation when it comes to infrastructure spending -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I really do believe we're going to have a lot of bipartisan work done, and maybe we start with infrastructure, because I really believe infrastructure can be bipartisan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Well, there's certainly bipartisan interest in it, right, more roads, airport work, train work?

Given what has happened certainly over the last couple of days this week alone, that would certainly be a timely issue.

Now, the question is getting everyone on the same page, especially when it's going to be an expensive page. A trillion bucks, we're told, over 10 years.

Political analyst Ron Meyer, Fox News contributor Jehmu Greene.

Ron, is the appetite there to spend what could be a lot of money?

RON MEYER, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you have to remember, it's a trillion dollars worth of investment.

Some of that will be partnerships with different -- different public- private partnerships and also with the states and localities. We have projects ready to go out where I am in Loudoun County and other localities across the country.

And we would be willing to pay a share, if the federal government comes in and help. And there are localities across the country who want to rebuild our crumbling airports, our crumbling roads, and the infrastructure problems that you're seeing with these airports on fire.

And the thing is, it's really something where it doesn't matter if you're in rural America, you're in the suburbs, or you're downtown. You're seeing infrastructure failing.

Here in D.C., obviously, we're stuck in gridlock and traffic all the time. We want the relief. If you're in rural America, to get your product or what you're trying to work on to the market, you need better roads and better connections.

You have to remember, transportation is about economic development and about economic empowerment. It's about getting products to places quicker, getting people to places quicker, which means more economic productivity.

It's a perfect next step after tax reform to get people back to work and to help our economy grow.

CAVUTO: All right. Well, by the way, you don't have to be Republican or Democrat to think lines will never ease at any airports, like the one we were just showing.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: That will just not happen -- $10 trillion wouldn't cut down on their lines.

Jehmu, what do you think?

JEHMU GREENE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I agree with President Trump. Wow. I can't believe I said that.

MEYER: Wow.

GREENE: And here's where I agree, that this can be a bipartisan approach.

But it also has to entail President Trump and many of the Wall Street bigwigs in his administration to not have this be focused on just tax credits for private investment.

And we saw in a Wilbur Ross-Peter Navarro paper that came out early in the Trump administration that that's really where their focus was. And what would happen if that was the reality, it would mean that levees aren't going to be invested in, school infrastructure spending isn't going to be invested in.

When the profit motive -- when it's a profit motive driving--

CAVUTO: Jehmu, I mean, what is wrong with quasi-public-private initiatives when it works? You like it when it works for education, right? You like it when it works for mortgages, like Fannie Mae and Freddie? So, what is wrong if we have something similar for this?

GREENE: I'm all for public-private partnerships.

The first indication we got from the Trump administration, I think, early - - a few months ago, was not around public-private partnerships. It was really tax credits for private investment, for equity. And when you--

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, that's the latest idea that I have heard about, something along the lines that we do for education and that we do along for mortgages.

Would you be happy with that?

GREENE: I will be happy if profit is not the motivating factor for infrastructure spending.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, it's worked like a charm for those agencies, right?

GREENE: No. If that is the case, it means public transportation isn't going to be invested in. It means Amtrak isn't going to be invested in.

There are things that can be profitable.

CAVUTO: Well, wait a minute. Amtrak -- there's no shortage of money going to Amtrak. But that's a whole 'nother issue.

But, Ron, is it your sense that something like that could work? An idea has been bandied about, it's a trillion dollars over 10 years and half are public funds, half are private funds or whether there was some initiative to link the two, that that might be the way to go or not.

What do you think?

MEYER: Yes, I think we're going to need an all-of-the-above approach.

In talking with folks from Chairman Shuster's office in the House and Senator Inhofe's staff on the Senate side and the bills they're working on, I think that's what we're going to see, is a mixture of an all-of-above approach, where we have real public investment.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, do you have suspicions, Ron, as Jehmu does, that private enterprise or for-profit could mean some shortcuts or some problems?

MEYER: I think you have to do both.

Remember, private industry is always going to build projects quicker. But there's a cost with that. And a lot of times, it's tolls or some other sacrifice.

CAVUTO: Right.

MEYER: We need both. You need public investment.

This is a constitutional power that is written in, in our founding documents to build post roads and to build roads and connections. And we ought to be spending more of our general funds on it.

But that means also we need to look for places where there's waste to cut. The Pentagon's own study, blue-ribbon study, says $125 billion of waste there. Finds things like that, and then use the repatriation tax--

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: There's definitely waste everywhere.

Jehmu, would you want to first seek that out?

GREENE: No.

I think that we needed to increase infrastructure spending under the Obama administration. This is -- we're late in doing this.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: You want to weed out some waste first, right?

GREENE: We have got bridges crumbling.

CAVUTO: Make sure you can track the money where it's going, right?

GREENE: We have serious infrastructure issues that need to be addressed.

And I do hope that Republicans take this not from a polarized partisan lens to give another windfall to Wall Street investments -- to Wall Street.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Now, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Why did this have to become about politics? Then Democrats don't take this from a polarizing lens? Both sides do, right?

GREENE: I would say it's polarizing when the windfall goes to Wall Street investment companies.

(CROSSTALK)

MEYER: But, Jehmu, we're acting like Democrats haven't been holding up transportation projects already. The red tape has been the biggest problem that we have had.

(CROSSTALK)

GREENE: What we need to see is the government borrowing money, the federal government borrowing money at very low rates, and then turning that over to the states to then be able to invest into their infrastructure.

MEYER: That would be fine. That would be fine.

(CROSSTALK)

GREENE: That's not what the Trump administration has indicated is their plan.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Guys, guys, I wish I had more time. And now we're talking about the federal government, state government. That's a whole 'nother argument. And we will get into that when we get you back.

But I want to thank you both. Have a merry Christmas in the meantime.

GREENE: Merry Christmas, Neil.

CAVUTO: Be well. All right.

In the meantime, we're on top of cities on high alert. Obviously, this is the season, but certainly ahead of some big events as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: We're just getting word that Fiat Chrysler wants to recall nearly 1.8 million Ram pickup trucks. The vehicles could shift out of park without the driver's foot on the brake, generally not good. We're on top of it.

We will see you in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, they want to keep you safe, so not only ahead of the Christmas shopping season, what there is left of it now in the next couple days, to the ball-dropping in Times Square in New York City.

They want to make sure that you survive this, quite literally.

Molly Line in New York City with the very latest.

Hey, Molly.

MOLLY LINE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

It's beautiful here in New York City, a magical time to come for a visit. But, as you mentioned, there's security concerns. So, if you're coming to see these sparkly lights, you may also see that additional security.

There's a huge team effort under way to ensure that the visitors and, of course, the New Yorkers who live here year round stay safe, particularly during the holidays. The Port Authority, New York State Police, the National Guard, mass transit forces, of course, New York's finest, the NYPD, all working together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERENCE MONAHAN, NYPD CHIEF OF PATROL: We're going to have full counterterrorism overlays at St. Pat's. There will be blocker cars. There will teams out there.

We will have heavy weaponry teams responding throughout the city, throughout midnight masses and through the masses on Christmas Day itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LINE: Earlier this month, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi man detonated a pipe bomb in a crowded subway passage near the Port Authority. No one was killed.

But in October, an ISIS-inspired attacker drove a rented truck up onto a crowded bike path in Lower Manhattan claiming eight lives. It is these kinds of attacks that stand as examples of the consistent threat faced here in New York and across the world.

And there's efforts being taken to stop would-be jihadis before they can act. There was a man arrested, charges filed by the FBI today, filed charges today about a Modesto, California, man who they say was planning to attack San Francisco's famous Pier 39 on Christmas Day.

According to court documents, Everitt Aaron Jameson offered to give people who shared his radical jihadi beliefs rides in his company tow truck. The threat of vehicle attacks, Neil, as you know, is one of the greatest concerns that law enforcement officers have all across the country.

Here, in an effort to protect Times Square, there will be barricades, and, of course, big vehicles used to block any possible vehicle attacks. That's the security that we see at big events all cross the country now -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Yes, well, New York City certainly looks like a fortress now.

Molly Line, thank you very, very much.

So, is this enough? Is the kind of thing that Molly just outlined enough to keep bad guys at bay?

Let's add in former NYPD intelligence specialist Buck Sexton.

Buck, what do we think?

BUCK SEXTON, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Neil, we certainly hope it will be enough.

And the work that we just heard about by the FBI to prevent an attack on Christmas Day out in San Francisco is exactly the kind of effort that we need to see from law enforcement and the intelligence community in this country.

Look, the Islamic State has been putting out a lot of propaganda posters recently specifically citing this time period and Christmas and New Year's Eve as times to attack. They have also been encouraging individuals to act as lone wolves. That appears very specifically in the most recent ISIS propaganda, too.

They have lost their caliphate, and so who are ideologically aligned with the Islamic State are now in a position where the best that they can manage, so to speak, would be an attack during the holidays.

So we're at a heightened threat right now, Neil, but we also have the best intel and best law enforcement agencies in the world. So I think we're all going to be just fine this holiday season. But everyone has got to stay vigilant and keep their head on a swivel.

CAVUTO: It's one thing during the summertime or warmer weather and you have to keep an eye out for the guy who is in a coat or looking a little unusual.

Here, in your pretty cool winter weather across much of the Northeast, Midwest, what have you, what do you do, short of that?

SEXTON: Well, there are additional security challenges because you're talking about a time period where, one, yes, people are wearing bulkier clothing.

And we did just see an attempted suicide bombing here in New York City with that pipe bomb near the Port Authority.

CAVUTO: Right. Right.

SEXTON: So that makes it more difficult to identify, but also just the large congregations of people at predictable places.

People often talk about in the security business times and routes. You have to make sure that you vary them. You have to make sure that you're not overly predictable, because it's essential for the bad guys to know where you will be and who will be there.

But when you're talking about Times Square, or when you're talking about some of these very other large gatherings that will occur in the next week or so, it makes it difficult.

That said, the NYPD is the largest police department in the country. They know that it's a threat. They see the postings from the Islamic State and there's also a balance to be struck between making sure everyone is aware of the Islamic State propaganda that is out there and then allowing that propaganda to take on a life of its own and create overreactions and anxiety beyond what is necessary in the general public, because that is, in and of itself, a goal of the jihadis.

So, there's a lot of pieces intersecting here, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you very, very much, Buck. Appreciate all the words of advice, Buck Sexton, former NYPD Intelligence Division specialist.

SEXTON: Merry Christmas, Neil.

CAVUTO: To you as well, my friend.

So, how many of you are going to hit the road for the holidays, and just how bad will it be? After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, this is not too far from La Guardia Airport in New York City.

And if you think the airports are crowded, well, you can see the roads to and from them, and having nothing to do with them, they are pretty crowded as well.

So, no matter how you're trying to get to grandma's, you are probably going to be waiting awhile.

Adam Housley in Inglewood, California, with the latest on that.

Adam, what are we looking at?

ADAM HOUSLEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, we're looking at traffic moving in L.A.

But like we saw in Thanksgiving here, Neil, this area, this freeway got backed up in a hurry. In fact, right now, it comes and goes. So, it's moving here. Maybe a half-an-hour ago, it was completely stopped. Kind of a stop-and-go-type thing is what we're told to expect. And then it's supposed to get real bad tonight and into tomorrow.

I will tell you this -- 107 million Americans are going to hit the roads, the rails and the air for this trip through the New Year's. That's a record. They say it's because of the economy.

Take a look at the FlightAware app. Shows you how many flights are up in the air. One of our producers actually already had to deal with the backup flying from here in Los Angeles last night. They had a major problem. The plane had issues. They got -- she got to Atlanta late. Missed her flight to Carolina.

We know there's been problem and an hour-a-half-hour delay at one point in Dallas. So the backup has already begun, at least at some of the airports and on the roadways as well.

Back here live. You can get a look -- you can see how it starts to back up all of a sudden? This is starting to happen. Eventually, it's going to be backed up full-time -- 107 million -- 97 million will be on the roadways, Neil.

And the biggest issue of course is weather. They're saying 22 states will be affected by either flood alerts or snow going from basically the Rockies to Texas, from Texas up to Maine.

Here in California, traffic is always crappy. So, really, it doesn't matter about the holiday or not. You're going to get stuck someplace here in Southern California. And it all starts for some people when they get off work here, Neil, in a couple hours -- back to you in New York.

CAVUTO: So, any minute, it could be a mile deep of traffic.

All right, thank you very, very much, Adam Housley.

HOUSLEY: Oh, man.

CAVUTO: Oh, man, is right, Inglewood, California.

All right, well, for all of you last-minute holiday shoppers, you can stop this, all right? You can just stop this. There is a way. I will explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: It's one of my favorite segments of the week -- sort of.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Anyway, welcome, everybody. Gen Hexed is here.

There you have it, the president following through on his promise to get tax cuts to the American people by Christmas.

Now, what are you folks doing with that extra cash?

Let's ask these young folks. We have attorney Christi Kunzig joining us, "Your World" producer Andrew White, political consultant Harlan Hill, and, last but not least, Fox News producer Ashley Dvorkin.

OK. So, I'm looking at all of this stuff, Christi, and I'm thinking, well, that is going to be the impetus for people to spend like crazy, and they're going to do that.

CHRISTI KUNZIG, ATTORNEY: I think that's the intent.

But, as far as millennials go, I know -- Neil, I don't want to bring up students loans.

CAVUTO: Oh, my God.

KUNZIG: I know you hate that, and so I'm not going to say that they should put any refund toward their student loans.

But I just don't think that millennials have a lot of disposable income.

CAVUTO: Well, you will have a little bit more.

KUNZIG: We will have a little bit more.

But I know, even though the intent is to stimulate the economy and kind of put it back in, I'm going to save it, so that I can eventually buy a house. I'm going to put it in--

HARLAN HILL, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Yes, that's right.

CAVUTO: Really?

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: Yes.

KUNZIG: Yes.

ANDREW WHITE, FOX NEWS PRODUCER: I'm going to spend it.

But I'm not going to spend it right away, because it's going to be such a small amount.

CAVUTO: Well, you don't know that.

WHITE: No, I do.

CAVUTO: You do? You have already crunched the numbers?

WHITE: I do. I do know. I know. I have already crunched the numbers.

But if you look at, over a little bit of long term, it adds up. So you get a little here, a little there.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: And companies are kicking in extra dough, right? A lot of them are doing that.

ASHLEY DVORKIN, FOX NEWS PRODUCER: So, I'm with you. And I live in New York City. So I'm going to say rent. I'm sorry. But any extra money I see probably goes to rent.

But then also save what you can and eying vacations. But it just could be the season.

HILL: Well, do you think millennials are going to recognize that President Trump and Republicans gave them this tax cut? That's the biggest question here in my mind.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I don't think it matters. Whether it's red or blue, they like green. Everyone at every age group likes green.

HILL: But will they know that it's because of the Republican tax cut? That's what I'm not sure about. Or are they just going to see this money and not going to recognize it?

CAVUTO: Oh, I see. So, you don't think -- OK, that's interesting.

HILL: Yes, yes.

CAVUTO: That's interesting.

I don't know if they will be that indifferent. Do you?

DVORKIN: No, I think people -- well, I think they know. Are they not watching the news?

HILL: Yes, I hope so.

CAVUTO: But if it isn't a lot in your paycheck, in other words, in February, you don't see that big of difference in the net, are you going to be angry? Or have you heard so much trashing about this ahead of the fact, because the media has been all over it, that you're expecting the worst?

(CROSSTALK)

KUNZIG: Yes. We definitely even have high expectations, definitely.

But I think anything that we can get back and put away is beneficial to us. So, I will take it as a win.

HILL: If you work at AT&T or Comcast or one of these companies that is getting a $1,000 bonus, then you're really going to notice this tax cut, right?

Because those are coming before the end of the year. And $1,000 to somebody that is making $40,000 a year, that's meaningful. That's a lot.

WHITE: I live in New Jersey, so forget it.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITE: Goodbye.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Forget it. That's right.

The U.N. -- ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, inviting those nations who sided with us on Jerusalem to a reception next month. She won't have a lot of people there. That will be about nine, if they can all make it.

Everyone else, she says they might want to think twice, because we're going to maybe consider shutting our wallet on all of this.

Andrew, what do you think of that?

WHITE: We pay about 25 percent of the U.N.'s budget.

I mean, that's a lot. And when she got up there and said her thing about, you know, we're not going to pay, I was totally into that message. It's like, come on, we're going to spend almost $3 billion for you, what, to say no, no, no, you don't? Come on.

HILL: Yes. It was a slap in the face.

The United Nations has become one of most anti-Semitic international organizations on the planet. And we saw this in the waning days of the Obama administration, when he was hesitant to veto a resolution attacking Israel.

This isn't -- this isn't out of the ordinary. This has become the Norm for the United Nations.

CAVUTO: So we should, if we don't get our way, stomp our feet and threaten giving money to an institution that does this?

HILL: Well, we don't have to just sit back and take it. America first doesn't mean--

CAVUTO: I understand. Be careful what you wish for, though, right?

HILL: Well, it's true. But putting America first doesn't mean that America has to go alone.

And I think that we need to stand by Israel, even if there's international condemnation, because I think that we're on the right side of history here. The capital of Israel is Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv. And so for us to say anything else is playing political games.

DVORKIN: I think the whole thing then becomes the focus of what is being said and what messages are being sent between the U.S. and the U.N., President Trump and the U.N.

And it leaves a big question in terms of where it leaves us with Jerusalem, but also going forward between the U.S. and the U.N. That's what I see it as.

HILL: Yes. Yes.

KUNZIG: Well, I agree with Harlan said.

I think it's important that we take a stand. I think we're on the right side. And if the U.N. doesn't like it, sorry.

CAVUTO: But didn't it sound a little Tony Soprano-ish to you, though, like--

KUNZIG: No, you know, I like that President Trump is tough.

CAVUTO: Tony Soprano thing? All right.

WHITE: Yes. And that's no different than what he was talking about earlier in the year with NATO.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: You're right.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: And we got it. We got it from NATO, right? They're paying our fair share.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: And we should stress that today, a day after all this went down, the U.N. Security Council unanimously supported our tougher sanctions on North Korea. So maybe that will spill over.

HILL: There you go.

CAVUTO: You never know.

All right, in the meantime, you know, Christmas apparently is a couple of days away.

What?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Malls are expecting very high turnout this weekend.

You know, 126 million people are going to be shopping tomorrow?

HILL: Wow.

KUNZIG: Oh, wow.

DVORKIN: Tomorrow?

CAVUTO: Amazing.

HILL: I will be one of them. I haven't done any shopping.

CAVUTO: Yes. Can you believe that?

(LAUGHTER)

DVORKIN: Last-minute.

CAVUTO: I want to ask everybody here, because a lot of people find this an easier alternative. Gift cards. Gift cards.

DVORKIN: Yes.

CAVUTO: What do you think?

DVORKIN: Yes. I found a Starbucks gift card recently.

CAVUTO: Receiving them, giving them, or what?

DVORKIN: Well, both.

It makes it easier to gift-give. But it's also -- it just narrows it down. I know what I want. If you pick the right store to get me a gift card, then we're good.

CAVUTO: So your loved ones know. They are going to bounce it off with you. OK, what do you like? And they said -- just give me a gift card.

DVORKIN: Yes, just, yes, like you pick it yourself.

CAVUTO: You're not offended by that?

DVORKIN: No.

CAVUTO: It looks like, oh, well, take an easy route on that one.

KUNZIG: No.

DVORKIN: And when I found that Starbucks gift card, I was like, oh, this is amazing. Every meal at Starbucks.

KUNZIG: Isn't that great to find like a gift card like you didn't know you had?

DVORKIN: Yes.

KUNZIG: But if someone gives that to me as a Christmas gift, I would be a little bit upset, because I want you to put in some real thought and pick out something that you think I'm going to love.

And chances are, I am. I think I'm pretty easy. So, anything pink and sparkly, we're good.

CAVUTO: Really?

KUNZIG: Yes.

CAVUTO: Sure.

WHITE: I like opening presents.

And, first of all, I celebrate Hanukkah. So the shopping thing, done. Not my deal. That's all you.

CAVUTO: Understood.

WHITE: But I like the opening present idea, you know, not getting--

CAVUTO: What if you open a present or box that had let's say a gift card in it, like this stuff?

(CROSSTALK)

WHITE: What kind of card is that?

CAVUTO: Well, this is Dunkin' Donuts.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITE: It's good.

(CROSSTALK)

DVORKIN: It's somebody who puts it in a gift box and wrap it, like a big one.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Some of them are like that. They're in a big old box and all this stuff.

DVORKIN: Yes. You still get to open it.

CAVUTO: It just seems a little -- I'm probably dating myself. It just seems a little impersonal.

WHITE: You're totally dating yourself.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: You are a capitalist.

WHITE: I got you this. This is--

CAVUTO: Really?

WHITE: -- the celebration of Hanukkah. I didn't wrap it, but it's sort of like you -- wouldn't you rather get something like this than one of those? Like, it's a physical, actual present.

CAVUTO: Well, the Dunkin' Donuts thing is looking a lot better.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But when they have asked women on this subject, they're disproportionally for trying to get a gift and a gift card, whereas men find it easier to give a gift card because it's just easier for them. But they get mixed messages from women on this.

KUNZIG: Right. I think it's definitely easy to give someone a gift card, and especially if you know like Starbucks--

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Because you always complain about it afterwards. Right?

KUNZIG: But I feel like there's -- it's not as thoughtful. I want to see -- I don't really care how much you spend. I care that thought went into it.

CAVUTO: But if you got a gift like this sweater Andrew was showing, wouldn't you say, the gift card, just go back to the gift card?

KUNZIG: Actually, I didn't really see what this is, but if I'm cold and you got me a sweater, I would like it.

CAVUTO: Really?

DVORKIN: It's personal.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Gifts don't matter. Gifts don't matter, do they?

DVORKIN: Right. I think that gifts are -- listen, I -- we had -- my brother had a baby, my new nephew, so it's all baby clothes for our family.

CAVUTO: Right.

DVORKIN: So that's easy to do.

CAVUTO: Well, that's good.

DVORKIN: And, yes, and I -- I also told this story before. I think I already won the holiday season, because I was doing an interview with Hugh Jackman, and my nephew's name is Logan.

CAVUTO: Whoa.

DVORKIN: And I told Hugh Jackman that I named -- that we went with Wolverine T-shirts to greet him.

And I didn't ask him to. He looked into the camera, said, like, "Welcome to the world, Logan."

I was like, wow.

CAVUTO: Game over.

DVORKIN: Yes, I just could tell that story for years to come.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: You're so getting it done.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Hey, what's the rush, Santa? Apparently not Christmas. Getting ready to get everything done before Saturday, January 20, the dawn, the debut of our live 10 a.m. show, the latest in what is happening everywhere. It's a hit even at the North Pole.

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