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Some McDonald's restaurants offering free bacon with any purchase; Fox Business' Deidre Bolton explains.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," January 29, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Message to Americans: Get inside and stay inside, the warning for millions, as this polar vortex gets ready to strike. In many places, it already is, with bone-chilling temperatures and life-threatening windchills, forcing schools already to close and planes to stay on the ground.

Nearly 250 Americans are being urged to bundle up because they're right in its path. And so it goes.

Welcome, everybody. And welcome to your frigid world.

We have got Fox team coverage with Mike Tobin in Chicago, where temperatures are plunging, and Adam Klotz at the Fox Weather Center on how fast this thing is going to be spreading.

So, let's first get to read from Adam, what we're looking at.

Adam, what is it?

ADAM KLOTZ, METEOROLOGIST: Well, you said it, just absolutely frigid temperatures. And it's all coming behind a cold front that's sweeping across the country.

Some of this snow we saw yesterday moving across the Upper Midwest, and there has been snow in Chicago across Michigan, this now moving to the Northeast, and it's behind this system that we're going to see the numbers really start to fall, already areas getting down to negative 18 now in Chicago, 36 degrees in Minneapolis.

And you would like to think that this is as cold as it's get -- going to get, but we really haven't seen anything yet. These numbers are going to drop drastically farther. So we have got windchill advisory stretching across a large portion of the Upper Plains states, the Great Lakes states and even as far south as Kentucky, so running along the Ohio River Valley.

We have got the advisories in position where these numbers are going to fall in a big way. This is your future forecast. Now, you can pay attention to the time stamp, and you see overnight tonight into early tomorrow morning widespread, negative 32 degrees in Detroit, 30 in Indianapolis, negative 50 degrees tomorrow morning in Chicago, the same as the case up in Minneapolis.

It continues. Now, it's bad on Wednesday, all day Wednesday, never getting much more warmer than negative 40-ish in Chicago. And then you say the same thing on Thursday morning, where, again, these temperatures are down into the negative 30- to 40-degree range.

At this point, it does begin to push up along the East Coast a bit, never to the negative 30 and 40s, but still temperatures very, very cold. And you know what? It's not just these areas I was highlighting. That's where it's going to get down to those negative 30, 40, 50.

But if you're just looking for freezing temperatures, this is where you get hundreds of millions. Neil, down along the Gulf Coast, things are going to be freezing, temperatures in the upper 20s on Wednesday morning. This is a huge chill that a lot of folks are going to be dealing with.

CAVUTO: What is making this such a big deal, though? I mean, it seems to be across two-thirds of the continental United States. As systems go, this is massive.

KLOTZ: It is massive.

And so you have a low-pressure system that kind of spins over the polar vortex, and then it just spills on down. It usually wouldn't spill this deep, so it's always a low-pressure system that's sitting there. It just rarely falls as far south as it as.

CAVUTO: All right, buddy, thank you very, very much.

KLOTZ: Yes.

CAVUTO: You have been working long, long hours going through all of this. So thank you, Adam, for that update.

We will keep you updated on this and how far and widespread it goes.

From the real chill to the political chill.

FOX News chief White House correspondent John Roberts at the White House on the reception that the president might be receiving a week from tonight, when he gives his State of the Union address -- John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, typically, whenever a President Trump from one party or the other gives the State of the Union address, half of the chamber stands up and applauds everything that the president says, the other half sits on their hands.

I think Democrats may be sitting on their hands, and sitting on their hands a little harder this year than they were even last year. But the letter came late yesterday afternoon from Speaker Pelosi inviting the president to come up to the House of Representatives to give the State of the Union address on the 5th of February.

That will be next Tuesday. And the president sending Speaker Pelosi back a letter saying: "It will be my pleasure to come and speak to you. We have got a great story to tell, great goals to achieve."

Clearly, there will be some talk about the need for border security in the president's speech, but also he's going to be talking about what he believes are the successes of his administration over the last year and some of his priorities going forward, including immigration reform, infrastructure reform, drug pricing and health care, trade and deregulation.

The White House yesterday saying that they are glad to see the invite, though they do not believe that the speaker played this one well at the beginning with that request to postpone. Listen here to Sarah Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I certainly don't think she acted in good faith on the front end, considering she cited security concerns that didn't exist.

But we're certainly hopeful that moving forward in the future that she will.

The president, as he always does, looks forward to addressing the American people and will do that as soon as that invitation is received.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Of course, hanging over all of this will be the shutdown that just recently ended and the potential for another shutdown if the congressional negotiating committee, the conference committee, can't come to some sort of an agreement going forward by February the 15th.

The White House disputing a finding by the Congressional Budget Office that the economy permanently lost $3 billion as a result of the shutdown, and the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, saying that there was a minimum impact to the economy and that the American economy continues to be strong.

Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: From everything we see, the U.S. economy is still quite strong. Companies are doing quite well. And we see still tremendous investment in capital and human investments.

We're monitoring that carefully. But we still see a tremendous opportunity and a lot of capital coming into the U.S. We see no indications whatsoever of a recession on the horizon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Which is good news for American business and for the people who are out there enjoying gainful employment.

We should mention too, Neil, that Keith Hall, the CBO chairman, is up on the Hill right now testifying before the Senate Budget Committee. So we will see if he's got something to say in response to Larry Kudlow saying, well, we have had a bit of a disagreement with the CBO in the past about their numbers and we disagree with them this time, we don't believe that the economy has lost $3 billion -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Yes.

In fact, the administration has always argued that the CBO lowballs it, right, when it comes to economic performance.

ROBERTS: Yes.

CAVUTO: And the administration argues they understated the strength we have already seen, right?

ROBERTS: They under -- they understate the strength of the economy, they overstate the impact to the economy, that's the way that the budget -- the White House at least plays it.

CAVUTO: Got it.

John Roberts, thank you very much, my friend.

All right, to House Minority Whip Louisiana Republican Congressman Steve Scalise.

Congressman, very good to have good you.

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA, HOUSE MINORITY WHIP: Neil, good to be back with you.

CAVUTO: Are we going to be looking at another shutdown in 16 or 17 days?

SCALISE: I hope we're not, Neil.

And the president laid out the things that are needed to secure our border. Nancy Pelosi said she wouldn't negotiate during the shutdown. OK, now the shutdown is over for the time being. Will she finally start being willing to put a dollar amount on the table to say how much is she willing to put together to support securing the border?

It's going to take at least $5.5. billion dollars. Our experts that risk their lives have said that's what it will take to secure the border. What's Nancy Pelosi willing to now put on the table, since we're out of the shutdown?

CAVUTO: If it's not $5.5. billion, then what?

SCALISE: Well, it's got to be a serious, credible offer.

Her only credible offer -- no, not credible -- the only offer she put on the table up until now is a dollar, Neil. It was a ludicrous gesture. A few weeks ago, she said she would support a dollar for border security.

OK, let's talk serious. What is your offer? If it's not $5.7 billion, which is what the experts said, then what is your number and how do you back it up? Are you willing to secure the border and give our patrol agents, the Border Patrol agents, ICE agents the tools that they need?

CAVUTO: So let's say it is a dollar, and she doesn't budge from that. Then what?

SCALISE: Well, I don't think that's a tenable position for most Democrats.

We started seeing over the last few weeks more and more Democrats coming to our side. Even Steny Hoyer, the majority leader, said physical barriers ought to be a part of the solution.

CAVUTO: That's right.

SCALISE: So while Nancy Pelosi is, I think, catering to the far left elements of her base, most Americans recognize you have to secure the border.

The open borders crowd on the left might be representing a narrow element of the liberal base, but most Americans want to secure the border. We're the most generous nation in the world on immigration. We let more than a million people in a year legally.

But we have to secure the border, stop the drugs and the criminal elements that are coming into our country every single day.

CAVUTO: Almost every prominent Republican I have been speaking to of late, though, Congressman, has been saying the last thing they want to see is a government shutdown, whether it's on Republicans or not, and that, if the president were to pursue that, and not declare an emergency, which could avoid that, they would find him on it.

Do you think that this could be a party revolt if it turns into the president saying, all right, well, shut her down?

SCALISE: No.

And, in fact, I think that's why it's so important that the president latest case out next week. On February 5, I think you're going to see a heightened level of number -- millions of Americans watching a State of the Union that maybe don't normally watch it, because they're hearing about all of this back and forth.

OK, what's this really about? What is the debate about? They're going to see President Trump laying out the case for securing America's border, what it's going to take, just exactly what happens every day.

There are bad things that happen every day that most Americans never hear about. So let's actually lay that case out, and then we will see where -- where everybody's going to be.

If Democrats want to stick with Nancy Pelosi and be for open borders, I think they're going to be on the wrong side of history on this argument.

CAVUTO: All right, you might be right on that.

When I have talked to a number of Democrats as well, sir, including the deputy whip for the Democrats, Congressman Kildee, who said he was open for things that Nancy Pelosi presumably was not.

I want you to react to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: You're not of the viewpoint that Nancy Pelosi was and is that a wall is immoral, or are you?

REP. DAN KILDEE, D-MICH.: I think a wall -- a wall from sea to shining sea would be.

I don't think we're talking about that any longer.

CAVUTO: No, the president isn't talking about that.

But you would be open for some wall funding if it came to that?

KILDEE: Well, for sure. And we have supported that in the past, yes.

CAVUTO: OK. OK. All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right.

So he's open to that and that, to your point, sir, many others are open to that as well. But what is going to bridge the divide here? Because in 16 or so days, you presumably want to get that settled, you want to get the DACA thing is settled. Is all of that possible by -- by the deadline?

SCALISE: It's clearly possible.

And I think what you just played there is an example of where a lot of Democrats are. The president said, I don't need a sea-to-shining-sea wall.

But there's about 550 miles of completely unprotected area, where we know bad things, drugs, human trafficking, even murders, come across the border. Let's start focusing on that area.

And if Nancy Pelosi really doesn't want a wall, President Trump said, hey, I will be willing to let you put in language that bans cement wall, but have some form of physical barriers. The steel slat barriers right now are what the experts say works the best. Let the experts figure that out.

You don't need Washington politicians telling you how to build a physical barrier to protect America and keep us safe. Let the people who risk their lives keeping us safe do the best job with the money that they need. Let's have that debate. There's a conference committee now.

Let the Republicans and Democrats House and Senate members of that conference committee start the work today. They have got a few weeks to do this. I think we could solve this in a matter of hours if everybody gets in a room, puts the partisanship on the side, and the personality differences on the side.

This is about keeping America safe. Let's get it done.

CAVUTO: I'm curious what you make -- obviously, in a very political town, Congressman, there are always these books out.

Former Governor Chris Christie has one in which he lambastes Jared Kushner. Then there's -- there's a separate tome essentially arguing the same from essentially someone who was a low-ranking press officer and a videographer, who was saying that it's a vipers nest there in the White House.

What is going on? And why do these kind of books keep coming out?

SCALISE: I don't know.

You didn't mention I have got a book out too, Neil.

(CROSSTALK)

SCALISE: It's actually a good story.

CAVUTO: Yours is not...

(CROSSTALK)

SCALISE: Look, I have worked with President Trump and all of his staff. I have worked closely with Secretary Nielsen of Homeland Security. I have worked with his legislative team, Mick Mulvaney, now the acting chief of staff.

They're all focused on the mission of keeping our country safe and getting our economy back on track. And the economy is working really well. It can get even better. There are more opportunities to grow and create jobs.

CAVUTO: Then how does that get lost, Congressman?

When Cliff Sims in "Team of Vipers" talks about an administration bereft with leakers, and that it's just out of control, is that what leads to this view of just confusion in the White House or what?

SCALISE: Maybe that's some people that were pushed to the outside.

I know the meetings I have been in, it's all been business, whether it's President Trump laying out an agenda for how we can get the economy moving again, or how we can secure the border. It's been the facts.

You will lay the facts on the table. Let's figure out the best way to get it done. So, if there's backstabbing, I haven't seen it in meetings. The meetings I have been in have been focused on results for the American people. And we have delivered some. There are a lot more we need to deliver.

That's where I spend my time. So if somebody left to go write a book, they probably weren't in the middle of the action anyway. Why don't we keep focused on what we need to do to get the country back on track and debate the differences, so that we can ultimately flush this out.

And that's why the State of the Union is going to be so important next week.

CAVUTO: All right, so something of a little bit more heft and substance, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's book, in which he -- he really puts the finger on Jared Kushner and all that, and that that has not served the president well, and that that gets in the way here, because the president's not being served by the people who would be -- who should be serving him and helping him, do you agree with that?

SCALISE: I haven't read Chris Christie's book.

I know that, when President Trump sent Jared Kushner to Israel, for example, to work on -- number one, he's working on Middle East peace, which is, as we know, one of the most complicated issues that anybody can work on, and is at least getting some conversation.

CAVUTO: Right.

SCALISE: But we also got to see the American Embassy moved to Jerusalem, what some people thought would be very controversial.

And, Neil, look how smooth that actually turned out to be. They said it would be chaos in the Middle East if we did it, and yet you didn't see any bloodshed. It was a unifying event in many ways.

And so Jared Kushner was involved in that. Does he get any credit? He deserves some, clearly.

But, look, everybody's going to have personality differences with other people they work with. We're all judged on the results. What do we do at the end of the day to get this country back on track?

CAVUTO: Fair enough.

And I think you have been through more important things to put life in a better perspective.

Steve Scalise, "Back in the Game," and glad that you are. Good seeing you again.

SCALISE: Thanks, Neil. Good being back with you.

CAVUTO: All right.

In the meantime, Roger Stone encountering protesters again, and now -- now saying, you know what, I will talk, but I have nothing bad to say about the president. But this could drag on a while. What constitutes a while?

Try a year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: See, that's what I was waiting for, the money shot, the Richard Nixon, arms up in the air, shot.

Former Trump adviser Roger Stone pleading not guilty to all the charges in connection with this Russia probe, a day after the acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, was saying that the special counsel, Robert Mueller, is getting kind of close to wrapping things up.

We don't know how he would know that and whether this jibes with a trial for Mr. Stone that could be a year or more away.

To former federal prosecutor John Lauro on all of this.

Are they mutually compatible, those events?

JOHN LAURO, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: They could be.

Mueller was appointed to determine whether or not there was cooperation or collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. So far, he's not filed a single indictment on that theory. He's filed indictments relating to past activities, what other people have done.

He filed an indictment relating to Russian interference in the election and even in the post-election against Trump. And then he filed these entitlements for false statements and lying to Congress.

CAVUTO: Yes, all about lying to Congress, lying to investigators.

LAURO: Right.

CAVUTO: Maybe lying about contact with the Russians, but no collusion with Russians.

LAURO: Not a single indictment.

CAVUTO: That is interesting.

So, if this has veered way out of control, certainly, as you reminded me, it wouldn't be the first investigation that has. The Whitewater investigation started about real estate, ended up about an intern relationship.

So what do you see this amounting to? Just business dealings that could be decades-old that have nothing to do...

(CROSSTALK)

LAURO: I think Mueller is about to end his investigation. What he will do is submit a report to the Department of Justice, and then the Department of Justice will make a determination whether or not it becomes public.

William Barr is going to get this. It's like a hot potato in his seat.

CAVUTO: Right.

LAURO: As soon as he is nominated or confirmed, yes, then it goes right to him.

(CROSSTALK)

LAURO: But the core investigation was whether or not there was collusion and cooperation.

And so far, there's been no evidence of that whatsoever.

CAVUTO: But the House would pick and choose what it wants to go through, and then presumably the Senate, if it's so hot to trot to pursue.

LAURO: If they want to do an impeachment, exactly.

CAVUTO: Right.

But nothing here would indicate that for now. We don't know, like you say.

LAURO: I don't see it.

Now, what may happen in the future is, right here in Manhattan in the Southern District, there are other investigations going on, including matters involving Cohen. So the question is, will the Southern District prosecutor's office take the lead in terms of those investigations?

But Mueller is at the end of this road.

CAVUTO: All right, so Michael Cohen, the president's former personal lawyer, he's in this unique situation where there were charges raised on BuzzFeed, the social media news site, that said the president had ordered him to essentially lie in testimony to Congress.

And then you had the Mueller team come out to clarify things, not that that specific charge was accurate, but that the net was wrong, the feel was wrong.

Did Mueller say that particular issue was false?

LAURO: He related it to that particular issue, not to Cohen's cooperation.

CAVUTO: So, he had to have been talking about that?

LAURO: Exactly. Right.

CAVUTO: So where are we now?

LAURO: Well, what Mueller said is, publicly, that Trump did not induce Cohen to say something that was false, did not engage in -- directly in any kind of obstruction of justice.

And I think he cleared the air on that. Very unique. He hadn't done that at any time before.

CAVUTO: Right. What made him do that?

LAURO: I think it was so significant and so detrimental to the president, in terms of the running of the executive branch, that I think Mueller felt compelled to do that.

CAVUTO: All right, we will watch closely. John Lauro, thank you very, very much.

LAURO: Thank you.

By the way, as John and I were chatting here, we're getting some word out of London on this whole Brexit back and forth, that the European Union has said that the current deal with the United Kingdom remains, and it's the best and only way for an orderly Brexit.

So Theresa May's vows to overhaul the agreement and get something closer to what she liked, the Europeans seem to be saying, no, this is the deal, this is what you're going to have to make peace with, and this is what you're going to have to rely on. So break away or not. It's up to you.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: It was a blurb on the top of some notes on a page, National Security Adviser John Bolton indicating 5,000 troops to Colombia, which is next door to Venezuela, which is in the middle of a revolution, which is deciding between two presidents, on whose government we have slapped $7 billion in sanctions to get him out of there, Nicolas Maduro, and a more, well, like, politically savory candidate in his place.

Now what happens?

Retired Four-Star General Jack Keane on all of this.

General, first of all, the back and forth on how we would force the issue in presumably with that 5,000-troop notation on Ambassador Bolton's pad, what did you make of it?

JACK KEANE, SENIOR STRATEGIC ANALYST: Well, I thought it was a bit strange, to be frank about it.

CAVUTO: You think it was staged?

KEANE: I don't know.

But it begs the question, for sure. There's nothing else written on the pad and, as shown, it was very exposed. But what could 5,000 troops realistically do, if the mission is something to do with Venezuela and Maduro?

Certainly, it could not conduct a regime change. When we did a regime change in Panama in 1989, that was 28,000 troops in a night raid essentially that lasted couple of days. And in Haiti in 1994, that was another close to 28,000. The U.S. led the coalition to do that.

So obviously 5,000 does not get you a regime change. It would be likely in the event that we have a security problem with our Americans who are at the embassy, and it would exceed the capability of some Marines that are also on standby to go in there, which is a smaller group.

It's called a FAST group, to use an abbreviation. I apologize for that.

So I think it's a -- it's a precautionary measure that's being taken in the event that we have an unforeseen emergency.

CAVUTO: So, let me ask you, General.

We are in favor getting Nicolas Maduro out of there. We argue that he does not represent the will of the people, and this opposition leader, Juan Guaido, does.

And to put the pressure on, besides these 5,000 troops in Colombia, which might or might not be in the plans, but they're raising eyebrows, we have obviously got this move against the state-run oil company to freeze it, essentially, getting its goods out and back to the government.

So how does that affect the generals who typically have been and remain behind Maduro? What would shake them off?

KEANE: Well, you put your finger right on it?

I mean, the sanctions are certainly a good thing, because they are significant, and it will take its toll. But, like all sanctions, it takes a while for that impact that to occur.

The generals are fundamentally corrupt. This is a dictatorship, a repressive regime. They're being paid off by Maduro and other regime leaders. So, clearly, their loyalty and their future is tied to him.

I think Guaido has done a good thing by saying, listen, I'm guaranteeing you amnesty if you walk away from supporting Maduro.

They have to be convinced that that's a fact. And that alone won't move them, unless they absolutely see total collapse in the country. The other thing, I'm hoping -- and I'm convinced we likely are, because the national security team around the president is so strong -- they are likely working on, Neil, a pathway to exit Maduro to an exile someplace with no recriminations back in Venezuela for criminal activity, repression, et cetera, kind of the way Reagan did Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

CAVUTO: Right. I was just thinking, yes, yes.

KEANE: That was engineered very smoothly, got him off to Hawaii.

There were hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. It was going to turn into a violent bloodbath. And the administration certainly engineered the right answer to that.

This is more complicated, because we may not have the relationships with Maduro that Americans had certainly with Ferdinand Marcos for years, but there are other people in the region who do.

Likely, that is going on. And it's not visible to us. And, hopefully, that will be the answer.

CAVUTO: Fingers crossed.

General, thank you very, very much. We appreciate it.

KEANE: Good talking to you, Neil.

CAVUTO: By the way, the State Department did issue a warning to anyone even considering traveling to Venezuela, as if, that it's not a good idea, that it's a dangerous place, and not a safe place to be.

And on the same subject, Juan Guaido will be a special guest of Trish Regan's tonight on FOX Business Network at 8:00 p.m., a rare chance to hear from the man of the hour, who is probably the most scrutinized leader on Earth for the time being.

So little known about him, outside of the fact that most of the Western world wants him to take over, and China and Russia and Cuba do not.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Your ship has come in.

Is it any surprise that McDonald's chose my hour to launch the bacon hour, free bacon with anything, even ice cream, today and today only?

You're welcome, America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, what the heck has happened to Venezuela? It is imploding.

And a lot of us were wondering. Of course, you have heard a lot about it on the news, including this broadcast, but very little coming from Democrats who might be wondering about a socialistic country that is falling apart, and maybe could that boomerang badly on them? I don't know. Just a thought.

I wanted to raise it with former New York Republican Congresswoman Nan Hayworth, my buddy Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright, and The Wall Street Journal's Jillian Melchior.

All right, so, Antjuan, why are so many of your friends who espouse all these big government programs, and now seeing the same thing falling apart in Venezuela, so quiet?

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Part of me feels like it's malpractice, Neil Cavuto, for people to say Democrats are silent on this issue, when, just last Sunday, on NPR, we heard a Democratic congresswoman from Florida talk how she supports what this administration is doing as it relates to Venezuela.

CAVUTO: All right.

SEAWRIGHT: And also she noted that she's working in the Congress, in her role, that she can control, to make sure we protect...

CAVUTO: Has Nancy Pelosi, has Chuck Schumer, have any of the prominent presidential candidates on the Democratic side? Let me save you the energy. No, no, no, no, no.

SEAWRIGHT: Well, I think it's because they were dealing with other things, like trying to make sure our government stays open, trying to negotiate...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: No, no, no, no.

Do you find it a little odd that it is horrific, what's going on there, and a lot of it are born of problems with a country that had more riches than you could shake a stick at, and now made promises that couldn't even keep up with that?

SEAWRIGHT: I don't think it's about socialism, because I think Democrats and Republicans feel the same way about the urgency of this issue.

I think it's more about -- I think Democrats really are worried about some of the things going on here, and that they can have more control over.

CAVUTO: But is that a testament that you can overpromise and eventually run out of money?

NAN HAYWORTH, R-N.Y., FORMER U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN: Yes.

Well, socialists, it's no longer, in fact, a dirty word. I would submit to you, among Democrats, Antjuan...

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: I don't disagree with you, Nan.

(CROSSTALK)

HAYWORTH: ... to say, I'm a socialist.

CAVUTO: You're OK with that?

SEAWRIGHT: I'm not OK with that. I just don't disagree that it's no longer a Sunday school word.

(CROSSTALK)

HAYWORTH: Right.

You can say, I'm a socialist, and get a fair hearing among Democrats.

Socialists in this country, Democratic socialists, believe in enlightened authoritarianism. They believe that if they empower government, good things will happen.

But we know fundamentally -- look at what happened to Roger Stone over the weekend. The FBI came to his door. And all he was accused of -- not even -- he's been even convicted. He needed to be apprehended for civil accusations, yet he was apprehended at the point of a gun.

Government always does its work ultimately at the point of a gun. And that's the problem, Antjuan.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Let me just stick with this particular issue here.

And, Jillian, it's the notion that -- and I'm kidding with Antjuan there -- he was a good sport. But this notion that you can keep making big promises and keep making big promises, and eventually run out of money.

And this started happening under Hugo Chavez, when he took over the Venezuelan government, and they had a lot of oil riches, and he pissed it all away. Gone. Gone.

JILLIAN MELCHIOR, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes.

I mean, I think, when I'm talking to millennials, I want to point them to this and say, this is what socialism looks like. This is not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This is not Bernie Sanders. It's Venezuela.

And talking to young people in Venezuela -- I take Spanish lessons over Skype sometimes with Venezuelans. And I think the really shocking thing to me was hearing one of them tell me about going to the grocery store, looking at the shelves, and seeing no food on the shelves, just wall and wall of salts.

And I think that's what you get when you have a socialist society. I think it's a very fair question to pose.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: So, could that be American extreme? A lot of people who think that.

(CROSSTALK)

MELCHIOR: Well, I think it's disappointing to see Bernie Sanders, AOC rail about concern about American intervention.

Look, this is a fundamental human rights issue. And I think they pretend to stand up for the marginalized and the oppressed, but this is a dictatorial government and an authoritarian government that has starved and brutalized its people. And it's important to take a stand against that.

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: Neil, while I love these two ladies and love sparring with them, but they're making the assumption that Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, and AOC speaks for the entire Democratic Party.

I think it's bad...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Wouldn't you argue that that is where a lot of the passion comes from, that so many of the prominent Democrats are looking at a wealth tax, a higher tax?

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: I just think that -- what I do think, Nan, to a point you made, I think Democrats believe in strengthening the government, so the government can carry out some of the responsibilities that we have...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Are you, as a young man, worried that you're going to be saddled with all this debt that your party and, by the way, Republicans too don't talk about?

SEAWRIGHT: I think I'm more worried about what I'm dealing with today and the issues that I'm facing.

CAVUTO: I'm telling you, tomorrow...

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: Neil, my everyday focus is working hard so I can pay my student loans today.

And I worry about them next month.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: In Venezuela, they ran out of money thinking that it wasn't a worry immediately, until it was.

SEAWRIGHT: I'm not saying it's not a long-term worry for some people.

But I'm just telling you that we have more issues today.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Long term for me is lunch tomorrow.

SEAWRIGHT: More issues today that could damage us.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Nan, what do you think?

HAYWORTH: The government has confiscatory power.

We cede much power to government in order to preserve social order. The reason you have such high...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: We're trying to look after you, Antjuan. We want you OK.

(CROSSTALK)

SEAWRIGHT: I'm glad. I want to be able to look after you.

(CROSSTALK)

MELCHIOR: The reason you have such high student loans is because, as a condition of Obamacare, the federal government took over student loans and deliberately overcharged the students. They do.

SEAWRIGHT: No, no, no.

I have high student loans because, for first-generation college students like myself, no one addressed the issue of college affordability, until Democrats decided to. Unfortunately, it was too late.

(CROSSTALK)

MELCHIOR: It's kind of hilarious to talk about college affordability, because I think this is a really good example of when we're talking about free college, for instance.

HAYWORTH: Exactly.

MELCHIOR: You have seen a blow to the administrative state. You have seen tuitions skyrocket. And you have seen a lot of administration that's unnecessary.

CAVUTO: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: And we're trying to help Antjuan, but he doesn't want to be helped.

If you don't want to be helped, we can't help you.

SEAWRIGHT: Just pray for me.

(CROSSTALK)

HAYWORTH: Vote Republican. We love you. Vote Republican.

CAVUTO: All right, guys, thank you all very, very much.

By the way, Apple is out after the bell with earnings and revenues that apparently beat the Street and sales of products that beat the Street as well.

It's also giving a slightly more than expected upbeat forecast, enough to propel the stock about 2.5 percent in after-hours trading.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, it is probably among the more closely, if not the most closely scrutinized company when it comes to the earnings parade, the middle of which we're in.

Apple out with better-than-expected numbers, lifting the stock right now.

Alan Knuckman and Jonas Max Ferris on the significance of that.

Alan, what do you think?

ALAN KNUCKMAN, BULLS EYE OPTION: Oh, it's all about Apple.

Everybody keeps an eye on -- this is a barometer of the market. Obviously, it has a large impact, if you look at all or indexes, because it's very heavily weighted. This could be the phase two of this relief rally. The rest of the market has bounced back, whereas Apples been stuck awaiting these earnings.

They weren't disappointed. And we're seeing an initial reaction that's positive. Let's see if it can build on these gains. It's a stock that's been stuck between $140 and $160. That target is $180, on a bit of a bounce here.

So I'm rather optimistic, and I think everyone's going to realize how much money Apple truly makes every quarter.

CAVUTO: Everyone's been waiting for technology to come back. Apple was one of the dragging soldiers, so to speak, Jonas, and now this could be a sign that it will have a comeback month as well.

But what do you make of it?

JONAS MAX FERRIS, CONTRIBUTOR: Now, it's only up slightly because they have been lowering expectations for months now.

CAVUTO: Very true. Very true.

FERRIS: This business model stopped growing, at least the core business of selling the phones.

And this is the first time that their growth was actually down since they launched the phone over 2007, I believe it was. So this is not good. But it's better than we expected marginally, like a penny a share.

So, again, it's great for the stock right now. But this could be problems. Luckily, they're squeezing money out of the existing monopoly, which is services to the installed user base.

CAVUTO: All right, but earnings are -- we're, what, about a third of the way through this process. Most of them are beating the estimates, and I think, Alan, by a pretty large amount. How do you judge earnings season thus far?

KNUCKMAN: Well, I think this can be a relief rally, like I said, a secondary catalyst for the market comeback, after that extreme low that we have had in December.

I think everybody was waiting to see exactly what happened here. They still sold 50 million phones. So we're talking about a lot of phones here. Apple is still doing very, very well. We can't state that enough. I mean, the revenue wasn't -- more than $80 billion. Yes, it was knocked down. They knocked down expectations.

But that's what this game sometimes is. So let's see what the next step is. But I would rather be positive, rather than be bullish on that stock at these levels. We have come back to the level where we were in 2017, and we broke out about $150. So let's see if that holds as a long-term support.

It's at a discount, and I still think it's a healthy company.

CAVUTO: Any freeze to worry about with the government again? What do you think, Jonas?

FERRIS: They are having some problems abroad. That's most of their business.

Look, people by tech stocks for growth. They're not utility companies. These companies aren't growing quite the way they used to, and the stock -- and that's why the Nasdaq's down. And it wasn't that bad. But it wasn't good enough to turn everything around either.

CAVUTO: Guys, I want to thank you both.

KNUCKMAN: It's still Apple.

CAVUTO: You're right. It's still Apple.

And bacon is still a very popular item in this country, and doesn't McDonald's know it, Deirdre Bolton, huh?

DEIRDRE BOLTON, CORRESPONDENT: That is exactly right, Neil.

Speaking of healthy, I am on Sixth Avenue and 28 Street at a McDonald's. Neil, you can even get a McFlurry with bacon, if you want, in this hour.

We're right in the middle of bacon hour. So, when we come back, I'm going to tell you a little bit more what is behind McDonald's strategy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, this is the new -- the new rage at McDonald's.

This hour, they're giving free bacon to anyone and everyone, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., no matter where you are in the country, free bacon. Our guys here are very keen on it.

Bacon is a big deal. You like bacon?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really -- it's small.

CAVUTO: It's very tiny. It's very tiny. Yes, it is. Well, enjoy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's actually life-size.

CAVUTO: That's fine. That's fine.

But it's interesting that McDonald's has discovered, as has Wendy's and Burger King and all, they go bacon, and you never look back.

Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking. Neil, do not touch that bacon, because we know you had heart surgery a couple of years, and it's very, very bad.

Now, I might point out that my cardiologist at the time and the fellow who did the heart surgery and the keeper of these very embarrassing pictures at the time said, everything is OK in moderation.

What he didn't realize, when that picture was snapped, is that, in my other hand, I had a big old wad of bacon there. And that's the cardiologist's assistant telling me, Neil, not a good idea.

Anyway, what is going on here with this, even whether you do it in moderation, as my cardiologist said at the time?

Deirdre Bolton, this is big, huh?

BOLTON: This is big, Neil.

We're right in the middle -- or, I guess, getting towards the end of bacon hour here at this particular McDonald's at 28th Street, Sixth Avenue.

So I have been talking to people who have been coming in and out, saying, did you come here for the bacon? Because right now you can get whatever you want, whatever McDonald's sells -- so if you want to make a McFlurry with bacon, you got it. You want apple pie with bacon, and you got it. Basically, whatever's on their menu, you can get free bacon on the side for this hour.

So you said it. It's all participating McDonald's. It's nationwide. And the idea is just to have some fun. I was talking to one of the two people in management here. And they said, look, this just seems like a fun thing to do. It's the middle of winter. Everybody is cold. Everybody's borderline hibernating right now.

And the idea is to drive sales, not surprisingly, for some of the more traditional pieces, I guess, or more traditional recipes that we think of. So McDonald's is going to begin to order or promote a little bit more heavily that Quarter Bacon with cheese, Big Mac with bacon and cheese, and then of course, cheese fries, also with bacon.

So that is the purpose of this. We also know one of the competitors, Wendy's, for example, offering free Baconator cheeseburgers all week. So, McDonald's not alone in this. We do know McDonald's is going to be posting earnings tomorrow. So, obviously, this will not show up in tomorrow's numbers. But it's pretty festive down here.

So, Neil, as people have been coming in and out, I have been talking to them, saying, OK, did you come here for this special hour? And so what a lot of people told me is they didn't come here specifically to have bacon added on to their orders, but now that they're here, I have seen a few people walking around with some bacon strips.

So, Neil, even one young lady who came in for one of the coffee drinks actually got a side of bacon. I guess if it's here and it's free, why not, Neil?

CAVUTO: Yes, you can stir it in drink or whatever.

And I know this is so alien to you. You're one of the healthiest people I know, and you eat everything that is like perfect. You're a cardiologist's dream.

Meanwhile, mine is having palpitations watching me do this report.

Deirdre, thank you very, very much.

BOLTON: Sure.

CAVUTO: All right, meanwhile, ahead of the big game, you might want to know about the big office pool bets that are technically illegal. But that hasn't stopped a record amount of betting.

Bet your bottom bacon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: You know, it's obvious to say that people plays big bets on the game, but a record $6 billion-plus, according the American Gaming Association?

FOX News Headlines 24/7 reporter Jared Max on that.

That's staggering. And it's illegal.

JARED MAX, CORRESPONDENT: It's -- most of it is illegal.

Of the majority, 94.7 percent, I believe, will be illegal bets.

CAVUTO: But who's counting?

MAX: Who's counting.

Neil, earlier today, I was in a supermarket thinking about this whole topic and what I might say this afternoon. And as I was walking to go pick up an item, I hear one of the elder gentleman working in the store asking another colleague, hey, you going to play one of those bet -- one of those Super Bowl boxes?

Everybody plays these boxes. And you pick a number, and then -- or you pick a box, and then you find out if you get a shot to win. It's like a lottery at the Super Bowl party. It's still illegal. Uncle Sam is not getting a clip of this.

We now have eight states with legalized sports betting. It used to be just Nevada. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie pushed very hard for that change, and the Supreme Court ruled...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Right. Well, apparently, they're going to get $180 million off it, they think, at a minimum, right?

MAX: Lot of money for the gambling.

And, hopefully, obviously, there's so much that goes for taxes. We hope that a lot of this is going to find its way to the right places. Give teachers a little bit more money or something. Fix the potholes in the roads, because there's...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Bacon, bacon purchases.

MAX: And more bacon, of course.

CAVUTO: Sure.

Now, what is it -- what draws this year, or is it different this year? Or it just goes up every year?

MAX: I think it's because it goes up every year.

CAVUTO: I see.

MAX: And everybody has an interest in it, whether you know football or not.

The Patriots opened up as underdogs of one point. And within just a few minutes, really, the line changed. And the Patriots are favored to win this by two-and-a-half points.

CAVUTO: Well, they were favored last year, right?

MAX: Last year -- boy, you forget year to year what the actual spread was, yes.

I mean, I think it's going to be about a three-point game. I do like the Patriots, if anybody wants my...

CAVUTO: There are so many different ways to bet too, right?

MAX: You can bet who's going to win the coin toss, whether it'll be heads or tails, who's going to score the first touchdown.

You can bet -- these are fun ones. And this pulls people in. How many points will James Harden of the Houston Rockets score on Sunday, vs. how many completions will Tom Brady throw? And then you kind of get these goofy...

CAVUTO: Get out of here.

MAX: Yes, it's...

CAVUTO: Really?

MAX: It's all there.

I mean, like they say, you throw a couple mice around and people will bet on who is going to win.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Do you get more of it when there's controversy or the players or the team, the Patriots?

MAX: I'm glad you bring that up, Neil, because with the legalized sports gambling, now more than ever, there's a need to get it right.

And the NFL looked so foolish in that NFC championship game where they admit this wrong call. Now, I don't think that they're going to listen to -- they will listen to the Saints fans crying foul, we got robbed.

The difference for the NFL, why they're going to get it right, you had a sports book in New Jersey that does mobile sports betting. And they told anybody who bet on the Saints, whether it was straight up or with the point spread, we're giving you your bet back. We're going to credit your bet. The NFL dropped the ball, and we're going to pick it up.

And then the NFL realizes, and the other leagues too, there is a need to get this right, get the calls right, because there's so much money on the line.

CAVUTO: Yes.

MAX: What happens if you put up a lot of money?

Somebody told me they bet $400 on the Saints to win the Super Bowl several months ago. What do you do?

CAVUTO: Well, that didn't pan out.

Any predictions you have?

MAX: I like the Patriots to win the Super Bowl.

CAVUTO: Really?

MAX: I think that what they showed me in the AFC championship game in Kansas City, how resilient they were, and that they keep coming back, L.A. is a good team, but I like the Patriots.

CAVUTO: They're still the embodiment of evil, don't you think?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: No?

MAX: Well, look, a lot of people hate the Patriots.

CAVUTO: No, that's too strong a word.

MAX: I think what is special -- what's special about this team is, Neil, one day, all the people who say, like, Tom Brady hate him, hate the Patriots, one day, they're going to tell everybody, I saw the greatest football team to ever play.

CAVUTO: Absolutely. You're right.

Jared Max, the FOX News Headlines 24/7 reporter.

Here's "The Five."

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